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Silas Brainard is a late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century carver who lived in east Haddam. He carved a number of original but rather conventional cherubim somewhat derivative of the work of his contemporary John Isham. However, the chief fame of Brainard lies in the series of spectacular and haunting profile stones that he placed in many on the East Haddam burying grounds. These are some of the finest sandstones extant in the Connecticut River Valley and mark Brainard as an artist of the first caliber. Until recently this fine carver was unknown, but the recent discovery of his account book by Jonathan Twiss not only allows us to identify his works but to understand the evolution of his style and the cost of the stones. We can look forward to a definitive study of this carver in the near future.
From: Slater, James A. The Colonial Burying Grounds of
Eastern Connecticut and the Men Who Made Them. Memoirs of the
Connecticut Academy of Arts & Sciences, vol. 21. Hamden,
Connecticut: Archon Books, 1987.
*Homer Babbidge Library call number f/Q/11/C85/v.21