Eugene Austin Furman was born on September 23, 1879 in Brooklyn, NYC. His father, John Austin Furman, was born in 1837 in NY. His mother, Henrietta L. Durgee, was born in 1839 in NY. His parents married in 1860, and had five children, of which only three survived infancy, Ida (b.1869), Herbert (b.1872), and Eugene (b.1879). The father had been a farmer on Long Island, in Huntington, NY, but in 1875 moved the family to Brooklyn, where he operated a wholesale produce business. The family lived at 75 Moffat Street.
In 1879 the eldest child, Ida Furman, age eleven, died in Brooklyn.
The two brothers attended public schools in Brooklyn.
In June of 1892 Eugene Furman completed the 8th grade, after which he left schooling and entered the workforce. He worked as a clerk at his father's produce business. On Tuesday evenings he attended drawings lessons with John Barnard Whittaker (1836-1926) at the sketch club at Adelphi College in Brooklyn at Clifton Place and St. James Place.
In 1898, during the Spanish American War, Eugene Furman, age eighteen, served with the New York State Guard.
In 1901 Eugene Furman volunteered to serve as the Corresponding Secretary for the Adelphi Sketch Club.
On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1902 Eugene Austin Furman married Esther Matilda Patterson. She was born on November 21, 1879 in NYC. The newlyweds moved to 131 Moffat Street, which is only one block north of the artist's family home at 75 Moffat Street. In 1905 their first child was born, Horace Furman.
On New Year's Eve, December 31, 1909 the artist's mother, Henrietta Durgee Furman, died at the age of seventy in Brooklyn.
In 1914 their second child was born, Janet Furman, at which point the family left Brooklyn and moved to 82 Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains, NY. The artist commuted by Metro North Railroad to Grand Central Station in NYC, where he rented an art studio at 33 East 27th Street. That same year the artist bought a new Ford automobile to commute to work.
In the early years of the 20th century, E. A. Furman illustrated hardcover books produced by Saalfield Publishing, such as "The Auto Boys Vacation" (1913), "The Auto Boys Big Six" (1914), "In The Clouds For France" ((1915), "Boy Scouts in France" (1915), "Boy Scouts in England" (1916), and "Boy Scouts in Germany" (1916).
In 1917, during the Great War, Eugene Furman served in the 11th Company, 8th Civilian Army Corps, New York State Guard. Thanks to his earlier service in the Spanish American War, he was rapidly promoted to Sergeant, 2nd Lieutenant, and 1st Lieutenant. He served overseas with the 3rd Company A, 1st Infantry. He was honorably discharged after armistice, and returned to NYC to resume his art career, but he remained in the New York State Reserve until 1925, when he retired at the rank of Captain.
Illustrations by E. A. Furman were published in Smith's Magazine, Boy's Life, The Bohemian Magazine, and The People's Home Journal. His work also appeared in pulp magazines, such as Short Stories, All-Story Love, 10-Story Love Magazine, and All Novels.
On 1926 the artist's mentor, John Bernard Whittaker, died at the age of ninety-one in Brooklyn. Local newspapers published many heartfelt tributes to the beloved art teacher.
In the 1930s the Great Depression brought hard times, bank failures, and defaulted business loans that devastated American industries, including advertising and publishing. Many artists needed to find new sources of income. Eugene Furman, a married man and father of two, could no longer support his family on occasional income from free-lance assignments, so he found steady employment as a receptionist at a local business, the People's National Bank at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains, NY. He remained a full-time employee at this bank for the rest of his life, but continued to work as a free-lance artist in his spare time.
On April 25, 1942, during WWII, Eugene Furman registered with the selective service, as required by law for all American men between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five. He was sixty-three, five-six, 140 pounds, with hazel eyes, gray hair and a ruddy complexion.
In 1949 he illustrated the juvenile book "Buffalo Gold" by Gladys Wyatt for the publishers Longmans, Green & Co.
On January 19, 1965 the artist's wife, Esther Patterson Furman, died at the age of eighty-five in White Plains. After her death the artist left NY and moved to live with his son's family at 303 Oak Hill Lane in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
Ten months later, on December 6, 1965, Eugene Austin Furman died at the age of eighty-six in his son's home in Newtown Square, PA.
© David Saunders 2019 |
