John Henry Twachtman (1853-1902) was born in Cincinnati, in 1853, to German immigrants. Among the various jobs that Frederick Twachtman took to support his family was that of window shade decorator, work that young Twachtman also assumed when he was fourteen years old. Concurrently, John Twachtman attended classes at the Ohio Mechanics Institute. After 1871 he was enrolled part-time in the McMicken School of Design, where he met Frank Duveneck.