Career
Known for his attention to detail, he was also an inventor of a machine for braiding horsewhips. Spending most of his life in Ashfield, Massachusetts, Elmer is best known for his painting Mourning Picture. The painting is noted for its intricate detail and the contrast between the mourning family, who sit in relative darkness, and the dead daughter, who is bathed in sunlight.
lieutenant was first displayed in a local post office in 1890, then disappeared until the 1950s, when a niece of the artist showed it to the director of the Smith Museum.
lieutenant was then that Elmer"s talent was first recognized and his paintings put on display. The picture now hangs in the Smith College Museum of Art – Northampton, Massachusetts.