Artist. The founder of Hudson River School of Art, he was born at Bolton-le-Moors, Lancashire, England. He was a noted landscape artist who inspired other artists to paint the unspoiled beauty of the natural landscapes about them especially in the Hudson River Valley. He is credited with being the founder of a distinctly American art form. Some of the major artists which he influenced include Frederic Edwin Church, Asher B. Durand, Charles Herbert Moore, Henry Cheever Pratt, Benjamin Stone, Jasper Cropsey and many others. His home, Cedar Grove, in Catskill, New York, is today a National Historic Site affiliated with the National Park Service. Although, he was originally buried on family property just north of the main house, the reburial of his remains and other family members occurred in 1858 when the village’s nearby Thompson Street Cemetery was first opened. His most famous student, Frederic Edwin Church, built his own elaborate home, Olana, just across the Hudson River in Hudson, New York. Today, Olana is a New York State historic site. (bio by: Edmond Spaeth)  Family links:  Spouse:  Maria Bartow Cole (1813 – 1884)*  Children:  Mary Bartow Cole (1839 – 1894)*  Emily Cole (1843 – 1913)*  Thomas Cole (1848 – 1919)* *Calculated relationship