Jacob Eichholtz (1776–1842) was an early American painter, known primarily for his portraits in the Romantic Victorian tradition Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in a family of prosperous Pennsylvania Germans, he spent most of his professional life in Philadelphia A coppersmith by trade, he turned to painting and achieved both recognition and success despite being mainly self-taught as an artist He is known to have painted over 800 portraits over the course of 35 years Hundreds of his works are housed in art museums, historical societies, and private collections throughout the United States

He was born to Leonard and Catharine Eichholtz, who owned and run the Bull’s Head Tavern on East King Street in Lancaster; his father took part in the American Revolutionary War At age 11, Jacob with his brothers attended the English School at Franklin College in Lancaster where he learned the three Rs — reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic He also took lessons from a sign painter since his parents noticed his inclination to draw, but eventually he was apprenticed as a coppersmith After his apprenticeship ended, he started as a tinsmith working with sheet iron By 1805, Eichholtz opened his own shop in Lancaster where he, “mended sugar boxes, tinned copper kettles, and made coffee pots, wash basins, lanterns, stills, and funnels”

Eichholtz married Catharine Hatz Michael (1770-1817), a young widow with two children; they had four children of their own, Caroline, Catharine Maria, Rubens Mayer, and Margaret Amelia In 1818, he married Catharine Trissler of Lancaster, and they had nine children, Edward, Anna Maria, Elizabeth Susanna, Benjamin West, Angelica Kauffman, Rebecca, Henry, Robert Lindsay, and Lavallyn Barry

In 1808-1812, Eichholtz hired several workers to work in the shop, and devoted most of his time on offering his fellow Lancastrians, at first, painted tinware, and then, small profile portraits on wood panels, in order to diversify his business and satisfy his passion for drawing After developing his abilities as profile painter and gaining enough clients to sustain his family, Eichholtz decided to make painting his main vocation In 1808, Eichholtz advertised that he “executes Portraits and Profile paintings” in the Lancaster’s Intelligencer and Weekly Advertiser In his own words, “I commenced the coppersmith business on my own account, with pretty good luck; still the more agreeable love of painting continually haunted me”

Two already established painters, James Peale and Thomas Sully influenced Eichholtz In 1808, James Peale visited Lancaster and became acquainted with Eichholtz, who commissioned Peale his portrait Thomas Sully befriended Eichholtz when he was visiting Lancaster on business and accepted his invitation to work in his painting room At that time, Sully was not impressed by Eichholtz’s attempts in painting calling them hideous, however he left him his brushes as a gift before leaving Lancaster Later, Sully wrote that he was surprised and gratified to see how much Eichholtz’s painting skills improved, and that, “Eichholtz would have made a first-rate painter had he began early in life with the usual advantages” During the winter of 1811-1812, Eichholtz traveled to Boston where he spent several weeks at the studio of Gilbert Stuart copying his works under Stuart’s supervision Stuart encouraged Eichholtz to continue painting In 1815, Eichholtz sold his business and turned to painting In 1820, he visited
Baltimore to fulfill portrait commissions; he also worked in Pittsburgh and Delaware

In 1823, Eichholtz moved to Philadelphia where he, as he later wrote, faced both, “an incessant practice of ten years, and constant employment” He was exhibiting with the Society of Artists at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Eichholtz relocated back to Lancaster in 1830 where he died in 1842 He and his family were originally interred at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on South Duke Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania In the early 1850s, Holy Trinity Church sought to expand its churchyard, so the church relocated the majority of gravestones and the remains to the new Woodward Hill Cemetery, Lot 33 of Area B, including the remains of Eichholtz and his family Eichholtz was reburied in the same grave together with both of his wives and their children By 2014, Eichholtz’s gravestone, which was made of marble, had deteriorated due to age and acid rain, rendering the inscription illegible Local historians have called for the restoration of his headstone, as well as the installation of a brass plaque at the grave site to mark his achievements

For decades the artistic legacy of Jacob Eichholtz was overlooked As time passed, a reassessment of the significance of his achievements took place and “his portraits of Thaddeus Stevens and James Buchanan are generally accepted as the best that were done of these statesmen”