William Ranney

born Middletown, Connecticut, 1813; died West Hoboken, New Jersey, 1857

BiographyWilliam Ranney was born in Middletown, Connecticut, and moved to Brooklyn in 1834 to study art. He stayed there until 1836, when he traveled to Texas to fight in the Texas War of Independence. Ranney arrived just 27 days after the Texian Army’s decisive victory over Mexican forces at the Battle of San Jacinto. He enlisted anyway, but served for less than a year. While in Texas he made sketches of people and scenery that he would use in his paintings upon returning to the East. In the mid 1840s Ranney began producing scenes of frontiersmen and later became known for his images of trappers and use of narrative. In 1853 the artist constructed a frontier-style home and studio in West Hoboken, New Jersey, complete with a stable to house the horses that he used as models in his western paintings. Ranney remained there until his death from tuberculosis in 1857.

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