THE DANIEL SANTRY STORY-1858-1915
by Samuel M. Robbins, West Newton MA

Little did anyone in the family of plumbers, into which Daniel Santry was born in Boston, expect that he would become an artist. But as a boy he was always drawing. Finally at the age of 18 he announced that he wanted to become a painter. He had met the artist Benjamin Champney who offered art lessons at night after work at the rate of 50 cents per hour, (equivalent to $45 in 2012). Champney had started in life as a clerk in a shoe store and John J. Enneking had begun as a clerk in a tinsmith's shop. He encouraged Santry to get a job as a retail sales clerk. He advised that with a few hundred dollars he could make his way to Paris, take lessons, absorb th...