Hiram Powers

Hiram Powers, one of the most famous nineteenth century sculptors, was born in 1805 in a farmhouse that stood on this hillside. Although he went west with his family at a young age, and took up residence in Florence, Italy, in 1837, Powers always referred to Woodstock as his home town. He said of his most famous work, The Greek Slave (the first nude female sculpture ever displayed in the U.S.), that he had dreamt of her rising from the mists of the Ottauquechee River. He died in Italy in 1837, leaving a body of work that included statues of such American heroes as: Andrew Jackson, Daniel Webster, John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. Today, his works are in private collections and at such museums as the Louvre, the Metropolitan, and the Smithsonian.