Writing about Bidwell’s old adobe house a few months ago, I posted this picture of Bidwell Mansion, which shows the adobe on the left-hand side and Bidwell Mansion in the center. At the time I said it was an “undated painting by an unknown artist,” but I was wrong about that, and now I am here to tell you about John Frederick Holtzman and his painting.

(I apologize for not giving you a better view of the painting. The glare from the bright light shining on it makes photography difficult.)

It is thanks to John Rudderow and Deana Glatz that I learned so much more about the painting.

John Frederick Holtzmann (he dropped the second ‘n’ in America) was born in Bremen, Germany in 1833 (give or take a year). He immigrated to the United States in 1853 and by 1856 he was in the gold-mining town of Columbia. He was a painter by trade — he could paint a house inside and out, or he could paint a painting of a house. He moved from county to county: various records find him in Amador, Nevada, San Francisco, Sacramento, Yolo, and in 1871, Butte County. He married in 1861 and he and his wife Anna had a family of four children.

During his time in Chico he produced this oil painting of Bidwell Mansion. It features a busy scene of activities on the Esplanade. Our best guess is that that is General Bidwell riding in a buggy driving a spirited horse, along with other figures including several Indians, a carriage and farm wagons.

John Rudderow speculates that Holtzman offered to sell the painting to Bidwell, but for some reason Bidwell declined the offer. Bidwell makes no mention of Holtzman or the painting in his diary.

Eventually the painting came into the hands of Glenda Carpenter of Oroville who donated it to the Butte County Pioneer Museum in 1932, where it hangs today. If anyone out there knows how she came to possess it, please let us know. John and Deana would very much like to trace the history of the painting.

In late 1873 the Holtzman family moved to Santa Cruz County, where they remained for the next five years, until the death of Mrs. Holtzman. After his wife’s death, Holtzman began moving around the state again, finally ending up in Portland Oregon, where he died in 1906.

Holtzman created a number of other sketches and paintings but few of them are available online. John Rudderow and Deana Glatz are seeking other images and more information for a future article about John Frederick Holtzman.

If you know more about Holtzman or about his painting of Bidwell Mansion and how it came to the Carpenter family, please let me know and I will pass the information on.