Vinnie Ream Hoxie was one of the best known women in the art, music, politics, and society of nineteenth century America. She was born Vinnie Ream in Madison, Wisconsin in 1847 to Lavinia and Robert Lee Ream. Her father was a surveyor for the U.S. government. In 1857 her father's job took the Ream family to Western Missouri, where Vinnie and her older sister Mary attended Christian College in Columbia. There Vinnie studied art, vocal music, and several instruments, including guitar, banjo, harp, and harpsichord. She also began to work with sculpture. After she graduated, the family lived for a short time in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where Robert Ream was in the real estate business and was a part-time map maker. Vinnie performed frequently as a singer and musician at church socials and other functions, and she also colored her father's maps.
In 1861 the Reams moved to Washington, D.C., and two years later Vinnie began working with sculptor Clark Mills, through whom she was able to get portrait commissions. With the help of Missouri Congressman James Rollins, she persuaded President Abraham Lincoln to pose for her. On the basis of her model which was nearly complete when Lincoln was assassinated, she was chosen, even over her teacher Clark Mills, to do a life-size statue of Lincoln for the Capitol. In 1866, at nineteen years of age, Vinnie Ream became the first woman to sign a contract with the U.S. government for a life-size statue; this sudden prominence brought her national renown. She subsequently did busts of Civil War Generals George A. Custer, Ulysses S. Grant, and George B. McClellan, and was commissioned to do a ten-foot monument of Admiral David Farragut, the greatest naval officer of the Civil War. The Farragut model was finally completed in 1880 and was eventually finished in bronze; the sculptress rode to its unveiling with Mrs. Farragut and President Garfield.
While working on the Farragut model, Vinnie Ream married Lt. Richard Hoxie of the U.S. Army. A son was born to them in 1883, but little is known of him, as he spent most of his adult life in hospitals.
When Richard Hoxie retired as a Brigadier General in 1908, Vinnie was still working in clay. She particularly enjoyed teaching children, especially blind children, how to work with clay. Vinnie Ream Hoxie died in Washington, D.C. on November 20, 1914 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in her bridal gown and white turban. Her husband chose her epitaph, “Words that would praise thee are impotent.”
