Sheldon Peck (August 26, 1797 - March 19, 1868) was an American folk artist, conductor on the Underground Railroad, and social activist.

Peck's ancestors helped found the New Haven Colony; his father worked as a blacksmith and served as a private in the Revolutionary War.

A year later Peck finally settled in Babcock's Grove (now Lombard) approximately twenty-five miles west of Chicago.

He grew crops and raised Merino sheep, the latter being a way to produce raw material for clothes without supporting the Southern-based cotton industry and its use of African slave labor.

His work may have been influenced by William Jennys, a primitive portrait painter who was active in Vermont around the time Peck lived there.

The three brushstrokes (one long stoke flanked by two shorter ones) resembles the footprint of a rabbit and reappears often in Peck's portraits, usually found in clothing or somewhere in the background.

While this three brushstroke motif was popular during the period – particularly among ornamental painters working on furniture or tinware – it is so closely associated with Peck that it has become his de facto signature as he did not sign his paintings (a common practice at the time).

He did, however, begin to use a somewhat brighter color palette and began embellishing his subjects with personal accessories such as jewelry, Bibles, fruit, decorated furniture, and swags of drapery in the background.

He also employed a horizontal format, which featured multiple full length figures, their arrangement taking cues from photography.

[2] From 1828 to 1836, Peck lived in an area of New York known as the burned-over district, a hot bed of various reform movements in the 19th century, including abolitionism, temperance, women's rights, and public education.

[7] In addition to working with abolitionist parties, Peck would often invite guest speakers to his home to lecture about the evils of slavery.

I can remember one incident as clearly as if it was yesterday – when my father protected seven Negroes one night, when I was a small boy, helping them on their way to the Chicago district.

[10]Frank Peck also recounts the slave spirituals that he sang with the freedom seekers at his family's home, in particular the songs sung by an Underground Railroad conductor (and escaped slave) known as "Old Charley": Roll on tibler moon, guide the tabler not astray Whilest the nightingale song is in full tune While I sadly complain to the moon.

The reform movements of the 19th century, however, changed that view, and Peck in particular supported free public education as a means to protect democracy against ignorance.

He personally paid the salary for the school's teacher, Amelda Powers Dodge, and invited all the children in the area to attend classes.