A few weeks ago, an article with enchanting pictures in the Los Angeles Times gave me the idea for this blog about “America’s Other Audubon.” Thanks to the Calendar section and Joy Kiser’s new book of the same name, I stumbled across an amazing woman, Genevieve Estelle Jones (1847-1879), who needed her own visit to Wildflower Junction.
In the mid-18oo’s, this little girl nicknamed “Gennie” loved accompanying her father, Dr. Nelson Jones, in his buggy on his medical rounds throughout the countryside near their Circleville, Ohio home. Hence the beginning of a lifelong passion for the natural world. To help heal her heartbreak over a broken betrothal, Gennie travelled to Philadelphia for the Centennial Exhibition in 1876 and discovered John James Audubon’s watercolors of birds. Struck by the beauty of his masterpieces, she decided to illustrate and publish a companion book with pictures of nests and eggs, subjects Audubon did not include in his portfolios.
Although her parents were initially alarmed at the expense of such an undertaking, they soon encouraged her to help distract her from her fragile emotions. Her brother Howard collected the specimens. Also a country doctor like his father, he wrote up the scientific field notes. Childhood friend Eliza Schultz helped Gennie sketch the eggs and nests. Through correspondence, they learned the lithography process and how to draw on both sides of 65-pound lithograph stones. Gennie’s father used his entire retirement savings to produce the books, selling subscriptions to museums, ornithology journals, a Harvard student named Theodore Roosevelt, and even President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Dr. Jones’s plan was to produce 100 books sold by subscription in five parts. Colored books would cost $5.00. Black and white versions, $2.50. Part One was released in July 1879 to enthusiastic reviews by naturalists and ornithologists.
Tragically, Gennie died only one month after the release at age 32, from a horrific three-week battle with typhoid. In memory of their beloved sister and daughter, her family continued working on the project. Seven years after her death, the complete “Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio” was first published.
It was definitely a labor of love. For better lighting, Dr. Nelson Jones added a two-room studio with skylight to their barn. Before Eliza left to study art in New York, she taught Gennie’s mother Virginia how to draw on the lithograph stones. More than ninety copies of every life-sized, black and white illustration had to be hand-colored. Two local young women hired to help used the same imported watercolors and paper that Audubon had used.
More tragedy struck when Gennie’s brother and mother were also stricken with typhoid, leaving Howard Jones with a damaged heart and mother Virginia nearly blind. Only 26 intact copies of the original 90 books have been located.
I love hearing the birds chirp and sing outside my writing room window. Not long ago, I found a giant American crow’s nest that had blown down from a big tree in our front yard. It sure wasn’t as pretty as these beautiful Genevieve Jones illustrations from Princeton Architectural Press.
Any bird watchers out there?
Click on cover to purchase. I thank the following blog for information as well.
http://www.sil.si.edu/ondisplay/nestsandeggs/essay.htm
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I was enchanted by that article, too, Tanya. My backyard is filled with birds and the other day I saw an Egret standing by my pool. We also have a resident peacock on our street. Have you ever tried to sleep during peacock mating season?
Love the cover of your book!
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 7:20 am.
How marvelous! I am a bird watcher and a bird drawing lover. I’m one of those people who has a “Birds of a Feather” Pinterest board!
Thanks so much for this post. It made me smile.
Margaret, I am also a peacock collector but don’t have live ones for a reason!
Peace, Julie
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 8:33 am.
A love fostered by my parents.. .. Julia, thanks for the tip on Pinterest!!
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 8:48 am.
Hi Margaret, oh, I love seeing the egrets at Balboa Lake and at the wetland at Ormond Beach. They are so elegant. Also the blue herons!
As a teenager, I visited my parents’ friends who ran a few cattle on a “gentleman’s” ranch in Lebec, and their resident peacocks shouted “help” “help” all night long!
Thanks for the post! xoxox
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 11:05 am.
HI Julie, I just started Pinterest. I’ll look for you.
I majored in Art and am so struck by these lovely drawings. Visiting the Audubon exhibit at Shelburn VT not long ago, I was saddened that in those pre-photography days, he had to take the lives of his specimens in order to do his detailed work.
Thanks for stopping by.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 11:07 am.
Hi CateS, mostly around here I see seagulls, house sparrows and a giant “murder” of crows. They are pretty but noisy, and yesterday, chased an injured one up to the front porch. grrrrrr. Thanks for posting today.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 11:07 am.
What an amazing woman! I’d loved to have met her. I love birds. They put joy in my heart. I like to watch them build their nests and raise their young. There are lots of barn swallows and mourning doves in this town. Two families of barn swallows are nesting in the overhang of my back porch so I can watch them to my heart’s content. And nothing brings more peace of mind than to listen to the cooing of the doves.
Beautiful post, Filly sister.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 11:17 am.
You’re a wise woman, Julie!
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 11:21 am.
Hi Linda, I too was amazed by Gennie and her devoted family. For years, we had sparrows nesting in the eaves of the front porch, but they stopped a few years ago when we got re-roofed and the roofers cleaned out the old nests. I saved the nest, though. They were so adorable…you could see the babies’ heads peeking and bobbing. Sigh. I miss then.
Thanks for the post! xoxox
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 11:22 am.
Hi Margaret,yes, she is, and a great cyber-friend, too. xoxo
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 11:23 am.
What beautiful drawings! Lovely post, Tanya.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 11:28 am.
As a biology teacher, I took every life science course I could–mammals, botany, verterbrates(includes snakes, etc, invertebrates,Ichthiology(fish)–but I avoided birds. In every course, we had disect and study the internal as well as the external. But birds? I could not stand the thought of dissecting a dead bird. So, I know little about birds. However, I have bird books to help identify new ones I see.
Such a sad story about Gennie–I didn’t know about her, so I enjoyed learning about this amazing woman. Thank–loved the drawings, especially.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 11:34 am.
What an amazing woman she was – someone who didn’t let life get her down. And her lithographs are beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing her story with us today
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 11:41 am.
Tanya, Thank you for bringing this family’s work to light. A shame that the project wasn’t better known in it’s time and financially more successful for them.. How sad that the family lost so very much. I wonder what happened to the lithograph stones. As good as the work was, one would have thought/hoped they would be preserved for later use.
Our family has always been interested in nature, by training and preference. A bit treat when we bought the old farmhouse we now live in was the nest in the big oak in the front yard. The tree was the last of the “5 sisters” that had been planted over 100 years ago. When we first moved in, there was a nest of marsh hawks in the top of the tree. It was enjoyable sitting on the porch and watching them fly. Unfortunately, they were gone after about 3 or 4 years. A neighbor across the road from us and adjacent to the marsh, would sit on his porch with a rifle and we are pretty sure he shot them. Not because they threatened anything he had, but just because he could. Yes it is against the law, but we couldn’t prove anything. He would even shoot across the road at groundhogs in the field. Afterwards, a family of barn owls moved into a hole in the tree. It was soothing to listen to them at night and hear them making a clicking sound while they flew around the yard. I love watching owls fly. For such large birds, their flight is completely quiet. No flapping noise when they take off or land. We pulled into the driveway one night and we had two adults and three juveniles sitting on the fence posts lining the driveway. They didn’t fly away, just sat their watching us. Unfortunately, a few years ago a downdraft sheared off all the branches collapsing the tree. We found five dead babies that hadn’t yet fledged. It was so sad. The adults did stay in a neighboring barn, but there wasn’t the same amount of activity as before. Now the barn is gone, damaged by last year’s tornado. We dearly miss the tree and the birds that made it home. We have planted an oak, but we won’t be around when it can host birds of that size again.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 11:45 am.
Hi Tanya!
An amazing woman. Wonderful post.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 12:03 pm.
What a wonderful tribute to this woman, Tanya! I had no idea! My dad used to have a set of those Audubon books (not the originals, of course!) So sad that she died so soon after, but at least she got to see it through. Thanks for sharing this story!
Cheryl
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 12:04 pm.
Hi Helen, thanks for coming over today. The drawings really struck me, too. I love bird eggs and nests and always have a few out for spring decor. xoxo
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 12:16 pm.
Hi Celia, I know…dead birds make me sad because they are so full of flitting, fluttering soaring life. I joined the Audubon Society but am rethinking, as their policy is to “control” the wild herd of mustangs in the West (fatally) to protect a grouse. I love birds, but hey, birds can fly away somewhere new. Or am I sounded stupid now?
Thanks for the post
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 12:18 pm.
hi Winnie, her life story is so short and heart-tugging. But at least she got to see part of her dream come true. Thanks for the post xoxox.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 12:19 pm.
Hi Patricia, always so good to see you here. Shooting anything makes me so sad, but hawks are SO majestic. Sheesh. A sign of impotency maybe? I haven’t seen owls around here…it’s the coast and fairly suburban, but we have a sparrow hawk sit on our fence beside my bird feeder (waiting LOL) from time to time. The garden is SO quiet then!
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 12:21 pm.
The only birds I watch are the hummingbirds and I keep a feeder on my back porch by the window so I can see them.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 12:54 pm.
Well, at least they all died before they could suffer from how broke they were.
:)
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 1:59 pm.
I have a finch feeder and I love watching those little golden finches come to eat thistle seed. They fight with each other. It’s really entertaining.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 2:00 pm.
We feed the birds in our yard so we can watch them.
Right now we have Goldfinches, Evening Grosbeaks, black Headed Grosbeaks and Hummingbirds.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 3:08 pm.
Tanya, that a fun and poignant post. All creative people had to go to so much work back then to make their creations available to the public. It took real commitment by more than one person.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 5:17 pm.
Hi Quilt lady, we have a hummingbird feeder, too. Ours our little green ones with red chests (well, at least the guys, the ladies are always drabber.) that are named Anna’s hummers . Just love them…
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 6:40 pm.
Hi Mary, we also get little reddishnfinches. They are sooo delicate. Haven’t seen them squabble, but they are busy little things.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 6:42 pm.
Tanya, this is a beautiful, yet tragic story. Those photos are extremely well done and touching. What a shame she died so early. Her contributions would have been a treasure for sure.
We live in the Sierra Mountains and wake every morning to the sounds of birds. People come for an overnight and say it is too quiet here. I’ve come to listen for certain calls now. The owl at night is quiet eerie, but there are some very distinct sounds. My hubby has suet and seeds all over the property because he loves to watch them feed.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 6:43 pm.
Hi Estella , I have a wonderful book of north American birds, and I will look those up! Thanks for posting today!
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 6:45 pm.
Hi Paty, it was sad to learn her father had to spend his savings. I never found out if they ever recouped any of their investment. It didn’t sound like they minded, though.
Paisley, thanks for stopping by! I love the Sierras. Mostly I remember blue jays, very pretty and sneaky-smart.
Someday I want to see a bald eagle in the wild. Saw some nests on our trip to Wyoming but not the real thing.
Thanks, everybody, for spending part of your day with me!
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 6:48 pm.
My husband and I have five bird feeders and a bird bath which we can watch from our breakfast room. We love watching the birds of all kinds while we eat and talk. Lovely post, but sad.
Posted on May 16, 2012 at 8:25 pm.