author
Henry Kelsey Devereux
1859–1932
Best remembered as the drummer boy in the famous painting The Spirit of ’76, he later wrote a firsthand account of how that iconic image came to be. His short memoir blends personal memory, art history, and a strong sense of patriotic pageantry.
1 Audiobook
"The spirit of '76": Some recollections of the artist and the painting
by Henry Kelsey Devereux
About the author
Born in Cleveland in 1859, Henry Kelsey Devereux was the son of railroad executive and Civil War general John H. Devereux. As a teenager at Brooks Military Academy, he was chosen by artist Archibald M. Willard as the model for the drummer boy in The Spirit of ’76, a role that gave him a lasting place in American visual culture.
Devereux went on to graduate from Yale in 1883 and built a career in business, while also becoming widely known in harness-racing circles. He was active in promoting trotting and horse breeding, especially in Ohio, and is remembered in regional histories as both a businessman and a sporting enthusiast.
As an author, he is chiefly associated with The Spirit of ’76: Some Recollections of the Artist and the Painting (1926), a brief memoir that preserves his memories of Willard and the making of the celebrated painting. The book’s appeal lies in its direct, personal viewpoint: it offers readers not just background on a famous artwork, but the voice of someone who stood inside its story.