Buyer BEWARE and Then Some

This is just a little note to tell people to think twice about buying any of my books from third party sellers. First they jack them up to ridiculous prices and secondly they don't actually have the books; this is on both eBay and Amazon. They are scamming you to pay for something they never acquired themselves and then charging insane prices for the book and the shipping. Please think twice about buying from them. This is sort of a crooked thing Amazon is aware of and allows to happen. Just buy the book direct if you want one. They're nice books and I don't want people to have bad experiences trying to get them. I have pride in them and these sellers just make me want to take a shower to wash off the disgust.

And now back to my regular programming.

This is a photo my friend Bert gave me. Cute little fella with a very tiny wagon. I mean a really tiny wagon. Not much would fit in that wagon except maybe some gumdrops or a tiny bear. You have to use your imagination with a wagon that small.

There's no information about the little fella or the photographer.

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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 9 available at Amazon.

ANOTHER Year

I've been away from this site and my other site for a long time. The joy had left me. The joy had left almost everything in life as I struggled to be a full time caregiver to my father. In the end he lost the battle. I lost the battle. I am empty. I miss his laugh.

Being a caregiver full time means putting yourself on hold. There is little time for self. It's a good lesson, but a difficult one. You don't get paid for being a caregiver so money becomes an additional stress. I looked at photos on ebay, but I didn't buy. There was no time (or money) to go to antique stores, flea markets, or estate sales. But friends, good friends, and a stranger were very kind to me.

The photo below was from a very kind woman named Brenda. She sent it to me because of the Hartsook connection. For that reason I start up again by reposting my original Hartsook post that enabled her to find me.

I quite like this young man. Is he younger or older than he looks? Is he just on the cusp of being an adult and has the clothes he feels make him look older? Or is he someone who goes through life always looking younger than his years? I think he should have been very proud of his portrait.

You'll notice this shot was taken in Seattle, not San Francisco.

And thank you Brenda!

And now, the original Hartsook post from May 7, 2012

These images came from my friend Bert’s collection. I don’t know where he found them, but I think they’re quite a nice find.

This is Edward in 1920. That's all I know about this young man. This lock of hair was tucked in with the two photos. I have not found anything online about the Nelson Studio in Santa Rosa, California.


Click on image to see it larger.

This second photo was taken at a Hartsook studio.



Click on either image to see it larger.

The following information about the photographer Fred Hartsook is from Wikipedia.

Fred Hartsook (26 October 1876 – 30 September 1930) was an American photographer and owner of a California studio chain described as "the largest photographic business in the world" at the time,[1] who counted Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, Mary Pickford, and sitting President Woodrow Wilson among his celebrity clients. He later became the owner of the Hartsook Inn, a resort in Humboldt County, and two ranches in Southern California on which he reared prized Holstein cattle. Hartsook was married to Bess Hesby, queen of the San Francisco Pan-Pacific Exposition of 1915.

Fred Hartsook was born on 26 October 1876 in Marion, Indiana to John Hartsook and Abbie, née Gorham. He was born into a family of photographers and studio owners, his father and two uncles were all successful in the business and his grandfather had been the first photographer to open a studio in Virginia. According to a 1921 profile by John S. McGroarty, "the first Hartsooks [took] up the profession when it was in the infancy of development with the old daguerrotype and the first wet plate processes."

After graduating from high school at age sixteen Hartsook was apprenticed by his uncle as a civil engineer, but spent most of his time in his father's studio. He moved to Salt Lake City, Utah and married Florence Newcomb, 12 September 1901. Flossie came from a family of photographers. She operated her own studio in Vernal, Utah in 1906. Flossie served as Fred's assistant for their traveling photographic studio throughout the Utah territory. They had one daughter; Frances born 25 June 1902. Fred and family then set out to establish themselves in California, arriving sometime after 1906. Initially, Hartsook operated as an "itinerant shutterbug, [wandering] all over the state, his team of mules pulling a homemade darkroom." Later he opened two studios, in Santa Ana and Santa Barbara, but eventually closed them in order to open a studio on 636 South Broadway in Los Angeles.

Hartsook's success as a photographer and studio owner allowed him to expand into other cities along the Pacific Coast, including San Francisco and Oakland. In 1921, McGroarty gives the number of studios as 20 and describes it as the "largest photographic business in the world". Bill Robertson, director of the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services, cited by KPCC in 2009, mentions 30 studios.

Even if the bulk of the business came from everyday studio portraiture, Hartsook gained prominence through his celebrity clients, which included silent era Hollywood actors such as Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, and Carlyle Blackwell, other celebrities such as pilot Charles Lindbergh, entrepreneur Henry Ford, and opera singer Geraldine Farrar, and politicians like House leaders Champ Clark and Joseph Gurney Cannon. McGroarty describes a 40-minute sitting with President Woodrow Wilson in September 1919 as "the first formal sitting since Mr. Wilson became president." Also in 1919, Fred Hartsook married Bess Hesby, who in 1915 was "Miss Liberty" at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. They honeymooned in a cabin six miles (10 km) south of Garberville in the redwood forest of Humboldt County, California. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

The last incarnation of the Hartsook Inn is still standing and I stayed there a few times. It was a lovely place with nice little cabins. It’s been vacant for a long time and whenever I drive by I feel a little sad. It’s along a busy two lane section of Hwy 101. I imagine someday the road will be moved, changed into a 6 lane freeway, and bypass the Hartsook. It will be forgotten, just as Edward may be forgotten.

To see images of the Hartsook Inn click here to visit CardCow.

Click here to read a newspaper article about the Hartsook Inn in 1949.

Click here to read a nice blog post at Ernie's Place about the Inn.
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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 9 available at Amazon.

TUMBLING fences

I have no information about this photo. On the back is printed by hand "Jenni Woodall." It was in an envelope of items from my friend Bert.

Click on image to see it larger.

SIT STILL and SMILE!

Choosing to have a family photo taken with a child can lead to all sorts of interesting outcomes. Generally the child is going to be the most alive and interesting person in the photo because they still aren't sure what it's all about. These are basically "smile for grandma" shots.

The Sepia Saturday prompt this week is a family portrait of three people. So I give you three portraits, each containing three people. All of these photos were given to me by my friend Bert and one of the photos was originally posted on November 16, 2010. The first two shots are from the George Kallman estate.

I have no information on any of these people.

Click on any image to see it larger.

The MOTHER AND SON with forensic photographer H. Seymour Squyer

Originally I was going to make this a simple post entitled "Memorial Day and Those Who Waited." The inspiration being this woman and boy who are unknown, but the photograph looks like the sort a Union Soldier might have carried in his pocket.





Then I decided to do a little research about the photographer, H. Seymour Squyer. Again, ephemera takes me on a journey.

H. Seymour Squyer was born November 4, 1848. He was a photographer at 77 Genesee Street in Auburn, New York. In the 1880 census Squyer is 31 and married to Francis (Kupenhouser?), age 30. They have two sons, Frank age 3 and Fred around 10 months.

From the brief information I’ve found, Squyer did portrait photography, criminal forensic photography, and stereographs. I cannot find actual examples of the criminal work or stereographs, merely references to them.

Here you can read an article from the Auburn New York Weekly Bulletin about a trial Squyer was involved in. He took photographs of two signatures which were then enlarged allowing a court to determine if a signature on a will was forged.

Here you will find an article in which Squyer was a witness in an arson trial.

And here you can read more about the trial.

Another trial in 1897 in which he is questioned about the length of a flame from a Sheldon revolver and photographs he took.

Here is an article about a trial in which Squyer took a photograph of a page from an accounting book.

On May 11, 1892 Squyer had his own run in with the law.

In the 1900 census Squyer, age 57, is married to Harriet M., age 38. Within a few years Squyer was dead. On December 19, 1905 the following obituary appeared in The Auburn Citizen.

He was buried on December 21, 1905 in the Fort Hill Cemetery.

Here is an article for Squyer’s will dated January 26, 1906.

On January 23, 1906 the following appeared in the Auburn Semi-Weekly Journal in regards to Squyer’s will apparently being contested.

That is not the last we hear of Squyer. In The Citizen-Advertiser in Auburn, New York, on June 30, 1949 there is the following article in which we are told that Squyer's photographic plates were nearly used as glass in a greenhouse.

Click on image to see it larger. 

Rare Print Recalls Days of Yore at Wells

Reminiscent of days gone by is a picture of Glen Park, once the Aurora home of Henry Wells, founder of the Wells Fargo Express Company and American Express Company whose generosity made possible Wells College at Aurora. The picture of the college is among a collection of photographic plates of Wells college and the Village of Aurora, given to the college by George Underwood, Jr., of this city.

These plates were made about 1900 by H. Seymour Squyer for many years a leading photographer in Auburn. His studio was located at 180 Genesee Street, where they Mohican store now stands. Shortly after Squyer’s death in 1905, G. G. Hayden, who had just built a house at the top of Chadell Place in Auburn, acquired from the Squyer estate a ton or more of the photographic plates to used in a projected greenhouse for which he had difficulty in obtaining the necessary glass. Hayden’s death cancelled the greenhouse plans, and the old plates remained on the grounds, crated in wooden boxes in an old chicken house. Here Mr. Underwood found them when he bought the Hayden place in 1945.

The task of sorting out the plates has been a long one; some of them were protected by individual envelopes, but very few were labeled or identified in any way. However, Mr. Underwood has succeeded in “getting some of them into the hands of those who should have them.”

He has given the following to Wells College: Five views of Glen Park, taken shortly before the former home of Henry Wells was purchased and given to the college by the alumnae in 1907; six exterior views of Main Building and Morgan Hall; three interiors of Main, showing the old gymnasium, a parlor, and the museum; six vies of the lake shore and the road approaching Aurora from the south; and early picture of the Aurora Inn, which was built in 1883 (?) Several of them appeared in early issues of the Wells College Catalogue.

Mr. Underwood’s collection also contains some wonderful views of Auburn and boating on Owasoo Lake; possibly a picture of the first Boys Conference every held by the Y. M. C. A in the United States, also some plates of the old asylum, later the Women’s Prison in Auburn.

Mr. Underwood plans to turn over to the County Museum all plates for “Which he cannot find owners.” A few prints at a time will be displayed and identifications requested.

You can visit this page to find even more articles in which H. Seymour Squyer is mentioned.

Here, at the Cabinet Card Gallery, you can see a wedding photograph taken by Squyer.

Ultimately, what Squyer is famous for is a portrait he took of Harriet Tubman available at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.

And so it goes. I start out with just a photo and then I get sucked in.

Should anyone have any more information about Squyer I'd gladly post it or link to it.

UPDATE: Here's a link to a photo of Robert L. Drummond, in civilian clothes, a soldier who served in a New York State military unit during the Civil War.

Amos Wood, J. J. Reilly, Enno Nesemann, and THE UNKNOWN WOMAN AT WOOD'S GALLERY

Sometimes trying to research an old photo can be simply mind-numbing. When searching for a photographer I hope to find a nicely written page where someone else has done the leg work; that rarely happens. Sometimes I find a few other shots credited to the photographer; too often I find nothing.

In the case of this photo I actually found quite a bit of information about the different photographers who owned the gallery/studio. I only found one other photo with the same Wood’s imprint as shown above, which is available here on eBay.

I cannot really be sure as to when this shot of the woman was taken, thus I cannot be sure who the photographer was. Yes, the obvious would be to say someone with the name “Wood” was the photographer, and perhaps that’s true, but I found at least three people who owned this studio/gallery. Perhaps if I’d continued I’d have found even more.

The first owner of the studio I find was Amos Wood, who was originally from Massachusetts. I’m finding dating his ownership to be confusing. In this document it states he was the owner from 1870-79. However, the border we see on this photo should date it from the 1860s. I also found a reference in information about the second owner claiming the name “Wood’s Gallery” had been in Marysville since 1860.


The second owner, who bought it from Wood in 1878 or 1879, was John James Reilly, who by far is the most memorable of the three I researched. Before purchasing the studio, Reilly’s work, his stereographs, were marketed by Amos Wood.

J. J. Reilly was a young Scottish emigrant in search of a new life when he arrived in California in 1856. After serving as a volunteer in the Union Army, he became a naturalized American citizen in 1866. (SOURCE: National Stereoscopic Association)

In 1870 or ’71 he traveled from New York to California, where he remained for the rest of his life. A friend of John Muir, he lived and worked in Yosemite Valley for seven summers (1870-76).

In July of 1878 Reilly had moved from San Francisco to Marysville, where he established himself as a portrait and landscape photographer.

He ran an advertisement in one of the local Marysville papers which touted:

...his many years of experience in posing sitters, his chiaroscuro lighting effects (the so-called “Rembrandt effect”), “the latest style” (bust portraits in three-quarter profile), correct exposures with shadow detail, great skill in retouching eyes and in hand-tinting lips and cheeks, and "a picture that never fades…Fine works is done in Woods Photo Gallery, Odd Fellows Bldg. Marysville by J. J. Reilly, inventor of the new magic process for making the baby’s pictures in from one to two seconds." (SOURCE: National Stereoscopic Association)

Reilly retained the gallery name, which local residents had associated with the business since 1860. He was also retained by the city of Marysville to take mug shots of local prisoners.

In 1886:

Reilly abandoned his second wife and his life’s work in Marysville. His master set of stereo negatives—a d of work twenty years in the making—was acquired by Enno Nesemann, the proprietor at Woods Gallery for the next fourteen years. Like his predecessors in the small, country town, Nesemann earned a lving by taking “dogtypes” and “mug shots”, and by marketing views to a regional audience. (SOURCE: National Stereoscopic Association)

In 1890 J. J. Reilly was listed as an “artist” at 313 Stockton Street in San Francisco.

In 1891 he wrote a letter of inquiry to C. W. J. Johnson, a portrait photographer in Monterey, about a job running Johnson’s gallery:

“Have you found a man yet to run your gallery for the summer? If not, I think I would try it, provided the place would pay anything above living expenses. I have been in the business for 25 year, but always for myself till lately.

Here is a photo Reilly took of the Del Monte Hotel in Monterey.

In 1893 he ran a gallery in Eureka, California called The New York Photograph Gallery with a partner named Evans. They remained in Eureka for three months.

Sadly, Reilly’s life did not end well. In 1894, back in San Francisco, he was boarding at the Pioneer House, on the corner of Fourth and Mission Streets.

He had already exhausted his disability pension. He was out of work and running out of money. Infirmed and despondent, he wrote the following suicide note:

This is to certify that I, J. J. Reilly, am tired of this life and so close up my accounts with all humanity on this earth. My reasons for doing so are: First, I am 55 years old: I have been disabled in the War of the Rebellion. Second, I am out of money and can find no work, so life to me is not worth living for. What are the few days, weeks, months or years which might be ahead of me? I am no good to any one, neither to myself, and why should I allow myself to suffer and go hungry? No, I wll never do it. And as I see the country is in a very bad condition, and the Government is rotten, and it is only bloodshed that will purify it. (SOURCE: National Stereoscopic Association)

On June 27th of 1894 Reilly, in his room at the Pioneer House, locked his door, and shut the window. He extinguished his lamp then turned the gas on full “and went to bed to die.”

On June 28th he was found by a chambermaid. He was rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to the effects of carbon monoxide asphyxiation on June 30th. His body, as requested by Reilly, was given to the Dr. Toldan Medical College for study because “I am afflicted with liver and other troubles, which may be of use to the medical men.”

Reilly was survived by two ex-wives and a son from his first marriage. A trunk filled with personal effects was shipped to his son. His work survives today as stereographs collectors covet.

There is much more to read about J. J. Reilly, and Enno Nesemann, here, including a photo of Reilly with his second wife, Jennie.


The third owner of Wood’s Gallery, as I mentioned above, who bought it from J. J. Reilly, was Enno Nesemann.

Enno was born in 1861 in Marysville, California and died in 1949 in Berkeley, California.

In 1866 Enno, age 5, sailed from Bremen, Germany to New York aboard the SS Bremen. He sailed with his father, Diedr, age 37, a baker; his mother, Lisette, age 30; and his sister, Elise, age 6. They are listed as residents of San Francisco. No information is given as to the reason for this trip. (SOURCE: Immigrants Ships)

Enno Nesemann operated Woods Gallery in the Odd Fellows Building, located at the corner of Third and D Street, in Marysville, California from 1883-1900

Nesemann appears to have acquired many of Reilly’s work since he continued to reproduce Reilly’s stereographic images.

Click here to see a stereograph of a giant redwood in Mariposa Grove taken by Nesemann and here to see a photo of Denny Hall at the University of Washington around 1890.

You can see a painting he did of the Golden Gate, not the bridge, but the opening from the ocean into the San Francisco Bay, here.

Nesemann was also known for creating humorous stereographs.

(SOURCE: Taylor Francis Online)

Click here to see one of Nesemann's humorous images in the Library of Congress.


Sadly, after all of this, I have no information about the woman in this portrait other than that it was taken in Marysville, California. To read about the history of Marysville, California click here. One of the men listed above interacted with this woman. She will remain a complete mystery.

The mystery of the photographer E. C. SWAIN

E. C. Swain was a photographer in Malden, Massachusetts within the county of Middlesex. Born in 1835 in Maine, he is shown in the 1870 Massachusetts census as being 35 years old and married to a 22 year old woman whose name begins with an “M” whom I believe to be Mary, also born in Maine. There are no children listed. He is listed as a photographer.

In the 1880 census there is a Mary A. Swain listed in Malden, Massachusetts as being 32 years old, with her occupation as “keeping house.” There are two sons listed, Fred A., age 9, and a name that begins with an “H” which I cannot read, age 6. E. C. is not in the census.

What became of E. C. between the years of the 1870 and 1880 census? Did he die? Did they separate? And what actually was his name? What did the “E” and “C” stand for? I cannot find any written biographical information about him.

There is a book, Malden, published by the Malden Historical Society, that contains many landscape shots taken by Swain. The photo below, from the book, shows his fascinating photography studio in Malden. Of his photos in the book, the dates vary from the mid-1860s to 1875.

You can see more images from the book here, and the book is available for sale at Amazon.

In 1868 a quote by Swain is shown in a book entitled The American Carbon Manual: The Production of Photographic Prints in Permanent Pigmenets. He supplied a testimonial for a journal called The Philadelpha Photographer.

Searching for photos taken by him I find that most of the shots are landscapes, many stereographic cards. I have found very few portraits.

The portrait, to the left, is currently available on eBay which means this link may not work in the future.

Here you’ll find a photo taken by Swain in 1870 of a cemetery in Boston.

Here you’ll find a stereographic card showing the “Coliseum.”

Here you’ll find the back of one of his cabinet card advertisements, which you'll note is different than the photo I show below which is in my collection.

Here is another image for sale on eBay, another landscape, this time of Saugus, Massachusetts.

And finally, what began my research for this post is the photo below given to me by my friend Bert. Other than knowing Swain took this shot, I have no other information.


Click on image to see it larger.



Perhaps sometime in the future someone will be able to identify this body of water with the waterfall and buildings in the background. For now let it be the beginning of the “Who was E. C. Swain?” mystery.

UPDATE: I knew someone would come along and add some pieces to the puzzle. Thank you AnyJazz@!

How odd that he appears nowhere in the 1880 census. There are references to him before and after. He seems still living with Mary, Fred and Herbert in the census of 1900 and with Mary and Herbert (then 36) in the census of 1910. Perhaps he was traveling in 1880 and when enumerated, the census taker fouled up the name so badly that the index search does not pick him up. He could have been “on location” for a scenic shoot.

I can clear up the names I think.

Edwin Chandler Swain (1835-1911)

Mary Alden Lovejoy (Swain) (1847-1933)

Son-Fred Allen Swain (1871-1963)

Son-Herbert (Burton) Smith Swain (1873-1922)

UPDATE: The following images are provided by reader Chris who has this for sale on ebay as of 5/23/14. Thanks Chris!

UPDATE: The latest from a reader:

Some of his photos are on file at the Wayland Historical Society files..We figured out today that they were likely taken between 1878 and 1882 due to the fact that there was a firehouse in one of them located in a specific spot. It was built in 1878 and moved in 1882. Thus, he was in Massachusetts during the time that you mentioned.

UPDATE: 10.28.2020 

I received the following image of a house on Appleton Street in Malden, MA from collector Andrew Cook. The framed image shows "Photo by E.C. Swain" on the back. It's a grand house with a very beautiful yard and fence. As so often happens over time the house is no longer quite so grand. I believe the color image below shows the house today as seen on Google Street View. The extensive lawn is gone, the fence, and much of the architectural decorations—such as the shutters—are now gone. But if you pay attention to the roof you'll see that the iron work at the top and the two chimneys are still there. Where once this house stood on a corner, it is now simply another lovely house on a street filled with old lovely houses. It also goes to show how putting power lines underground would improve the overall look of the neighborhood. Those damnable black cables running here and there really do distract.

If anyone has anything to add about this house Mr. Cook would be most grateful for any information. Should you wish to contact him direct: andyc222@hotmail.com.

 Click on images to see them larger.

GEORGE E. BOWEN and the lovely young lady

This lovely young lady is from Fat Hill, Illinois. Yes, you read that correctly, Fat Hill. The actual name of the town is Cerro Gordo which is Spanish for fat hill. The town was named for a battle between U.S. troops and Mexican troops in April 1847.

Battle of Cerro Gordo, (April 1847), confrontation at a mountain pass about 60 miles (97 km) northwest of Veracruz, Mex., where the U.S. Army under General Winfield Scott first met serious resistance in the Mexican War. Advancing to the interior, Scott’s 8,500 men reached Plan del Río, a few miles from Cerro Gordo, where they met a Mexican force of 12,000 men under General Antonio López de Santa Anna entrenched in the pass. A flanking maneuver to gain the enemy rear, suggested and guided by Captain Robert E. Lee (later commanding general of the Confederate Army), was in progress when fighting began on the front, and the Mexicans broke. Santa Anna escaped, leaving about 1,130 casualties and about 3,000 prisoners. The American loss was 431, including 63 dead. Scott moved on to Puebla, the second largest city of Mexico, and later to Mexico City. (SOURCE: Britannica)

So why name your town after a battle? What was the connection? I have not found an answer.

As to the young lady...mother, sister, lover, or wife? We’ll never know how this lovely young lady defined herself. I have no information about her. Was she a pleasant person or a “mean girl” whose words could cut like a knife? Looks can be deceiving.





The photo was taken at the Bowen studio in Cerro Gordo, Illinios. The photographer was George E. Bowen who was born on Nov. 25, 1874 and died in Cerro Gordo on Jan 19, 1939. His wife, Katherine A., was born on Aug. 18, 1879 and died on May 10, 1977. Their son, Harold D., was born on April 9, 1910 and died on March 11, 1932.

In the 1910 census George is listed as an artist. In the 1920 census he is listed as a photographer.

Looking at the 1880 census there is only one boy age 6 named George Bowen so I’m taking a wild guess that it is George and his family. They resided in Chalmers Township with his father, JL (?), and mother, Lydia A. There were 3 sons besides George and 1 daughter.

In 1913 George bought the Medaris Studio at Bement, Iowa. No other information is given about this purchase. (SOURCE: Bulletin of Photography, No. 13; published in 1913)

At some point this young lady and George crossed paths in his studio.Were either of them rushed just wanting to get it over with, having someplace else to go? Or was it a quiet sitting with George wanting to show the young lady at her best?

We’ll never know what became of this lady, but we do know that on April 9, 1932 George and his wife lost their only son, Harold Dale. He was 29. Was it an accident or illness? George was only alive for another 7 years. Katherine lived for another 38 years. What was Katherine’s life like? All mysteries.

In this post George and the young lady are again reunited for those moments when they met, not something they could have ever imagined.

This is another photo from my friend Bert's collection. You can see more from his collection by clicking on the "Bert's collection" below.

UPDATE: Reader WJY has kindly provided the following fascinating information about the town Cerro Gordo in Illinois:

General Santa Ana lost his leg during the French Pastry War between France and Mexico. At the battle of Cerro Gordo, a group of Illinois militia captured Santa Ana's headquarters, and seized his cork leg. They returned to their home in Piatt County. The small village of Griswold was renamed Cerro Gordo to honor the militiamens capture of Santa Ana's cork leg. The leg can be seen in the state historical museum in Springfield. Hey, I couldn't make this stuff up.

The MYSTERIOUS WOMAN from Elgin, Illinois

No information about this lovely lady with the Mona Lisa smile or the photographer, S. M. Adams, in Elgin, Illinois. She reminds me of the character Alma Garret from the tv show Deadwood. The part was played by actress Molly Parker. I briefly met Molly Parker at an event held for Deadwood. She was beautiful with delicate features; really stunning.


Click on image to see it larger.

I look at this woman and think about the life the character Alma lived. She was married to a wealthy man from New England who imagined himself capable of striking it rich in the lawless town of Deadwood. Alma did as she was told, but dealt with her life by taking laudanum.

In the book Deadwood: Stories of the Black Hills by David Milch, Molly Parker wrote the following about Alma:

“Alma comes to Deadwood and is reborn. She is very smart. She doesn’t think she’s very smart. She comes thinking that this is the end of her life, thinking that she’s married to this man that she hates, and she’s just going live out her days high. She comes to this place thinking her life is over and she is given this opportunity to reinvent herself, and she is born again.”

What became of this woman? Did she marry wealth, someone prominent in Elgin? Did she travel great distances in hopes of finding herself, or did she live her entire life within the small world of a small town? It would be very easy to write a variety of stories about her. That’s now her lot in life. She’s nothing more than an image from the past which stimulates my imagination.

To see a few other photos by the photographer, S. M. Adams, click here, here, and here. And here and here are shots he took of a home called the Bowen House. I could easily imagine this woman living in this house, a mystery behind the curtains.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your pencils. There's a gold mine just waiting to be found in her stories.

UPDATE: From reader WYJ comes the following about S. M. Adams. Thank you!

Your photographer is most likely Spencer M. Adams. He was born in Elgin, Illinois in 1852. His father, John M. Adams was also a photographer. There was a J.M. Adams and Son studio in Elgin from 1884 to 1885. There was either an S.M. Adams or Spencer M Adams studio, in Elgin, from 1885 to 1922. Don't know when he died.

Edward in 1920 and FRED HARTSOOK

These images came from my friend Bert’s collection. I don’t know where he found them, but I think they’re quite a nice find.

This is Edward in 1920. That's all I know about this young man. This lock of hair was tucked in with the two photos. I have not found anything online about the Nelson Studio in Santa Rosa, California.


Click on image to see it larger.

This second photo was taken at a Hartsook studio.



Click on either image to see it larger.

The following information about the photographer Fred Hartsook is from Wikipedia.

Fred Hartsook (26 October 1876 – 30 September 1930) was an American photographer and owner of a California studio chain described as "the largest photographic business in the world" at the time,[1] who counted Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, Mary Pickford, and sitting President Woodrow Wilson among his celebrity clients. He later became the owner of the Hartsook Inn, a resort in Humboldt County, and two ranches in Southern California on which he reared prized Holstein cattle. Hartsook was married to Bess Hesby, queen of the San Francisco Pan-Pacific Exposition of 1915.

Fred Hartsook was born on 26 October 1876 in Marion, Indiana to John Hartsook and Abbie, née Gorham. He was born into a family of photographers and studio owners, his father and two uncles were all successful in the business and his grandfather had been the first photographer to open a studio in Virginia. According to a 1921 profile by John S. McGroarty, "the first Hartsooks [took] up the profession when it was in the infancy of development with the old daguerrotype and the first wet plate processes."

After graduating from high school at age sixteen Hartsook was apprenticed by his uncle as a civil engineer, but spent most of his time in his father's studio. He moved to Salt Lake City, Utah and married Florence Newcomb, 12 September 1901. Flossie came from a family of photographers. She operated her own studio in Vernal, Utah in 1906. Flossie served as Fred's assistant for their traveling photographic studio throughout the Utah territory. They had one daughter; Frances born 25 June 1902. Fred and family then set out to establish themselves in California, arriving sometime after 1906. Initially, Hartsook operated as an "itinerant shutterbug, [wandering] all over the state, his team of mules pulling a homemade darkroom." Later he opened two studios, in Santa Ana and Santa Barbara, but eventually closed them in order to open a studio on 636 South Broadway in Los Angeles.

Hartsook's success as a photographer and studio owner allowed him to expand into other cities along the Pacific Coast, including San Francisco and Oakland. In 1921, McGroarty gives the number of studios as 20 and describes it as the "largest photographic business in the world". Bill Robertson, director of the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services, cited by KPCC in 2009, mentions 30 studios.

Even if the bulk of the business came from everyday studio portraiture, Hartsook gained prominence through his celebrity clients, which included silent era Hollywood actors such as Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, and Carlyle Blackwell, other celebrities such as pilot Charles Lindbergh, entrepreneur Henry Ford, and opera singer Geraldine Farrar, and politicians like House leaders Champ Clark and Joseph Gurney Cannon. McGroarty describes a 40-minute sitting with President Woodrow Wilson in September 1919 as "the first formal sitting since Mr. Wilson became president." Also in 1919, Fred Hartsook married Bess Hesby, who in 1915 was "Miss Liberty" at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. They honeymooned in a cabin six miles (10 km) south of Garberville in the redwood forest of Humboldt County, California. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

The last incarnation of the Hartsook Inn is still standing and I stayed there a few times. It was a lovely place with nice little cabins. It’s been vacant for a long time and whenever I drive by I feel a little sad. It’s along a busy two lane section of Hwy 101. I imagine someday the road will be moved, changed into a 6 lane freeway, and bypass the Hartsook. It will be forgotten, just as Edward may be forgotten.

To see images of the Hartsook Inn click here to visit CardCow.

Click here to read a newspaper article about the Hartsook Inn in 1949.

Click here to read a nice blog post at Ernie's Place about the Inn.

LOOKING BLISSFUL at the Bliss Bros

I don’t find most cabinet cards particularly interesting because though, like all photographs, they capture a moment in time, cabinet cards capture a contrived moment. There’s nothing spontaneous about them. In fact, we learn only the superficial about the subjects. We may be able to determine a bit about their social status by analyzing the style of their clothing, which can also lead to dating the shot. Unless we have a name for the subject they’ll forever be a relatively blank slate. It’s virtually impossible to see any emotion in the blank stares that were required.




Click on either image to see them larger.

What I do find interesting are the photographers who took the shots. Unlike vintage snapshots where the photographers are rarely known, in fact virtually unthought of, with cabinet cards we see the specific work of the person behind the lens. We see a connection between the subject and the photographer when we are given a photographer’s name. We can search for more work by the same person.

This photo is from my friend Bert’s collection. A plain woman in a rather plain dress taken at the Bliss Brother’s Studio in Buffalo, New York.

Bliss Brothers (Harry A. and Frank H.) are sons of Horace L. Bliss, one of the oldest living photographers in Buffalo. He was born in Hartford, Conn., October 6, 1823, came to Buffalo about 1854 and learned the photographic business. In 1859 he established a photograph gallery at the corner of Main and Eagle streets, and successfully continued until 1886, when he retired on account of ill health. He made a specialty of outside photographs and also did considerable commercial work.

Harry A. and Frank H. Bliss are natives of Buffalo; the former was born February 28, 1866, and the latter February 6, 1858. Both were educated in the Buffalo public and high schools, learned photography with their father, and when the latter retired in 1886 succeeded him in business under the firm name of Bliss Brothers. Soon after starting, their portrait and commercial work had grown to such proportions that they separated the two, locating the latter on Oak street near Genesee, and continuing the former at the corner of Main and Eagle streets. They are among the leaders in both branches in Buffalo, and enjoy the highest reputation for artistic work. (SOURCE: Our County and Its People: A descriptive work on Erie County, New York; edited by Truman C. White; The Boston History Company, Publishes 1898)

The photo above of their studio is a portion of a larger photo at Shorpy.

Do an online search for “Bliss Bros” and you’ll find a variety of work, but nothing that really stands out as exceptional. Examples can be seen here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

However, researching the Bliss Brothers did shine a light on one of the big problems with researching anything on the net. How do you verify what you’re reading when posts everywhere are often nothing more than samplings from someone else's work? I give you the following example.

The Bliss Brothers are credited at one site as being the photographers of the famous shot of Harry Longbaugh (the Sundance Kid) and Etta Place. The site is for a"private investigator" so you’d hope they’d be detail oriented, though the birth year they list for Longbaugh is completely inaccurate at 1802. He did not live to be 107 years old.

I was willing to give the site the benefit of the doubt until I found the photo on Wikipedia claiming the photographer was the DeYoung Photography Studio located at 826 Broadway in New York City. This same credit is referenced at several other sites.

So which is true? Bliss Brothers or DeYoung? Does it even matter? Well, in our celebrity conscious society the idea that the photographer who took the above boring shot of the plain woman also might have taken a shot of the Sundance Kid and Etta Place does matter. We know the history, though sketchy, of Sundance and Etta. We have a reference point. We don’t have any reference point for the plain woman other than Buffalo, New York. And sadly, I have yet to find a copy of the Sundance and Etta shot with any markings indicating the photographer. I’ll go with DeYoung simply because so many other sites repeat this information. How accurate is it? I haven’t a clue.

The BEAUTIFUL LADY In San Francisco

Sometimes not having any history for an image makes my heart ache. This is one of those times. I compare this to my post entitled The Lovely Young Girl at BAKER'S ART GALLERY except that this time I have no information. Just an image of a beautiful lady done by a very good photographer. But no information. Nothing written on the back. And the photography studio, The Johnson Studios, leads to vapor. I'm not finding anything.

Just as I long to know who the young girl was at Baker's Art Gallery, I long to know the story of this lady.

Click on image to see it larger.

If this was taken before the 1906 quake it's likely that the studio was destroyed. So, most likely the negative was destroyed. Which leads to the horrible question, did this lady survive?

She is such an elegant lady. What do the flowers represent in her hand and on the chair? I have no idea. Anyone out there have a suggestion?

And speaking of the chair...even the chair is elegant. Thank goodness she isn't leaning against one of those heavy ugly chairs with the cord hanging down.

Oh to step back in time and be hiding in the shadows of the studio as this portrait sitting took place. To hear the voices of the photographer and the woman as they worked together, laughed together, and then their final parting with the photographer telling her when the images would be ready.

The photographer had two studios. One at 1228 Fillmore Street. The other at 1028 Market Street. Were they large like Baker's Art Gallery or just small shops?

I did find two other photos online attributed to The Johnson Studios:

Portrait of a Chinese Man in Glasses

Funeral shot of Arvid Lambert Lorén

This image is from Bert's collection.