John Tate Wilson was born between 1776 and 1780 in Virginia, probably in Louisa County, the son of Anthony Wilson (1750-ca. 1834), a Revolutionary War soldier. He married Elizabeth Garland Anderson (ca. 1790-ca. 1844) in Louisa County, Virginia, in 1805. John and Elizabeth Wilson migrated to Green County, Virginia, in 1806. They had at least six children, 1808-1826. He died ca. 1846, probably in Green County, Kentucky. Descendants lived in Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Texas, Oregon, California, and elsewhere.
John Baptist Buckman (1730-1793), was born in St. Mary's Co., Maryland, the son of John Baptist Buckman and Susanne Smith. He married Ann Drinker. According to family tradition her family came to Maryland from Holland. They were parents of ten children born in St. Mary's County. All but one of the ten children migrated to Kentucky. Descendants live in Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas and elsewhere.
With more counties than most other states, Missouri posed a unique challenge for Billyo O'Donnell. Setting out to create an outdoor painting on location - en plein air - for each of Missouri's 114 counties plus the city of St. Louis, this award-winning artist devoted years of travel and logged more than 150,000 miles to capture the many textures of a multifaceted state.
Painting Missouri is an extraordinarily rich collection of scenes and seasons along the highways and byways of the Show-Me State. Turn these pages to find a farmer driving a combine in a Ray County cornfield or the Benedictine convent in Nodaway County or mist rising from snow at sunrise in Prairie State Park. Here are scenes both familiar and intimate: farmhouse and barns, Lover's Leap in Hannibal, and the view of St. Louis from the roof of the Cathedral Basilica. O'Donnell even captured Pierce City before a tornado destroyed the town in 2003 - and painted Canton from a vista that another twister had newly opened.
Karen Glines provides essential historical information about the counties, from interesting facts about their foundings and names to the stories behind their courthouses. Drawing on extensive research in many local historical societies, Glines shares what she learned about the early histories and present concerns of the state's diverse regions, including local anecdotes, Civil War stories, and insights into the roles of Native Americans in regional history. Additional comments by O'Donnell relate some of his experiences while creating the paintings. Paintings and essays combine to create a masterful volume that immerses the reader in the passion that both artist and writer feel for the state's beauty.
"In Missouri," observes O'Donnell, "I have found all that an artist needs, and beyond this, I have found an even deeper connection to place." For all who pick up Painting Missouri, that connection will surely resound.
