Background
John Haviland was born in 1792 in England, United Kingdom.
John Haviland was born in 1792 in England, United Kingdom.
Arriving in the U. S. in 1816, the young man settled in Philadelphia, his first important commission was for a Penitentiary at Pittsburgh, the plan of which was based on the radial principle advocated by Jeremy Wrentham, an English architect. Later Haviland won a competition tor the Eastern State Penitentiary at Philadelphia, and the successful erection of the structure between 1829 and 1836, won for him a reputation as a specialist m that field. Meantime, during the first decade of his practice, he had designed other types of public buildings in Philadelphia, the most important of which were: First Presbyterian Church, 1820, on South Washngton St., designed in the form of a Greek Temple; St. George's Greek Catholic Church, 1822, on Eighth St.; Franklin Institute, 1826, Seventh St. near Market (extant) Philadelphia Arcade, the cornerstone of which was laid on May 3, 1826 . Also sometimes attributed to him is the Grecian
tront of the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb on Broad St., dating from 1824 now a part of the School of Textiles.
Mr. Haviland' s work in Philadelphia received wide recognition, and he was commissioned to design many other buildings of note in different cities over the country, including churches,, theatres, prisons, commercial buildings and private residences, outstanding examples of which were the Missouri State Prison, Jefferson City, 1838; Rhode Island State Penitentiary, at Providence, York Hall of Justice- (familiarly known as "The Tombs”), 1836-38; Naval Hospital at Portsmouth, Virginia; County Court House, York, Penn.; County Court House, Newark, N. Y.
Haviland was an Honorary and Corresponding Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 1827 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician.
John Haviland and Mary Wright von Sonntag (daughter of Captain William Ludwig von Sonntag of the French Army and sister of George von Sonntag) were married by the Right Rev. William White, Bishop of Pennsylvania, on 2 July 1819. They had a son, John von Sonntag de Havilland.