Archibald M. Willard, the painter of “The Spirit of ’76” was born in Bedford, Ohio, August 22, 1836. His father, the Reverend Samuel Willard, was a Baptist minister and a Vermonter. In the home was grandfather Willard, between whom and the young artist there grew to be a strong bond of understanding and sympathy. The grandfather, a relative of General Stark and a soldier of the Revolutionary War, was one of the Green Mountain boys who was at the surrender of General Burgoyne. Grandfather and grandson spent much time together in rambles through the then picturesque Bedford glens. The rugged surroundings appealed to young Willard’s artistic sense. The old man figured often in the boy’s cartoons. Many a tree was stripped of its outer bark to produce a smooth surface upon which with red chalk and charred embers the young artist produced savages of hideous mien. As frequently happens with young artists, young Willard, did not receive much encouragement from the Willard family, perhaps because every smooth surface of wall, barn-door, board fence, etc., bore evidence to the budding genius. For varying periods, the family were located at Kent, Salem, Aurora, Mantua, and La Grange. When Willard was a lad of seventeen, the family moved to Wellington, Lorain county, Ohio. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Willard enlisted in the Eighty-sixth Ohio Regiment. While with his regiment at Cumberland Gap, he painted several pictures of the surrounding country. These were photographed and many of the photographs were sold to his comrades. With the close of the Civil War, Archibald M. Willard, then a sturdy young man, returned to Wellington, together with his close companion, Hugh Mosher. Both had served faithfully and well. Willard had become a non-commissioned officer. He secured employment in the shop of E. S. Tripp, a wheelwright and wagon-maker. The old shop still stands at Wellington. Willard’s original job was to paint the wagons. From the mere painting of the wagons he gradually passed to decorating the wagons artistically, and finally to decorating, with woodland and animal scenes, a number of gaudy circus chariots. He did this work so artistically that “Tripp’s wagons” became known all over that part of the country. There was coöperation between the two men, for apart from the artistic painting, the wagons themselves were sturdily and well-built. Willard’s artistic temperament carried him beyond mere commercial painting. He began painting pictures on the wagon boxes. These were so well executed that they created much comment. He gradually became so elaborate in these, that his employer, Mr. Tripp, had to restrain him. Undoubtedly the interest created by these paintings sold many a wagon for their builder and advertised him in a most unusual way. If any of these Willard-decorated-Tripp-wagons were now available, they would bring a price far in excess of the cost of the wagons themselves.