Joseph Benson Bishir

Joseph Benson Bishir

Male 1888 - 1978  (90 years)

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  • Name Joseph Benson Bishir  [1, 2, 3
    Born 11 Feb 1888  Lynchburg, Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location  [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
    Gender Male 
    Occupation Artist (1957), Automobile repairman (1930)  [3, 10
    Died 6 Oct 1978  Lake Worth, Palm Beach, Florida Find all individuals with events at this location  [5, 6, 11
    Buried Dayton Memorial Park, Dayton, Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location  [6
    Person ID I1498  Bishir Family | Jonathan & Elizabeth Bishir
    Last Modified 13 Apr 2013 

    Father William Bishir,   b. 19 Aug 1840, Lynchburg, Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 17 Jan 1934, Lynchburg, Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 93 years) 
    Mother Judith “Judia” Boyland,   b. 5 Apr 1849, Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 12 Sep 1938, Clark Twp., Clinton Co., Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 89 years) 
    Married 29 Oct 1866  Highland Co., Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location  [12
    Family ID F49  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Mary Edna Long,   b. 20 Nov 1891, Lima, Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 19 Aug 1966, Palm Beach, Florida Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 74 years) 
    Married Abt 1912  [3
    Children 
     1. Mary Jane Bishir,   b. 26 Feb 1913, Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 2 Mar 2003, New York, New York Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 90 years)
     2. Valery Jean Bishir,   b. 28 Feb 1914, Dayton, Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 5 Aug 1924, Dayton, Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 10 years)
    Last Modified 10 Nov 2022 
    Family ID F809  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 11 Feb 1888 - Lynchburg, Ohio Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    BISHIR, Joseph Benson
    BISHIR, Joseph Benson
    BISHIR group on the occasion of the 66th Wedding Anniversary of William and Judia Bishir, Highland Co., Ohio, October 1932
    BISHIR group on the occasion of the 66th Wedding Anniversary of William and Judia Bishir, Highland Co., Ohio, October 1932
    Courtesy of the Mark Sebastian Archive - please do not republish this photo in any form including to anywhere else on the Internet without specific permission
    BISHIR, Joseph Benson about 1905
    BISHIR, Joseph Benson about 1905
    Courtesy of the Mark Sebastian Archive - please do not republish this photo in any form including to anywhere else on the Internet without specific permission
    BISHIR brothers: Joseph Benson (Ben), John, William, 1905 Xenia, Ohio
    BISHIR brothers: Joseph Benson (Ben), John, William, 1905 Xenia, Ohio
    Courtesy of the Mark Sebastian Archive - please do not republish this photo in any form including to anywhere else on the Internet without specific permission
    BISHIR, Zella, Ben, Bessie and Judia (in car)
    BISHIR, Zella, Ben, Bessie and Judia (in car)
    Courtesy of the Mark Sebastian Archive - please do not republish this photo in any form including to anywhere else on the Internet without specific permission
    BISHIR - Ben Bishir's school, Highland Co., Ohio.
    BISHIR - Ben Bishir's school, Highland Co., Ohio.
    Courtesy of the Mark Sebastian Archive - please do not republish this photo in any form including to anywhere else on the Internet without specific permission

    Dear Jane, This is a snap ( on a rainy day) of the great institution of learning where Gorilla got his much vaunted education. So now you can see what it looks like. Also the woodpeckers didn't eat it before he got out of second grade, because it is brick. Dear Old Rattlesnake College.
    Your Pappy, Ben

    Documents
    BISHIR, Joseph Benson, article from 1957 All Florida Magazine
    BISHIR, Joseph Benson, article from 1957 All Florida Magazine
    BISHIR: Letter from Mary Anna (Bishir) Garman to J. Benson Bishir, 1953
    BISHIR: Letter from Mary Anna (Bishir) Garman to J. Benson Bishir, 1953
    Courtesy of the Mark Sebastian Archive - please do not republish this document in any form including to anywhere else on the Internet without specific permission
    BISHIR, Mary Anna Garman pedigree chart sent to J. Benson Bishir in 1953 (see letter also)
    BISHIR, Mary Anna Garman pedigree chart sent to J. Benson Bishir in 1953 (see letter also)
    Courtesy of the Mark Sebastian Archive - please do not republish this document in any form including to anywhere else on the Internet without specific permission
    BISHIR, William & Judia family bible
    BISHIR, William & Judia family bible
    Courtesy of the Mark Sebastian Archive - please do not republish this document in any form including to anywhere else on the Internet without specific permission

  • Notes 
    • Living in Dayton with his sister, Bessie, in 1910. Lists two children on his 1917 draft registration. Lived in Dayton in 1920 & 1930 also. Lived in Florida in 1969.

      In later life Ben was an accomplished artist. He attended the Dayton Art Institute and won first prizes at the Society of Four Arts in 1952 and 1953.

      Florida Personalities
      Treasure Hunter Extraorinary
      By Carol Bird, The All Florida Weekly Magazine, 4/14/1957

      From Florida’s beaches, flatlands and hills, come treasures of native materials -- wood, limestone and anatase -- from which Joseph Benson Bisher of Lake Worth, turns out prize-winning sculpture. He has to his credit a number of first prizes won at art exhibitions throughout the country.

      Mr. Bisher is a familiar sight around the East Coast countryside, tall, distinguished-looking and wearing a Vandyke beard. Attired in Bermuda shorts and beret, he pedals his bicycle over country roads and beaches, and on these excursions picks up materials in which he can foresee objects of art. Sometimes he travels to Marianna for limestone, to Fort Lauderdale for pine and to Sarasota for travertin -- a gray or tan stone formed by deposits from spring waters.

      Some of his best art has been carved from Anatase, a black to brown mineral found along the beaches of Lake Worth. “But there isn’t any particular place where my treasure lies,” says Mr. Bisher, “I find it all over Florida.”

      As a boy in Ohio, this artist was fond of sketching landscapes and animals, but in adulthood had to turn his attention toward making a living in a serious way. He was variously, automotive engineer, factory worker, plasterer, pugilist, acrobat, house builder and real estate broker. During World War II, Mr. Bisher made precision tools and dies for building planes and tanks. Eventually, however, he returned to his first love and entered Dayton Art Institute. He was soon hauling gargantuan rocks and stumps to a small studio where he hacked at them to heart’s content. Today his works sell for thousands of dollars.

      Joseph Bisher won first prizes at the Society of Four Arts in 1952, for his “Head of Moses” and in 1953 for his “Refugees,” a sculpture of a mother and child. He has held one-man shows of oils, water colors and sculpture in many galleries, including the Lowe Gallery, Miami. In a showing at Dayton Grand Avenue Gallery, he was awarded honorable mention from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

      Looking at a piece of mahgany or limestone, the artist says he can sense what is locked inside, and he chops and carves or slices at it until it is released. Using well the knowledge he gained as tool and die-maker, Mr. Bisher makes ll the tools he needs for his work. He seasons his own wood and polishes the finished work by hand. His backyard is his favorite spot to work, for there he “can let the chips fly where they may -- and stay there!”

      Perhaps Mr. Bisher is successful because he has found contentment. “I have found the key,” says the distinguished artist, “to the place I should be. I am satisfied, and at peace.” [10, 13]

  • Sources 
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