Gilberts: Further exploration of William Lees Judson’s remarkable life

Last week we told you about the early life of William Lees Judson, painter and teacher extraordinaire, and his ties to Thamesville. We also discussed the problems of historical research, when the sources you are using conflict. This week we are going to focus on Judson’s later life, and the things he did that gave him immortality, especially in Los Angeles, CA.

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We aren’t sure whether Judson spent the years after the Civil War in Europe or in Thamesville and London. We do know that he was in London by the mid-1870s, however. In London, he began to teach art. At one time during this period he had the largest art class in Canada at the time. He also became known as a portrait painter. It might have been during this time that he painted the Fergusons and the Mayhews from Thamesville. He also was instrumental in founding the Western Art Union Club of Ontario.

But he was keeping an eye out for future possibilities as well. Sometime in the later 1880s, he read an announcement that they were going to have a great world’s fair, a Columbian Exposition, in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus “discovering” North America. This was to take place in Chicago and they were planning to have some wonderful art exhibitions as part of this celebration.

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When Judson saw this announcement, he decided that he would go to Chicago two years in advance of the show to involve himself in this effort. His wife, Maria, had died in April of 1885, in childbirth.

And, by the way, before we go any further, please take a moment to consider this. Maria Bedford, who was only 14 when she married William Lees in 1866, had eight children over the next eighteen and a half years. It must have seemed to her that she was perpetually pregnant. And she also had a passel of toddlers around her at all times as well. When she gave birth to her last child, Maria Pearl, her oldest, Maude, was only 16. One child, William, had died as an infant, but the other five were at various ages, between 16 and babyhood. She herself was only 32. And she never got to experience her husband’s great successes, which came afterwards, in the US. How tragic is that? Another quirk in history is that it is usually about the man and rarely about the woman.

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I am sure that William Lees felt the loss of his wife keenly, though. I believe that they had a very good relationship and now that she was gone, he would be solely responsible for their upbringing. And, unlike so many other men who lost their wives quite young, William Lees never remarried. After his wife’s death, his oldest daughter Maude was called home from The Pines, where she later said she had spent some of the best years of her life. At 16, she became the caregiver and the hostess for her father. When he left for Chicago, he brought the family with him.

It must have been quite exciting for Judson to be involved in such a cultural undertaking. Some of the world’s greatest architects and designers were also involved in the planning and building of this great Beaux Arts “city,” nicknamed the “White City,” because all of the buildings were white. Only one of the buildings was designed to be permanent, and it must have been the one where Judson worked, because it was the Palace of Fine Arts. It is now the Museum of Science and Technology in the Windy City.

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William Lees Judson stayed in Chicago until after the World’s Fair was over, but in 1894, the stress of being a single father, whose health had originally been compromised during his military service in the Civil War, had taken his toll. His doctor told him he must go to some place with a warm climate, and that he must take some rest and relaxation. Judson therefore decided to take his family to southern California. He joked later that he believed he was going to California to die.

But he didn’t die. In fact, he thrived. At this time, California was still quite undeveloped, and Judson began taking trips into the country around Garvanza, the neighborhood where he had settled, which is now called Highland Park, and is part of Los Angeles. He fell in love with the landscape and the history of southern California, and he began painting landscapes of the area. Gradually his health improved, and soon he was able to teach again. He began working as an instructor at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design.

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Within two years, in 1896, the folks at the University of Southern California were so impressed with Professor Judson that they asked him to organize their proposed College of Fine Arts. This he did and a few years later, he was elected his first dean. He continued to teach there until he retired in 1922, and his name is still associated with USC’s art community.

In the meantime, Judson continued to practice his art. He also continued to be a great organizer — he was the founder and first president of the Arroyo Guild of Craftsmen, which became the prime arbiter of the California Arts and Crafts Movement. He was also a founder and director of the Southwest Museum, a member of the California Club, the Artlands Club and the Southern California Historical Society.

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William Lees Judson was also involved with the Grand Army of the Republic, which was a Civil War veterans group. Finally, he was also actively involved in the Masonic Lodge. At his death he was at 32^nd degree Mason and a life member. When he died, on October 26, 1928, the Masons arranged for his funeral in Pasadena, Calif.

Meanwhile, back in 1897, while he was working on the establishment of the USC’s school of art, his sons, Walter, Lionel and Paul were involved in establishing something of their own. In that year they began the Judson Art Glass Studio, a stained glass design and build company. That company still exists today — great-great-grandson David Judson is the current president of the company, which calls itself the oldest family-owned stained glass art studio in the US.

So the next time you hear about USC, remember that there is a little piece of Kent County still there in the annals of its art school. William Lees Judson and his family are certainly remarkable characters who deserve to be better known here in Chatham-Kent.

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