Hasbrouck article by Karen Cuccinello

DuBois Fenelon “D.F.” Hasbrouck
By Karen Cuccinello

DuBois was a self-taught landscape artist whose artwork mostly portrayed the Catskills. He lived in Ulster County, New York City and about the last 20 years of his life in Stamford, NY. He broke into the art world when most “real” artists of the time came from Europe.
DuBois was born in Pine Hill, Ulster County, NY July 1, 1860 to Josiah and Mary (Smith) Hasbrouck. His father was a carpenter, farmer and boarding house proprietor. He was one of eight (I found seven in census reports) siblings: Charles, Amaline, Augusta, Dubois, Egbert, Effa and Rose. DuBois was with his family in Shandaken, NY during the 1870 and 1880 census enumeration. Josiah fully intended for his middle son to work on the farm but DuBois had other ideas.
When DuBois was about 16 years old an artist from NYC, John George Brown, came through town on a sketching tour and DuBois watched him and gave painting a try. After seeing his first rough painting Brown encouraged the budding artist. Two years later another summer guest, Reverend Howard Crosby, of NYC, bought some of his painting and set him up in NYC where he went to the Cooper Union Art School for a few months. He drew praise for a tourist pamphlet he illustrated for Pine Hill and painted two paintings of Birch Creek, near Pine Hill, for the fall exhibition at the Academy of Design, NYC in 1883. A June 1884 Kingston Freeman states Mr. D. F. Hasbrouck, the artist, went up the Ulster & Delaware Railroad to make sketches at different points for the Catskill Mountain Breeze. Next month he will go to the Adirondacks and do sketching there.
During the mid-1880’s he met Mrs. Ada/Addie Byron (Wilson) Cook, of NJ, while she was a guest at his father’s farm. She was only traveling with her three children ages about 17 to 9 as she was separated from her husband William. Even though Ada was said to be 12 years older than DuBois (census reports list her as 6 to 10 years older but her death certificate states she was born February 1, 1848) they fell in love. The couple were married November 29, 1889, about a year following her divorce, probably in NYC. No children were to come of the union.
In February1892 Ninety-five paintings, large and small, by DuBois F. Hasbrouck, were auctioned off at the Fifth Avenue Auction Rooms, NYC. In 1893 he has a studio in Shandaken, and loaned two Catskill Mt.-scene oil paintings to the Kingston Club and his painting “Winter Morning in the Catskills” was exhibited at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. His oil painting “Autumn” was shown in the Relchard collection in March 1896.
He sometimes stayed in Mt. Pleasant, NY, Cold Brook, NY and wintered in NYC during the late 1890’s. The first mention I find, in the newspapers, of the Hasbrouck’s coming to Stamford is January 1898 when they are visiting at John W. Fuller’s. While in Stamford he often sold his paintings to guests staying at the boarding house
In April of 1900 numerous newspapers print: Dubois F. Hasbrouck of Kingston, has been committed to the New York state homeopathic hospital for the insane, in Middletown, the commitment was made upon the application of his wife. Mr. Hasbrouck is afflicted with religious mania and paresis (muscular weakness).
In August 1900 the Hasbroucks are guests at the Eagles Nest and the next summer they are again in Stamford for the summer. He leased the little brown house adjoining Eagles Nest on South Delaware street for a studio. Looking at the Eagles Nest, I believe his house “The Studio” was on the right and was destroyed after 1916.
The Hasbroucks are listed in the 1905 through 1915 Stamford census. In 1907 his painting “Twilight” was exhibited in the Albright Art Gallery of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy and in 1911 the Mirror-Recorder office, in Stamford, hosted an exhibition of his watercolor paintings.
James Hurley, who was out searching for some cows on Mt. Utsayantha, during the month of May 1916, heard cries for help and found DuBois in an almost helpless condition. DuBois had spent the night in the woods after sustaining a paralytic stroke. Shortly after this episode the Hasbrouck’s moved to 14 South Delaware Street. He regained his health enough to start painting again but then had another fatal stroke September 22, 1917. He is buried in the Stamford Cemetery and his wife joined him October 12, 1926. Neither has any family buried by them.
In March 1970 a collection of his paintings were on view at the Rural Supplementary Educational Center (the old Rexmere in Stamford), on loan from Miss Madeline Young.
One of the references I used for this article is a copy of “ D.F. Hasbrouck (1860-1917) Landscape Painter (American School)” By David W. Cook, South Orange, NJ, August 1960 which is housed in the Stamford Village Library history room.
An interesting side note: When entering DuBois’s name in a Google Search you get a lot of hits on paintings of his that have sold for hundreds to thousands of dollars, but no biography on him. The other unfortunate piece of information is that half of the hits list his death date as 1934 which, of course is a huge misconception.