The final part of Chapter 14 HISTORY OF A NOTED PICTURE In the spring of 1845 John Casper Wilde, a gentleman of considerable reputation as a landscape and portrait painter, made his first appearance in Davenport.  On his arrival here he was totally dependent upon his talent, which was of a very high order.  In 1846 he painted a fancy sketch which was the nearest approach to an artistical smile of which Mr. Wilde was ever known to be guilty.  He had neither humor of his own nor appreciation of humor in others.  He looked tragedy, thought tragedy and his conversation, outside of business and art, was never much more cheerful than tragedy.  This little oil sketch, a facsimile of which appears in this work, represented three notable characters of the village, each of whom at that time was personally known to almost every man, woman or child in the place.  They were collected at the well remembered ferry house and near the equally well remembered old bell post.  The bell there suspended was then furiously jingled, and often with disagreeable pertinacity, by those who wished to call the old ferryman, John Wilson, from the opposite shore.  The ringer was generally considered under personal obligation to stand at the post some time in company with his horse and vehicle, if he had any to cross over, so that the ferryman might, with proper deliberation, determine whether the skiff or horse-power boat were required by the nature of the cargo.  The large person of Antoine LeClaire sits in a buggy, to which is attached the notable old white horse that used to drag his master about the place.  Close by stands Gilbert McKown, whose store was on Front street, a few steps distant, and whose burly figure and good-humored face when on any street seemed a part and parcel of the town and directly identified with its corporate existence.  The third figure is Sam Fisher, as he was familiarly called by every acquaintance.  He then lived in the house later owned and occupied by George L. Davenport at the corner of Brady and Third streets.  Sam Fisher was the best fisher in the town, a good story-teller and had a most marvelous memory of past times and incidents, facts and dates, which, united with some peculiar eccentricities of character, exclusively and honestly his, has since made him a conspicuous character.  One of his smaller eccentricities is shown in the picture.  He is standing with his trousers turned up to the top of one boot and down to the sole of the other, doing a favorite gesture, and evidently doing the talking, of course. Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L