LOCAL HISTORY
Of The
TOWN OF CHESTER
John B. Yeats & Jeanne Foster
The father of famed Irish poet William Butler Yeats, John B. Yeats was honored in Chestertown at a 2001 event. Approximately 50 people attended to hear presenter Maureen Murphy, a Professor of Curriculum at Hofstra University in Long Island and past president of The American Conference for Irish Studies. John Butler Yeats, the patriarch of a very distinguished family is buried in the northeast corner of the Chestertown cemetery. Next to John Yeats lies native Adirondacker and woman of the world Jeanne Roberts Foster.
Jeanne Foster rose from quite lowly means to become a schoolteacher, an actress and a model. She was a fixture in the 1900's on the cover of Vanity Fair and is said to be the model for the famed "Gibson Girl." She was also a writer of prose and poetry and was, of course, a patron and friend to other artists. John Yeats, it happened, visited New York in 1907, where he met Foster. Despite booking passage back to Ireland many times, he never returned, and in 1922, John Butler Yeats died in the U.S.
Jeanne Foster, born and raised in Chestertown, had cared for John in his later years and, upon his death, offered to bury John B. Yeats in her family's plot there. The Yeats family accepted. John Yeats was born and educated in Ireland. He moved frequently between London and Dublin with his four children. His wife, Susan Mary Pollexfen, died in England in 1900. You may not be as familiar with John Yeats' works as an author, painter and philosopher as you are with the accomplishments of his son William Butler Yeats (1923 Nobel Prize). However, the elder Yeats was a noted scholar and portrait artist in his own right, though presently most critics, too, would say that Yeat's greatest works were his children: Willy, Lily, Lolly and Jack.
Willy - William Butler Yeats - became a world famous poet, as you are probably aware. Lily and Lolly were writers and artists as well, and also ran and owned the Cuala Press in Dublin - at a time when women didn't typically have such stature. Jack, the youngest son, became one of Ireland's greatest painters, whose works, including "Singing Horseman," "My Beloved, Beloved" and "Flower Girl of Bachelor Walk," set a hard-to-match standard for capturing emotion on canvas.
This information was provided by an article from The Chronicle - Sept., 28th, 2000
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