Thomas Alexander Tefft

Tefft was born in rural Richmond, Rhode Island, outside of the small village of Wood River Junction. He was the fourth child of William C. and Sarah Tefft. His family worshiped at the Richmond Six-Principle Baptist Church. During his childhood, Tefft experienced poor health; unable to exert himself physically, he developed an appreciation of books. At the age of 10, he enrolled at a school kept by Elisha Baggs. During his later adolescence, Tefft taught at a local schoolhouse.{{Cite book|last=Stone|first=Edwin Martin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FqAGAAAAMAAJ|title=The Architect and Monetarian: A Brief Memoir of Thomas Alexander Tefft, Including His Labors in Europe to Establish a Universal Currency|date=1869|publisher=S. S. Rider and brother|isbn=978-0-608-39931-7|language=en}}

During the 1840s, the state school commissioner, Henry Barnard, embarked on an inspection of the state's public schools. Noting Tefft's talents for drawing and the other arts, Barnard convinced him to move to Providence and study architecture. He entered the office of Tallman and Bucklin–then one of the city's primary offices. By 1846, Tefft played a dominant role in the firm's designs. In 1847, he enrolled at Brown University, where he studied under Alexis Caswell.{{Cite web|last=Austin|first=Nancy|date=2010-09-11|title=Ecology Of Culture: Was Tefft coming back?|url=https://ecologyofculture.blogspot.com/2010/09/was-tefft-coming-back.html|access-date=2021-03-31|website=Ecology Of Culture}}

At this time, Tefft exhibited a strong grasp of Rundbogenstil, amassing a large library of books on the style and advocating for its use.{{Cite book|last=Curran|first=Kathleen|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/49844681|title=The romanesque revival: religion, politics, and transnational exchange|date=2003|publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press|isbn=978-0-271-02215-4|location=University Park, Penn.|pages=139|language=English|oclc=49844681}}

In 1851, Tefft graduated from Brown. At the same time, the partnership of Tallman and Bucklin was dissolved. Tefft then opened his own office, and ran a notable practice that lasted only five years. In 1856, he decided to embark on a grand tour of Europe. Due to the beginning of an economic downturn, the only work that Tefft had in his office were the initial designs of Vassar College. With that project stagnating, he chose to go. He departed on the steamer Arago on December 13, 1856.

He began in England, where he studied the works of Christopher Wren, among others. He also met and was entertained in the home of noted architect Charles Barry. During his tour, Tefft visited the cities of Paris, Rome, Geneva, Berlin, Milan, and Florence, among others. In 1857, he was invited to join the new American Institute of Architects, and was among that organization's first fellows.Thomas Alexander Tefft: American Architecture in Transition (Providence: Brown University Department of Art, 1988) In December 1859, he fell ill with a fever in Florence at the home of his friend, sculptor Hiram Powers. He died there on the 12th. Tefft was first buried in the English Cemetery in Florence; in February 1860, his body was shipped back to Rhode Island, where it was reinterred in Swan Point Cemetery.{{Cite book|last1=Richmond Historical Society|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4003334|title=Driftways into the past: local history of the town of Richmond, Rhode Island, as remembered and visualized by members of the Richmond Historical Society and the Richmond Bicentennial Commission.|last2=Richmond Bicentennial Commission|date=1977|publisher=Richmond Historical Society|location=Richmond, R.I.|language=English|oclc=4003334}}

• Barrington School, 351 Nayatt Road, Barrington, Rhode Island (1840) – now a private home{{Cite web|last=Dunn|first=Christine|title=House of the Week: Historical charm, modern amenities in Barrington home|url=https://www.providencejournal.com/entertainmentlife/20161222/house-of-week-historical-charm-modern-amenities-in-barrington-home|access-date=2021-03-31|website=providencejournal.com|language=en}}
• File:Lawrence_Hall,_Williams_College.jpg, 1846–47]]Lawrence Hall, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts (1846–47) – built as the library, now part of the Williams College Museum of Art{{Cite book|last=Art|first=Williams College Museum of|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Haz6fF_Hq1EC|title=American Dreams: American Art to 1950 in the Williams College Museum of Art|date=2001|publisher=Hudson Hills|isbn=978-1-55595-210-5|language=en}}
• Butler Hospital, 345 Blackstone Blvd., Providence, RI (1847) – significantly alteredPage 362, The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art, Vol. 2 (Joan Marter, ed., 2011)
• Elisha Dyer House, 11 Greene St., Providence, RI (1847) – demolished{{When|date=March 2021}}Page 102, Transactions of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry in the Year 1859 (1860)
• Freight House No. 1, Canal St. at Elizabeth, Providence, RI (1847–48) – served as the passenger station until Union Station was completed, demolished{{cite web|accessdate=2024-12-14 |publisher=Rhode Island ArtInRuins |title=Providence & Worcester Railroad Merchandise House No. 1 |url=https://artinruins.com/property/providence-worcester-freight-house/}}
• Gatehouse, Swan Point Cemetery, 585 Blackstone Blvd., Providence, RI (1847) – demolished{{When|date=March 2021}}{{Cite web|title=Welcome to a History of Swan Point Cemetery History Project|url=https://www.lahistoryarchive.org/resources/SWAN_POINT/timeline.html|access-date=2021-03-31|website=www.lahistoryarchive.org}}
• Receiving Vault, Swan Point Cemetery, 585 Blackstone Blvd., Providence, RI (1847){{Cite web|title=Swan Point Cemetery // Guide to Providence Architecture|url=https://guide.ppsri.org/property/swan-point-cemetery|access-date=2021-03-31|website=guide.ppsri.org}}
• Second Universalist Church, 151 Weybosset St., Providence, RI (1847–49) – burned in 2006{{Cite book|last=Brussat|first=David|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/982538921|title=Lost Providence|date=2017|isbn=978-1-4671-3724-9|pages=71|publisher=Arcadia |language=English|oclc=982538921}}
• St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 55 Main St., Wickford, RI (1847){{cite web|date=September 15, 1971|title=NRHP nomination for St. Paul's Church|url=http://www.preservation.ri.gov/pdfs_zips_downloads/national_pdfs/north_kingstown/noki_main-street-76_st-pauls-church.pdf|publisher=Rhode Island Preservation}}
• Liberty Street School, 10 Liberty St., Warren, Rhode Island (1847){{Cite book|last=Warren|first=Elizabeth S.|url=http://www.preservation.ri.gov/pdfs_zips_downloads/survey_pdfs/warren.pdf|title=Warren, Rhode Island|publisher=Statewide Preservation Report|year=1975|pages=21}}
• Allendale School, 545 Woonasquatucket Ave., Allendale, RI (1848)Page 99, Proceedings of the Rhode Island Historical Society, 1873–74 (1874)
• Centerdale School, Thomas St., Centerdale, RI (1848) – demolished{{When|date=March 2021}}
• Howard's Block, 171 Westminster St., Providence, RI (1848) – burned in 1853{{cite news

| author = Sheila Lennon

| title = Long ago, it housed a business school: Where, when, what's there now?

| date = January 25, 2013

| work = The Providence Journal

| url = http://www.providencejournal.com/features/lifestyle/time-lapse/20130125-long-ago-it-housed-a-business-school-where-when-what-s-there-now.ece

|format=

| accessdate = 2014-12-22

}}

• Providence Union Station, Kennedy Plaza, Providence, RI (1848) – burned in 1896{{Cite book|last=Woodward|first=William McKenzie|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16357627|title=Providence : a citywide survey of historic resources|date=1986|publisher=Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission|others=Edward F. Sanderson, David, April 5- Chase, Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission|isbn=0-939261-12-X|location=[Providence]|oclc=16357627}}
• Remodeling of house for Richard James Arnold, 124 S. Main St., Providence, RI (1848) – This house was once the Sabin Tavern; it was demolished in 1891.{{Cite book|last1=Hoffmann|first1=Charles G|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/713599391|title=North by South: The Two Lives of Richard James Arnold|last2=Hoffmann|first2=Tess|date=2009|publisher=University of Georgia Press|isbn=978-0-8203-3443-1|location=Athens|pages=112|language=English|oclc=713599391}}
• Union High and Grammar School, 60 High School St., Woonsocket, RI (1848–49) – burned in 1875Richardson, Erastus. History of Woonsocket. 1876.Barnard, Henry. School Architecture. 1850.
• Young Ladies' High School, 235 Benefit St., Providence, RI (1848){{cite web |url=http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/University_Library/exhibits/education/regional.html |title=Education for Everybody: Brown's Innovation and Influence in Collegiate Education |accessdate=2014-12-06 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209080125/http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/University_Library/exhibits/education/regional.html |archivedate=2014-12-09 }}
• Indiana Cotton Mills, 310 Washington St., Cannelton, Indiana (1849–50) – now the Cotton Mill Apartments{{Cite journal|last=Wriston|first=Barbara|date=1965|title=Who Was the Architect of the Indiana Cotton Mill, 1849-1850?|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/988300|journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians|volume=24|issue=2|pages=171–173|doi=10.2307/988300|jstor=988300|issn=0037-9808}}
• Menzies Sweet House, 12 Arnold St., Providence, RI (1850)
• Narragansett Baptist Church, 170 S. Ferry Rd., South Ferry, RI (1850)
• Pastors' Rest Monument, Swan Point Cemetery, 585 Blackstone Blvd., Providence, RI (1850)
• Remodeling of the Rhode Island State House, 150 Benefit St., Providence, RI (1850)

• New England Screw Co., 1 Henderson St., Providence, RI (circa 1851) – demolished{{cite web|accessdate=2024-12-14 |publisher=Rhode Island ArtInRuins |title=American Screw Company |url=https://artinruins.com/property/american-screw-co/}}
• Paris Hill House, 201 Washington St., Providence, RI (1851) – later the home of the Union Club of Providence, demolished in 1915
• St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 1 Smith Ave., Greenville, RI (1851) – tower added in 1891Page 60, Historic and Architectural Resources of Smithfield, Rhode Island (RIHPC, 1992)
• American Antiquarian Society, 185 Salisbury St., Worcester, MA (1852) – demolished in 1909"Worcester Antiquarian Society", Norton's Literary Gazette (November 15, 1852)
• Gatehouse, Butler Hospital, 345 Blackstone Blvd., Providence, RI (1852) – demolished{{When|date=March 2021}}
• Taunton Bank Building, 9 Taunton Green, Taunton, MA (1852) – altered
• Wakefield Baptist Church, 236 Main St., Wakefield, RI (1852)Page 381, Buildings of Rhode Island (William H. Jordy, 2004)
• Weeden Block, 41 Westminster St., Providence, RI (circa 1852) – demolished
• Edward Pearce House, 2 Benevolent St., Providence, RI (1853) – demolished by the Hope Club for a parking lot in 1960{{Cite web|title=Records of #2 Benevolent Street|url=https://gowdey.ppsri.org/gowdey/Benevolent/2%20Benevolent%20St.pdf|website=Providence Preservation Society}}
• Emily Harper House, 80 Ocean Ave., Newport, RI (1853) – greatly expanded in the 1870s, demolished in 1966
• Howard Block, 171 Westminster St., Providence, RI (1853) – burned in 1858{{Cite web|last=Lennon|first=Sheila|title=Long ago, it housed a business school: Where, when, what's there now?|url=https://www.providencejournal.com/article/20130125/lifestyle/301259917|access-date=2021-03-31|website=providencejournal.com|language=en}}
• John B. Palmer House, 151 Waterman St., Providence, RI (1853) – demolished in 1961Page 167, Providence: A Citywide Survey of Historic Resources (Wm. McKenzie Woodward, 1986)
• Joseph B. Tompkins House, 38 Catherine St., Newport, RI (1853){{Cite book|last=Yarnall|first=James L.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/57754204|title=Newport through its architecture : a history of styles from postmedieval to postmodern|date=2005|publisher=Salve Regina University Press in association with University Press of New England, Hanover and London|isbn=1-58465-491-0|location=Newport, R.I.|oclc=57754204}}
• Oakwoods, Oakwoods Dr., Peace Dale, RI (1853) – the home of Rowland Hazard, demolished
• Quatrel, 669 Bellevue Ave., Newport, RI (1853–54) – for Earl P. Mason
• South Baptist Church, 125 Main St., Hartford, Connecticut (1853–54) – demolished in 1926

File:Central_Congregational_Church_(1853),_Providence.jpg, 1853-56]]

• Central Congregational Church, 226 Benefit Street, Providence, RI (1853–56) – purchased and remodeled by Rhode Island School of Design{{Cite book|last=Conley|first=Patrick T.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gi9_CQAAQBAJ|title=The Makers of Modern Rhode Island|date=2012-07-24|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-1-61423-608-5|language=en}}
• Tully D. Bowen House, 389 Benefit St., Providence, RI (1853)
• First Baptist Church, 212 S. Washington St., Alexandria, Virginia (1854) – significantly altered{{Cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Richard Guy|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48468655|title=Buildings of Virginia: Tidewater and Piedmont|last2=Butler|first2=Sara A|date=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-515206-7|location=New York|pages=85|language=English|oclc=48468655}}
• Henry E. Russell House, Lake St. and Grove Hill, New Britain, CT (1854) – demolished
• Richmond College, Grace St., Richmond, VA (1854–55) – only one wing was ever built to Tefft's design, the rest deviated from his plan, demolishedPage 151, Virginia Baptist Ministers, Vol. 3 (George Braxton Taylor, 1912)
• Richmond Female Institute, N. 10th and E. Marshall Sts., Richmond, VA (1854) – demolished in 1924{{Cite web | url=http://www.rosegill.com/ProjectWinkie/Old%20Richmond%20Neighborhoods.pdf | title=Old Richmond Neighborhoods | first=Mary | last=Wingfield Scott | website=www.rosegill.com}}
• Robert Lippitt House, 193 Hope St., Providence, RI (1854)
• William Slater House, Halliwell Blvd., Slatersville, RI (1854) – demolished
• Charles Potter House, 154 Waterman St., Providence, RI (1855) – remodeled circa 1900
• Charles S. Bradley House, 249 Eaton St., Providence, RI (1855) – now Providence College's Martin Hall.
• Elmhurst, 700 Smith St., Providence, RI (1855) – a house for William Grosvenor that lent the neighborhood its name, burned in 1967
• John Carter Brown II Stable, 357 Benevolent St., Providence, RI (1855)
• Proposal for Providence City Hall, 25 Dorrance St., Providence, RI (1855) – not built{{Cite book|last1=Jordy|first1=William H|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/8762607|title=Buildings on paper: Rhode Island architectural drawings, 1825-1945|last2=Monkhouse|first2=Christopher P|last3=David Winton Bell Gallery (Brown University)|date=1982|publisher=Bell Gallery, List Art Center, Brown University|location=Providence, Rhode Island|language=English|oclc=8762607}}
• Roger Williams Free Baptist Church, 1076 Westminster St., Providence, RI (1855) – demolished{{Cite book|last=Greene|first=Welcome Arnold|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/924704|title=The Providence Plantations for Two Hundred and Fifty Years: An Historical Review of the Foundation, Rise and Progress of the City of Providence|date=1886|publisher=J. A. & R. A. Reid|oclc=924704|language=en}}
• Bank of North America Building, 48 Weybosset St., Providence, RI (1856) – ground floor altered
• Central Baptist Church, Weybosset St. at Empire, Providence, RI (1856) – demolished in 1915 for the new Empire Street
• Proposal for Providence Merchants Exchange Building, 76 Westminster St., Providence, RI (1856) – an unusual circular building, not built
• Proposal for Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York – not built due to economic troubles, the commission later went to Renwick, Auchmuty and Sands of New York CityPage 31, Alma Mater: Design and Experience in the Women's Colleges (Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz, 1984)
• Seth Padelford Stable, 17 Benevolent St., Providence, RI (1856) – demolished in 1955

File:351 Nayatt 01.jpg|School House (1840), Barrington RI

File:Railroad Depot, by E. & H.T. Anthony (Firm) (cropped).png|Providence Union Station (1847)

File:Central pavillion on east elevation - Providence and Worcester Railroad, Freight House, Canal Street, Providence, Providence County, RI HAER RI,4-PROV,176A-10.tif|Freight House (1848), Providence

File:Indiana Cotton Mill 2.JPG|Cannelton Cotton Mill (1851), Cannelton, I.N.

File:Narragansett Baptist Church (South Ferry Church) side.jpg|Narragansett Baptist Church (1850), Narraganset, R.I.

File:Historic American Buildings Survey, Laurence E. Tilley, Photographer April, 1958 WEST (FRONT) ELEVATION. - Tully Bowen House, 389 Benefit Street, Providence, Providence County, RI HABS RI,4-PROV,67-1.tif|Tully Bowen House (1853), Providence

File:Edward Pearce House Providence RI.jpg|Edward Pearce House (1853), Providence

File:Female Institute, 10th Street, Richmond, Va., occupied as Army Headquarters LCCN2014645796.tif|Richmond Female Institute (1854), Richmond, V.A.

File:Historic Building on College Hill, Providence, RI.jpg|Robert Lippitt House (1854), Providence

File:Martin Hall Providence College.jpg|Martin Hall, Providence College (1855), Providence

File:Charles Potter House Providence RI.jpg|Charles Potter House (1855), Providence

File:Design for City Hall, Providence, R.I.jpg|Proposal for Providence City Hall (1855)

File:Central Baptist Church, Providence.jpg|Central Baptist Church (1856), Providence

File:Merchants Exchange, Providence.jpg|Proposal for Providence Merchants Exchange Building (1856)

{{Reflist}}

{{portal|Rhode Island|biography}}

• [https://archive.org/details/architectandmon00stongoog The Architect and Monetarian: A Brief Memoir of Thomas Alexander Tefft by Edward Martin Stone (1869)]. Full text. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
• [http://library.brown.edu/dps/curio/thomas-alexander-tefft-architect-extraordinaire Thomas Alexander Tefft: Architect Extraordinaire]. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
• {{find a Grave|16234137}}

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Category:1826 births

Category:1859 deaths

Category:Brown University alumni

Category:People from Richmond, Rhode Island

Category:Architects from Rhode Island

Category:Architects from Providence, Rhode Island

Category:19th-century American architects

Category:Burials at Swan Point Cemetery

Category:Fellows of the American Institute of Architects