James Akin

James Akin (occasionally spelled "Aikin") was born c. 1773 in South Carolina and worked as a clerk for the state department in Philadelphia. In 1804, after learning the process of engraving during an apprenticeship in London, Akin moved to Newburyport, Massachusetts, where he worked as an engraver, painter, and caricaturist. In 1808, he returned to Philadelphia, where he died on July 16, 1846.