The Wayland Building in Providence, Rhode Island, designed by Hartshorn and built in 1874.
Charles P. HartshornFAIA (1833 – 1880) was an American architect practicing in Providence, Rhode Island. He was a popular designer there in the decade immediately following the Civil War.
Life and career
Charles Payton Hartshorn was born July 31, 1833, in Norfolk, Virginia, to Samuel Weldt Hartshorn and Amelia Payton (Dana) Hartshorn, both natives of Providence. His parents returned to Providence when he was young, and he was educated in the Providence public schools.[1] At a young age he decided to pursue architecture as a profession, and as a teenager entered the office of Tallman & Bucklin, then Providence's leading architects. When the firm's chief designer, Thomas A. Tefft, left to open his own office in 1851, Hartshorn went with him. Hartshorn was Tefft's primary assistant until Tefft left for a Grand Tour of Europe in 1856 and managed the office in his absence, anticipating his return. Tefft died unexpectedly in Florence in 1859, after which Hartshorn practiced under his own name.[2]
Hartshorn practiced alone until about c. 1873, when he formed a partnership with Charles F. Wilcox.[3] The resulting firm of Hartshorn & Wilcox lasted until his death, though works designed during this time are frequently assigned to one architect or the other.[4][1]
Hartshorn joined the American Institute of Architects in 1875 as a Fellow, and was one of the founding members of the Rhode Island chapter the same year. He was chapter secretary until his death.[4][5]
Personal life
In 1865 he was married to Helen Almira Snow of Providence, and they had one daughter, Stella Josephine. He died August 13, 1880, followed by his wife on March 11, 1897.[4]
At least one of Hartshorn's works, designed in association with Wilcox, has been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. Others contribute to listed historic districts.
At least two Providence architects trained in Hartshorn's office: Wilmarth H. Colwell, who later formed a partnership with Thomas J. Gould,[6] and Edward L. Angell, in practice in New York City after 1883.[7]
^ abcdefghWilliam McKenzie Woodward and Edward F. Sanderson, Providence: A Citywide Survey of Historic Resources, ed. David Chase (Providence: Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, 1986)
^Robert Owen Jones, Historic and Architectural Resources of the East Side, Providence: A Preliminary Report (Providence: Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, 1989)
