Irish-born Launt Thompson was a consequential American sculptor of the 19th century whose monuments of the Civil War and classical themes were hailed during his lifetime Born in Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland in 1833, he emigrated in 1847 with his widowed mother and settled near Albany, New York. Like the other Irish sculptors such as Martin Milmore, Thompson had a remarkable natural talent for drawing and visualization, which was noticed early when he was working in the office of an anatomy professor. "He was endowed with an intuitive grasp of the sculptural side of things, and with an artistic conscience," wrote Lorado Taft in his influential book, The History of American Sculpture. Thompson received several Civil War commissions, including The Color Bearer, which honors the fallen soldiers of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The 10.25' high bronze sculpture of a Civil War color sergeant is standing upright, holding a flag on his right side with both hands. A sword hang
Vermont Sculptor Margaret Foley Created Marble Children's Fountain for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia
The fountain today, Photo Credit: Fairmont Park Horticultural Cente r Margaret F. Foley (1827-1877) was a highly-praised 19th century cameo artist and sculptor, who lived in Vermont, Lowell and Boston, Massachusetts before moving to Rome, Italy where she spent the final 17 years of her life. She was widely known for her exquisite and intricate cameos of leading personages from singer Jenny Lind and poet Henry Longfellow to Senator Charles Sumner and Julia Ward Howe. She was born in Dorset, Vermont to a working class family and lived in the town of Vergennes near Middlebury College. Her father was a farm hand, and she worked as a maid, then taught art at a local grammar school. At age 14, she moved to Lowell, Massachusetts to work in the spinning mills, where she continued carving cameos. According to a story in the Boston Evening Transcript, "One day the overseer, Walter Wright, discovered her whittling an acorn out of chalk. He stopped and asked where her model was. "In m