William F. Cogswell

William F. Cogswell (July 15, 1819 – December 24, 1903) was a portrait painter who was born in Fabius, New York. In the 1830s, while working in a color factory in Buffalo, New York, he taught himself to paint. During the 1840s, he worked in New York City as a professional portrait artist. He lived in California from 1873 on, with the exception of several trips to Hawaii surrounded by 1878 and 1897. He died in Pasadena, California, on December 24, 1903.