Joseph Whiting Stock: A Portraitist Defying Adversity Joseph Whiting Stock (1815 – 1855) stands as a remarkable testament to artistic perseverance and ingenuity. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, his life was irrevocably altered by a childhood accident—a cart colliding with him leaving him paralyzed from the waist down—yet he refused to surrender to circumstance, transforming physical limitations into fuel for creative ambition. Sto…