Francis Blackwell Mayer

While he spent most of his life in that state, he took a trip to the western frontier in the mid-nineteenth century and executed a series of drawings of Native Americans; he also studied in Paris for five years in the 1860s.

Primarily known for his oil paintings and watercolors, he also worked in other media, including pen and crayon drawings, engraving, and illustrating.

[1] Frank Blackwell Mayer studied art in Baltimore with Alfred Jacob Miller and Ernest Fischer in the 1840s and in Paris with Charles Gleyre and Gustave Brion between 1864 and 1869, specializing in oil paintings and crayon drawings.

He went on to work as an engraver in Philadelphia in 1847 and in 1848 served as the assistant librarian for the Gallery of Fine Arts at the Maryland Historical Society, which his uncle author Brantz Mayer, was heavily involved with, both in its founding and as president.

After his education in Europe, Mayer received a medal and diploma from the Maryland Institute for his works “Continental” and “Attic Philosopher.” Upon his return to the United States, he settled in Annapolis, Maryland, and resided on Market Street while keeping a studio on Prince George Street.

Woolley refers to Mayer's plan for the work (Notes by Edward C. Papenfuse, Maryland State Archivist).

In this letter, he requested permission to submit a report to the Committee regarding potential improvements or additions to the State House.

He also argued that the original design of the State House represented a pinnacle of architecture and that style must be strictly adhered to in future improvements.

The mutilation of this hall is looked upon by all visitors as an act of vandalism and tends to bring our historical renown as one of the ‘original thirteen’ into contempt.

On February 2, 1894, the Maryland State Senate requested that Mayer team up with Baltimore architect John Appleton Wilson to conduct a study of the feasibility of restoring the Old Senate Chamber to the condition it had been in when George Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in 1783.

It was not until about eleven years later under Governor Edwin Warfield's leadership that Mayer and Wilson's recommendations were carried out and the Old Senate Chamber was fully restored to a satisfactory condition.