Horwood stained glass is renowned across the United States and Canada. This company was a family business. The patriarch of the family, Harry Horwood, was born in England in 1838. Harry and his brothers were taught to make stained glass windows by the Rev. William M. Blackwell. Harry Horwood left England in 1861 settling in Toronto. He remained there until 1864, returning to England to work with his brothers. He, his wife and 6 children emigrated to Ottawa in 1876, then New York City. While in New York Harry and his son Harry J, who was born in 1865 in England, repaired the stained glass windows of the Vanderbilt Mansion.
In 1881 the Horwoods moved to Prescott, Ontario and also established a branch of his firm in Ogdensburg. Horwood Stained Glass was awarded the contract for all the stained glass windows for the Ogdensburg Opera House. Unfortunately these windows were destroyed in a fire in 1926. The same fate befell the stained glass windows in old St. Mary’s Cathedral in 1947. Harry Horwood died in May 1917 in Ottawa. His eldest son, Harry J. carried on the family business. He resided in Ogdensburg from 1898 until his death in 1947. Harry J. Horwood specialized in church memorial windows and decorative windows for private homes.
There are many fine examples of Horwood stained glass windows throughout the city of Ogdensburg that still survive today. Among those include: The Frederic Remington Museum, The First Presbyterian Church, Notre Dame Church, the Congregational Church, and the First Baptist Church.
Sources:
David E. Martin
Persis Boyesen: Horwood: Stained Glass Artists
Alice B. Hamilton: unpublished manuscript
Ogdensburg Journal January 31, 1947
Notre Dame Church windows: http://www.ndogd.org/stained-glass-windows/stained-glass-windows
First Presbyterian Church: David Martin
First Baptist Church: David Martin
Frederic Remington Museum: David Martin
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