Thomas Alexander Tefft
Thomas Alexander Tefft
Born(1826-08-02)August 2, 1826
Richmond, Rhode Island
DiedDecember 12, 1859(1859-12-12) (aged 33)
Florence, Italy
NationalityAmerican
Alma materBrown University
OccupationArchitect
BuildingsCannelton Cotton Mill
Narragansett Baptist Church
Providence Union Railroad Depot (1847–1896)
Tefft's design for Freight House No. 1, of the Providence and Worcester Railroad, Providence. 1847, demolished.
Tefft's Cotton Mill in Cannelton, IN, completed in 1851. The mill is shown here before its restoration.
Providence Union Station, 1847–1896. Note the similarity in style to the Cannelton Cotton Mill

Thomas Alexander Tefft (August 2, 1826 – December 12, 1859) was an American architect, from Providence, Rhode Island. Tefft, one of the nation's first professionally trained architects, is considered a master of Rundbogenstil and a leading American proponent of its use.[1] Prior to his untimely death, Tefft "offered the most advanced designs of [his] day in America"[2]

Life and career

Early life

Tefft was born in rural Richmond, Rhode Island, outside of the small village of Wood River Junction. He was the fourth child of William C. and Sarah Tefft. His family worshiped at the Richmond Six-Principle Baptist Church. During his childhood, Tefft experienced poor health; unable to exert himself physically, he developed an appreciation of books. At the age of 10, he enrolled at a school kept by Elisha Baggs. During his later adolescence, Tefft taught at a local schoolhouse.[3]

During the 1840s, the state school commissioner, Henry Barnard, embarked on an inspection of the state's public schools. Noting Tefft's talents for drawing and the other arts, Barnard convinced him to move to Providence and study architecture. He entered the office of Tallman & Bucklin–then one of the city's primary offices. By 1846, Tefft played a dominant role in the firm's designs. In 1847, he enrolled at Brown University, where he studied under Alexis Caswell.[4][3]

At this time, Tefft exhibited a strong grasp of Rundbogenstil, amassing a large library of books on the style and advocating for its use.[5]

Later career and death

In 1851, Tefft graduated from Brown. At the same time, the partnership of Tallman & Bucklin was dissolved. Tefft then opened his own office, and ran a notable practice that lasted only five years. In 1856, he decided to embark on a grand tour of Europe. Due to the beginning of an economic downturn, the only work that Tefft had in his office were the initial designs of Vassar College. With that project stagnating, he chose to go. He departed on the steamer Arago on December 13, 1856.[3]

He began in England, where he studied the works of Christopher Wren, among others. He also met and was entertained in the home of noted architect Charles Barry. During his tour, Tefft visited the cities of Paris, Rome, Geneva, Berlin, Milan, and Florence, among others.[3] In 1857, he was invited to join the new American Institute of Architects, and was among that organization's first Fellows.[6] In December 1859, he fell ill with a fever in Florence at the home of his friend, the sculptor Hiram Powers. He died there on the 12th. Tefft was first buried in the English Cemetery in Florence; in February 1860 his body was shipped back to Rhode Island, where it was re-interred in Swan Point Cemetery.[7]

Works

With Tallman & Bucklin, 1846–1851

In private practice, 1851–1856

Gallery

References

  1. ^ Bradley, Former Teacher in the Historic Preservation Program Betsy Hunter; Bradley, Betsy H. (1999). The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States. Oxford University Press. p. 235. ISBN 978-0-19-509000-0.
  2. ^ Curran, Kathleen (1988). "The German Rundbogenstil and Reflections on the American Round-Arched Style". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 47 (4): 351–373. doi:10.2307/990381. ISSN 0037-9808. JSTOR 990381.
  3. ^ a b c d Stone, Edwin Martin (1869). The Architect and Monetarian: A Brief Memoir of Thomas Alexander Tefft, Including His Labors in Europe to Establish a Universal Currency. S. S. Rider and brother. ISBN 978-0-608-39931-7.
  4. ^ Austin, Nancy (2010-09-11). "Ecology Of Culture: Was Tefft coming back?". Ecology Of Culture. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  5. ^ Curran, Kathleen (2003). The romanesque revival: religion, politics, and transnational exchange. University Park, Penn.: Pennsylvania State University Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-271-02215-4. OCLC 49844681.
  6. ^ Thomas Alexander Tefft: American Architecture in Transition (Providence: Brown University Department of Art, 1988)
  7. ^ Richmond Historical Society; Richmond Bicentennial Commission (1977). Driftways into the past: local history of the town of Richmond, Rhode Island, as remembered and visualized by members of the Richmond Historical Society and the Richmond Bicentennial Commission. Richmond, R.I.: Richmond Historical Society. OCLC 4003334.
  8. ^ Dunn, Christine. "House of the Week: Historical charm, modern amenities in Barrington home". providencejournal.com. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  9. ^ Art, Williams College Museum of (2001). American Dreams: American Art to 1950 in the Williams College Museum of Art. Hudson Hills. ISBN 978-1-55595-210-5.
  10. ^ Page 362, The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art, Vol. 2 (Joan Marter, ed., 2011)
  11. ^ Page 102, Transactions of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry in the Year 1859 (1860)
  12. ^ a b "Welcome to a History of Swan Point Cemetery History Project". www.lahistoryarchive.org. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  13. ^ "Swan Point Cemetery // Guide to Providence Architecture". guide.ppsri.org. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  14. ^ Brussat, David (2017). Lost Providence. Arcadia. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-4671-3724-9. OCLC 982538921.
  15. ^ "NRHP nomination for St. Paul's Church" (PDF). Rhode Island Preservation. September 15, 1971.
  16. ^ Warren, Elizabeth S. (1975). Warren, Rhode Island (PDF). Statewide Preservation Report. p. 21.
  17. ^ a b Page 99, Proceedings of the Rhode Island Historical Society, 1873–74 (1874)
  18. ^ Sheila Lennon (January 25, 2013). "Long ago, it housed a business school: Where, when, what's there now?". The Providence Journal. Retrieved 2014-12-22.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Woodward, William McKenzie (1986). Providence : a citywide survey of historic resources. Edward F. Sanderson, David, April 5- Chase, Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission. [Providence]: Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission. ISBN 0-939261-12-X. OCLC 16357627.
  20. ^ Hoffmann, Charles G; Hoffmann, Tess (2009). North by South: The Two Lives of Richard James Arnold. Athens: University of Georgia Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-8203-3443-1. OCLC 713599391.
  21. ^ Richardson, Erastus. History of Woonsocket. 1876.
  22. ^ Barnard, Henry. School Architecture. 1850.
  23. ^ "Education for Everybody: Brown's Innovation and Influence in Collegiate Education". Archived from the original on 2014-12-09. Retrieved 2014-12-06.
  24. ^ Wriston, Barbara (1965). "Who Was the Architect of the Indiana Cotton Mill, 1849-1850?". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 24 (2): 171–173. doi:10.2307/988300. ISSN 0037-9808. JSTOR 988300.
  25. ^ Page 60, Historic and Architectural Resources of Smithfield, Rhode Island (RIHPC, 1992)
  26. ^ "Worcester Antiquarian Society", Norton's Literary Gazette (November 15, 1852)
  27. ^ Page 381, Buildings of Rhode Island (William H. Jordy, 2004)
  28. ^ "Records of #2 Benevolent Street" (PDF). Providence Preservation Society.
  29. ^ Lennon, Sheila. "Long ago, it housed a business school: Where, when, what's there now?". providencejournal.com. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  30. ^ Page 167, Providence: A Citywide Survey of Historic Resources (Wm. McKenzie Woodward, 1986)
  31. ^ a b Yarnall, James L. (2005). Newport through its architecture : a history of styles from postmedieval to postmodern. Newport, R.I.: Salve Regina University Press in association with University Press of New England, Hanover and London. ISBN 1-58465-491-0. OCLC 57754204.
  32. ^ Conley, Patrick T. (2012-07-24). The Makers of Modern Rhode Island. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61423-608-5.
  33. ^ Wilson, Richard Guy; Butler, Sara A (2002). Buildings of Virginia: Tidewater and Piedmont. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-19-515206-7. OCLC 48468655.
  34. ^ Page 151, Virginia Baptist Ministers, Vol. 3 (George Braxton Taylor, 1912)
  35. ^ http://www.rosegill.com/ProjectWinkie/Old%20Richmond%20Neighborhoods.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  36. ^ a b c Jordy, William H; Monkhouse, Christopher P; David Winton Bell Gallery (Brown University) (1982). Buildings on paper: Rhode Island architectural drawings, 1825-1945. Providence, Rhode Island: Bell Gallery, List Art Center, Brown University. OCLC 8762607.
  37. ^ Greene, Welcome Arnold (1886). The Providence Plantations for Two Hundred and Fifty Years: An Historical Review of the Foundation, Rise and Progress of the City of Providence. J. A. & R. A. Reid. OCLC 924704.
  38. ^ Page 31, Alma Mater: Design and Experience in the Women's Colleges (Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz, 1984)

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