John Haviland Explained

John Haviland (December 15, 1792 – March 28, 1852) was an English-born American architect who was a major figure in American Neo-Classical architecture, and one of the most notable architects working from Philadelphia during the nineteenth century.^[1]

Biography

Born December 15, 1792, at Gundenham, near Wellington, England, Haviland was apprenticed in 1811 to a London architect. In 1815, he unsuccessfully pursued an appointment to the Russian Imperial Corps of Engineers. In Russia, however, he met George von Sonntag and John Quincy Adams, who encouraged him to work in the United States. He arrived in Philadelphia in 1816, and soon established himself as one of the few professional architects in the city.

By 1818, Haviland produced a book, The Builder's Assistant, which appeared in three volumes over several years. This publication was one of the earliest architectural pattern books written and published in North America, and likely the first to include Greek and Roman classical orders.

Due, in part, to The Builder's Assistant, Haviland began to secure what would be his most important commissions in Philadelphia: the Eastern State Penitentiary,^[2] the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb (now Dorrance Hamilton Hall, University of the Arts), and the original Franklin Institute building (now home to the Atwater Kent Museum).^[3]

During this time, Haviland unwisely speculated financially on his own projects, including commercial arcades in Philadelphia and New York, as well as an amusement park. He was eventually forced into bankruptcy, tarnishing his professional reputation in Philadelphia. Elsewhere, however, Haviland's reputation as a designer of prisons brought him important commissions, including the New Jersey Penitentiary, The Tombs in New York City, and prisons in Missouri, Rhode Island, and Arkansas.

Haviland was an Honorary and Corresponding Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 1827, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician.

Personal life

On July 2, 1819, Haviland was married to Mary Wright von Sonntag by the Right Rev. William White, Bishop of Pennsylvania. She was the sister of George von Sonntag and the daughter of Captain William Ludwig von Sonntag of the French Army. They had a son,^[4] John von Sonntag de Havilland (1826–1886).

Edward Haviland, also a prison architect, was born to John as well.^[5]

Death and interment

Haviland died in Philadelphia on March 28, 1852, and was buried in the family vault at St. Andrews Church in Philadelphia (now the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. George). That vault had been designed by Haviland himself.^[6]

Architectural work, partial listing

Philadelphia buildings

• Additions & alterations to Old City Hall, 5th & Chestnut Sts., Philadelphia (1820).
• First Presbyterian Church (Washington Square Presbyterian), SE corner 7th & Locust Sts., Philadelphia (1820–22, demolished 1939).
• St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 256 S. 8th St., Philadelphia (1822–23). Now Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. George.
• Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, NW corner Broad & Pine Sts., Philadelphia (1824–26). Now Dorance Hamilton Hall, University of the Arts.
• Franklin Institute, 15 S. 7th St., Philadelphia (1825). Now the Atwater Kent Museum.
• Philadelphia Arcade, 615-19 Chestnut St., Philadelphia (1826–27, demolished 1860). The first American enclosed shopping gallery.
• Walnut Street Theater, 9th & Walnut Sts., Philadelphia (1827–28). Oldest continuously operated theater in the U.S.
• Eastern State Penitentiary, Fairmount Avenue between Corinthian Avenue and North 22nd St., Philadelphia (1829).^[2]
• Boston Row, NW corner 12th & Chestnut Sts., Philadelphia (1830).^[7]
• Independence Hall, 5th & 6th streets, renovation of second story (1831) and restoration of assembly room (1833)
• Egyptian Revival style Pennsylvania Fire Insurance building, 1838, Philadelphia https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/pa1038/
• Kensington Commissioner's Hall, Frankford Avenue & Master Street (1833–34), still standing in 1878, demolished by c1890.[7]

Buildings elsewhere

• Monument to prison reformer John Howard in Kherson, Ukraine^{[8] [9]}
• U.S. Naval Asylum, Portsmouth, VA (1827).^[10]
• Miner's Bank, Pottsville, PA (1830–31, demolished).
• New Jersey State Penitentiary, near Trenton (1832–6).
• Rebuilding of Pittsburgh Penitentiary (Western Penitentiary) (1833–36).
• The Tombs (Hall of Justice), New York, NY (1835–38, demolished 1902).
• Missouri State Penitentiary, Jefferson City, MO (1836). Closed in 2004.
• Essex County Jail, New Street, Newark, NJ (1836–38). Abandoned since 1971.^[11]
• Newark County Hall, Newark, NJ^[12]
• Berks County Jail, Reading, PA (1848).
• Harrisburg State Hospital AKA Pennsylvania State Lunatic Hospital, Harrisburg, PA (1848–51).
• Lancaster County Jail, 625 E. King Street, Lancaster, PA (1851).^[13]
• Rhode Island State Penitentiary
• (Old) Allegheny County Jail, Pittsburgh, PA.
• York County Hall, York, PA.
• Luzerne County Jail, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (circa 1850).^[14]
• Fuller's Hotel, Washington, D.C.
• Brown's Hotel (Washington, D.C.)

External links

• Philadelphia Inquirer, 30 April 1833, page 2
• Art and the empire city: New York, 1825-1861, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Haviland (see index)
• Haviland biography at Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
• Haviland biography at ushistory.org
• Haviland obituary, Pennsylvania Journal of Prison Discipline and Philanthropy, v. 7, no. 3, July 1852, p. 97-107.
• Haviland prints and photographs at the U.S. Library of Congress

Notes and References

1. Web site: John Haviland 1792-1852. www.ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. 26 July 2017.
2. Web site: Eastern Penitentiary of Pennsylvania. Near Philadelphia. World Digital Library. February 14, 2013.
3. Web site: Moss. Roger W.. Haviland, John (1792-1852) -- Philadelphia Architects and Buildings. www.philadelphiabuildings.org. 26 July 2017.
4. Book: Havilland. John von Sonntag de. A Chronicle of the Ancient and Noble Norman family of De Havilland: Originally of Haverland in Cotentin Normandy, now of Guernsey, including the English Branches of Havelland of Dorsetshire, now extinct, Haviland of Hawkesbury, Gloucestershire, also extinct, and Haviland of Somersetshire with the Documentary Evidences. 1895. Mekeel Press. St. Louis. 26 July 2017.
5. Web site: pls4e. 2018-07-17. Old County Jail. 2021-11-15. SAH ARCHIPEDIA. en.
6. JOHN HAVILAND Obituary Notice. The Pennsylvania Journal of Prison Discipline and Philanthropy . 7 . 3 . July 1852. 96–107. 26 July 2017.
7. Web site: From edge to center:Movin' West . 2014-01-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131020113121/http://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/washw/development.html . 2013-10-20 . dead .
8. Web site: Monument to John Howard. 2017-08-26. Wikimedia Commons. 2020-04-10.
9. Book: Baigell, Matthew. John Haviland (Ph.D. dissertation, see pages 56-7). University of Pennsylvania. 1965. 1–433 . 2020-04-10.
10. http://cwpadre.org.uk/4.html Tables
11. Source: answers.com
12. Source for about half of the above: "The Civil Engineer and Architects Journal", Published by Published for the proprietor, 1852, page 227
13. http://www.fandm.edu/x7216.xml The Lancaster County Prison — Franklin & Marshall
14. Republican Farmer & Democratic Journal (Wilkes-Barre, PA), February 14, 1849, page 3.