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ASHER BROWN DURAND

Was born at Jefferson Village (now in the township of South Orange, New Jersey) August 21, 1796. He was the eighth of a family of eleven children. The Durands were of French origin, descendants of Huguenot refugees—another instance of the loss to France and benefit to this country, as well as to the Protestant countries of Europe, of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV in 1685.

The artist's father, John Durand, came from Connecticut about 1773 and purchased a small property in what is now South Orange, where he died in 1813. The French Huguenots' hatred of tyranny and their religious fervor suffered, we may believe, no injury in this instance by a moderate infusion of Connecticut steadiness.

In those days people helped themselves, as well as their neighbors, and an inventive capacity was of great service. This ingenuity the elder Durand possessed in an eminent degree. He was an adept in mechanics, and especially in the more delicate.

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