John Carlin (15 May or 15 June[1] 1813 in Philadelphia – 23 April 1891 in New York City) was an American illustrator, painter and poet.

After miniature painting was dethroned by the emergence of portrait photography, Carlin gave up this previously lucrative line of business and concentrated on larger-format works.

Although Carlin could not read lips or speak oral language, he was a staunch believer that those skills should be taught to the deaf.

[5] John Carlin was on the committee to erect a monument to Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet in Hartford (Connecticut).

[1] In 1843 John Carlin married a niece of Abraham Lincoln's secretary William Henry Seward, Mary Wayman.

[6] The marriage resulted in five hearing children,[1][7] one of whom, Frances Seward Carlin (1851-1925), also became a painter most known for her floral still lifes, but also studies of French peasants and their homes.