J.O.J. Frost (1852-1928)

Of all the notable artists who grew up on the North Shore, few were as colorful as Marblehead's self-taught town chronicler John Orne Jonathan (J. O. J.) Frost.

Frost was born in 1852 into a poor Marblehead family. As a teenager he made two fishing voyages to the Grand Banks, and seemed destined to follow that career path for the remainder of his life. In 1873, however, Frost married Annie Lilliebridge and went into the restaurant business. He had his own eatery for many years until it was destroyed by a fire that wiped out much of downtown Marblehead in 1888. John then redirected his energies into helping his wife with her successful sweet pea business.

Annie Frost died in 1919 after a long illness. After her passing, John began putting on paper his memories of his own life and of the Marblehead of his younger days. Those writings often took the form of letters to the Marblehead Messenger. "Marbleheaders Saved Constitution," "A Visit to the Shakers," and "To the Grand Banks 52 Years Ago" were just a few of the topics he explored for the paper's readers.

In 1922 John began augmenting his written memories with visual ones. Using house paint and wall board or chip board for canvases, the untrained artist began recording for posterity his recollections of the town and its once-thriving fishing industry.

Between 1922 and his death in 1928 Frost produced more than 130 naive paintings and dozens of pieces of sculpture. The latter included numerous flat carved fish, many adorned with painted scenes relating to the fishing industry, and small models of buildings, boats, and fish flakes.

A Frost painting on display in Marblehead’s Abbot Hall depicts the town's historic purchase of the land within its borders from the Naumkeag tribe in 1686. The artist captured on canvas many other town events ranging from the dramatic—John Glover's regiment marching off to Cambridge in 1775—to such every day scenes as pigs being driven to market.

Life at sea and the Marblehead fishing industry were the theme of many of Frosts' works. Drawing on his experiences at sea and his knowledge of the town's long maritime history, John produced paintings with such titles as "Grand Banker Firing Across the Bow of an English Ship," "Bound Home, Fair Wind," and "School of Whales Doing Mischief."

One of the artist's most famous works depicts a gale that wiped out most of the Marblehead fishing fleet in 1846. On the canvas he added important facts about this tragic event, including the date, the number of lives and vessels lost, and how many widows and orphans were left behind.

Frost usually included written text in his paintings. His scenes of old Marblehead are filled with such notations as "The First Navy of This Great Nation Was Born in Marblehead John Manley Admiral" and "The-Waters-Were-Filled-With-Fish-and-Game." Often the text identified long forgotten Marblehead buildings and landmarks.

Frost's paintings and sculpture attracted little attention in Marblehead. Most local residents either ignored or ridiculed the artist. Few bothered to visit the quaint museum he had added to his home on Pond Street.

Many tourists, however, did find their way to Frost's home and were intrigued by his historical art. Representatives from area media were drawn to the colorful Frost and enthusiastically chronicled his efforts to preserve Marblehead's past for future generations.

After J. O. J. Frost died in 1928 his only son Frank donated 80 of his father's works of art to the Marblehead Historical Society. A decade or so later he sold many others to a couple named Albert and Betty Carpenter. Through the efforts of Mrs. Carpenter an exhibition of Frost's works was held at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston in 1948.

In 1952, a local family acquired J. O. J.'s Pond Street home. While doing some repair work the new owner, F. Dike Mason, found more than 30 Frost paintings on the backs of pieces of wall board that had been papered over. Many were sold through exhibitions at two prestigious galleries, Child's in Boston and Knoedler's in New York, in 1954.

Mason's discovery led to a lawsuit by the Carpenters who claimed that they had acquired from Frost's family all of the artist's works not owned by the Marblehead Historical Society or by other collectors. The court eventually decided in favor of the Mason family.

The fisherman-turned-artist's reputation has not diminished with the passage of time. He was the subject of an article in American Heritage in 1962, and in more recent years a Frost painting depicting Marbleheaders marching off to the Civil War sold for more than $400,000.