Edward Jump

Louis), is at the right.

Jump was born in Paris, France, around 1831. His early life is not well documented, but he emigrated to California in 1852, attracted to the United States by the California Gold Rush. He traveled in the Western United States, returned to Paris for a short time and then back to the U.S. While living in California, Jump, who was both a talented painter and cartoonist, made a living drawing commercial signs, painting portraits, and producing humorous cartoons of political figures for various publications. He worked in many places around the state, but mostly in San Francisco; there he created labels for whiskey bottles, and caricatures of contemporary figures. The 1860 census listed him as a "portrait painter." In 1864 he was living in the Montgomery Block, San Francisco. Jump remained active in San Francisco until October 1865, when an earthquake occurred. After moving to Washington, DC, in 1868, Jump became somewhat renowned for his artistic merits as a portrait painter. It was there that he met and married a French performer from a touring opera company. By the 1870s, Jump and his wife had moved to New York City, where he worked as a comic illustrator. Later in the decade, Jump attempted to start an illustrated newspaper in Montreal. Following the failure of this venture, Jump moved frequently, first to New Orleans, then to Cincinnati and St Louis. In 1875 and 1878 he lived in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1878, while working on sketches of the New Orleans Mardi Gras for the Frank Leslie's Weekly, Jump was arrested on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon when a pistol fell from his pocket and discharged. He pleaded guilty and a judge sentenced him to ten minutes in the parish prison. Jump was living in St. Louis in 1878 and assigned to make sketches for Frank Leslie's Weekly of the first Veiled Prophet Parade and Ball when he was hurt badly by two hoodlums who took a wallet, a ring, and sketches of the ball. Nevertheless, Jump was able to finish his drawing of the parade (above), and it was published in the Weekly. Finally, in 1880, Jump and his wife settled in Chicago, where he was just able to make a living by producing circus and theatrical posters. He was living in Chicago in 1882.

On April 21, 1883, Jump committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a pistol, driven to depression by the state of his marriage, financial issues, and alcoholism. He died the next morning. An article reporting Jump's death appeared in the Chicago Daily Tribune, on the day of his death. The article described how Jump wrote two final letters, one addressed to his wife, and another to a lodge in St. Louis, where he was a member. The letter to his wife read as follows: The other read: Jump's funeral took place two days after his death, and he was buried at Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago. He was survived by his wife and daughter.

The woman with whom he was living in 1860 was named Rose Jump. He married Emily C. Rogers of Ireland on January 21, 1868, in the District of Columbia. She had been a prima donna with Napoleon's Italian opera company in Italy. They had a daughter, born 1865. Emily C. Jump was committed to a New York asylum 1in 1885 as a "helpless inebriate."

• Illustration — Sketch from Their Excellencies' Reception • Illustration — Sketches at the Capital-The Smoking Room, House of Commons • Illustration — Sketches from the Capital-A Game of See-Saw • Illustration — Sketches at the Capital. Men of Weight in Parliament