Frederick Childe Hassam was born on October 17th, 1859 in Dorchester, Boston. Although he was very bright, school was not for him and he dropped out before he graduated. He knew art was what he loved and he immediately began taking classes at the Lowell Institute.

William Merritt Chase was born on November 1st, 1849 in Nineveh, Indiana. After joining and leaving the Navy in 1869, he decided to leave Indiana and head off to New York to study art.