Biography:

Bernhard Gillam was born on April 28, 1856 in Banbury, Oxforshire in England and was a famous 19th century American cartoonist.  At the age of ten, Gillam’s family immigrated to the United States and settled in New York.  He studied engraving and worked as a cartoonist for Leslie’s Weekly,  the New York Graphic, and Harper’s Weekly.  Joseph Keppler later hired Gillam to work for Puck, a weekly humor magazine.  At Puck, Gillam characterized a number of political figures including the 1884 presidential candidate James A. Blaine.   In 1886 Gillam became part owner of the humor magazine Judge where he continued to poke fun at presidential candidates and their policies.  He died of typhoid fever on January 19, 1896 in Canajoharie, New York.