Marine painter, Franklin Stanwood entered Portland, Maine's art scene at the height of it. Born at the Portland Alms House on March 16, 1852, he was listed on his birth certificate as the son of Margaret Barclay. Samuel Stanwood of Scarborough, Maine took Franklin and his mother in. Samuel felt for them but did not have sufficient money to adopt the boy. So he asked his brother, Gideon Stanwood to adopt him.

Franklin attended the public school in Portland and later Gorham Academy near Portland, there he began writing (inspired by Shakespeare and Poe). After graduation Franklin was attracted to the sea and went as a mariner to Europe, the West Indies, and around the Horn. "View on the Pampas of Peru" his first known oil painting was c...