John Anthony Conner (1892-1971) (Eagle Rock)

“John Anthony Conner first saw the light of day in Chicago, Illinois. Like Topsy, he ‘just growed,’ but with this vast difference, he just grew up with art, and there was plenty of the right kind of artistic nourishment to keep him growing, artistically, for a long time.

His father died when he was four years old, and he was sent to live with his maternal grandfather. Of these early days, he says, ‘My boyhood was spent with grandfather, Charles L. Anthony, of Adams, Massachusetts, who said I began to draw when big enough to hold a pencil. ‘Gramp’ encouraged me to the extent of fitting out a small room off his study as my ‘studio’ and supplying water colors, charcoal, and a large r...