Garnet Jex

Garnet Jex (1895-1979) was born in Ohio and raised in Washington, D.C. A veteran of World War I, he studied at the Corcoran School of Art and George Washington University. His career in public service spanned 50 years, including 26 years as an artist for the U.S. Public Health Service.

Known as a landscape and portrait artist, Jex painted many scenes along the Potomac River and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal over the course of 40 years.  In 1965, He authored a history of the American Civil War entitled The Upper Potomac in the Civil War, based on a series of 51 watercolor paintings. Jex died in Washington, D.C. of a stroke in 1979.

Jex owned a home in Terrapin Neck, a few miles north of Shepherdstown.  The Historic Shepherdstown Museum has on display one of his paintings, Garnet Jex – View from Terrapin Neck. The painting depicts two young boys above the Potomac River, with a Maryland farm featuring a red barn in the distance.

On display at the Jefferson County Museum is another painting by Jex, Potomac River at Packhorse Ford below Shepherdstown, as seen from the Maryland side.