Background
Frederick C. Withers was born in 1828 in England, United Kingdom.
Frederick C. Withers was born in 1828 in England, United Kingdom.
After an early education he migrated to the United States. In New York, where he established residence, Mr. Withers was trained in Architecture, and began work in Newark, N. J., in association with a landscape architect, Andrew J. Downing. Returning to New York in 1866 he formed a partnership with architect Calvert Vaux and for a period of six years carried on architectural practice in the city under the firm name (Withers & Vaux).
Among the firm's best known works in New York should be mentioned the old Jefferson Market, Court House and Prison group of buildings, designed in the then popular Victorian Gothic. Withers & Vaux were also architects of the Hudson River State Hospital for the Insane, one of the most pretentious and costly early public buildings in the state, built near Poughkeepsie on a thousand acre tract known as Kendal Green.
Better known as a church architect, Mr. Withers had designed ecclesiastical buildings in various locations in New York state and New England, among which should be mentioned the First Presbyterian in Newburgh, N. Y., dating from 1867; St. Luke's Episcopal, an English Gothic edifice built of stone in Beacon, N. Y., Calvary Episcopal Church, Summit, N. J., Zabriski Memorial Church in Newport, R. I., and the Church of St. Thomas in Hanover, N. H. (1874). He also designed and supervised erection of the reredos and altars in Trinity Church, New York, in memory of William Astor. In addition he prepared plans for St. Luke's Church, Altoona, Pa., and the Church of the Advent, built in Louisville, Kentuky.
Mr. Withers was one of the early members of the A. I. A„ and during his career attained Fellowship, also served a term as Secretary of the national organization.