Portrait of Una Wheeler Whinnerah, 1895, Ouray County Historical Society
Earlier this month I took a road trip to the Ouray County Historical Society’s Research Center to continue my study of 19th century Colorado photographers. Seeing examples of Una Wheeler’s photographs was the highlight of the trip.
Una Wheeler was born in Wisconsin on Valentine’s Day 1875 to Charles Augustus Wheeler and Abbie Eastman Wheeler. She was the niece of George M. Wheeler, superintending engineer of the Geographical Survey of the Territory of the U. S. West of the 100th Meridian.
In 1877, the family settled in Ouray, Colorado far from the amenities that the adult Wheeler’s enjoyed growing up on the East Coast. Charles Wheeler, a surveyor and prominent citizen of Ouray, died unexpectedly from pneumonia on January 5, 1888 at the age of 38. That left Abbie to take care of his wide-ranging business interests and their two children, Una (14) and Edward (11). Charles’s nephew, Walter Wheeler, seven years younger than Abbie, stepped in to help with Charles’ businesses and ultimately married his aunt, Abbie.
Abbie and Walter performed in Ouray’s theater community. They provided their children with a wide range of educational opportunities. Una learned photography and classical dance. Edward attended college in Denver.
Una Wheeler Whinnerah, photographer. Bachelor Trestle, circa 1900. Modern silver gelatin print from glass plate negative. Ouray Historical Society and The Huntington Library.
Around 1898, Una joined Ouray’s camera club. While initially an amateur, Una eventually operated a photography studio out of the family’s home. She photographed local landmarks, scenic views and mining interests with 5 x 7″ glass plate negatives. Her friends often posed whimsically inside mines and with mining equipment.
She displayed her photographs in the lobby of Ouray’s Beaumont Hotel and she sold her views at the San Juan Drug Company, alongside the work of other photographers. Una offered both black and white and hand-colored photographs. Later, when postcards gained favor, her work was printed in Germany–the place for high quality and affordable postcards.
Una Wheeler Whinnerah, photographer. Three woman and an ore car, circa 1900. Modern silver gelatin print from glass plate negative. Ouray Historical Society and The Huntington Library.
Wheeler married engineer, Richard Whinnerah, in 1902. A few days before the wedding, seventy-five women attended Ouray’s first bridal shower, gifting a total of 117 kitchen gadgets to Una. The church, decorated with evergreen and apple blossoms, was filled to capacity for the wedding. The couple traveled by train to California, enjoying a six-week honeymoon before returning to Ouray. Their union would produce four children.
After her marriage, Una continued to use her 5×7 camera and glass plate negatives, realizing that the quality of the glass plate negatives exceeded anything made with a simpler Kodak camera. She mainly documented her children and their activities. The Whinnerah’s lived in Ouray until 1930 when they moved to California for a few years. They returned to Colorado when Richard was offered a job with the highway department. In 1942 they retired to Rosemead, California. Una Whinnerah died on June 22, 1957, in Los Angeles, CA.
In 1993, The Huntington Library in Pasadena, California acquired 347 5×7” glass plate negatives from the family of amateur historian, John B. Marshall, of Colorado. The negatives were housed in a wooden box labelled: Rick Whinnerah, Rosemead, Calif. The collection, attributed to Una Wheeler Whinnerah, includes views of Ouray, as well as photographs of the Whinnerah children dating from 1898 to approximately 1912.
A. E. Rinehart, photographer. Portrait of Blanche Wannemaker Webber, albumen silver print on cabinet card mount, ca. 1888. Golden History Museum & Park, City of Golden, Bathke Collection.
Alfred E. Rinehart found his niche as a portrait photographer at the start of his career and remained faithful to his craft for decades. His work documents Denver’s eminent political figures and their families, along with the city’s ordinary citizens.
A. E. Rinehart was born in 1851 in Tippecanoe County, Indiana to John Byers Rinehart and Mary Cooly Rinehart. His siblings included younger brother, Frank A. Rinehart, who would gain fame for his photographic portraits of Native Americans.
A. E. Rinehart learned photography from Charles C. Wright in Lafayette, Indiana. Around 1875, Rinehart relocated to Denver, taking a position with George W. Kirkland. Coincidentally, Wright moved to Denver in the 1880s, where he continued his photographic career. Rinehart developed his skill as a portrait photographer while working as an operator in the studio of Charles Bohm in Denver.
On March 29, 1880, after five years with Bohm, Rinehart joined William Henry Jackson, in the firm Jackson & Rinehart. Jackson devoted his time to landscape photography while Rinehart took charge of portraiture. They shared darkroom facilities and staff, with Frank A. Rinehart employed as a printer. By early December, the partnership was dissolved by mutual consent.
A. E. Rinehart, photographer. Baby Tabor [Lily], Age, 19 Months, February 1886, albumen silver print on cabinet card mount, ca. History Colorado-Denver, Colorado, 2000.129.110.Rinehart remained at the 413 Larimer Street address through 1887. He photographed Elizabeth Bonduel Lily Tabor, the first child of wealthy business man Horace Tabor and his second wife, Baby Doe, on multiple occasions. The card mounts were atypically printed with “Baby Tabor” and the child’s age, a format the studio would continue with later sittings of the young girl.
Rinehart married Denver socialite, Bessie Mode, on May 11, 1880. She wore a wine colored bridal dress trimmed with silk of the same color. After her marriage, Bessie Rinehart seemed to spend more time visiting friends and relatives in the East and South than she did in Denver. The couple divorced in 1893.
Almost immediately after his divorce, Rinehart planned to marry Mrs. Dora Ellen Thorworth, unaware that a new law required divorcees to wait one year before remarrying. On the day of his marriage, the county clerk’s office denied Rinehart’s application for a marriage license. Rinehart returned to the Clerk’s office later that day with a judge. With a wink and a nod, the marriage license was issued and the couple married that evening. Dora Rinehart took up cycling, breaking several long-distance records. In 1898, A. E. Rinehart secured a divorce on the grounds of desertion.
Rinehart’s business was much more successful than his love life. In December 1887, he opened a new studio, the largest photography establishment in the city, on the upper floor of Wolfe Londoner’s grocery store on Arapahoe Street. The January 1, 1888 issue of the Rocky Mountain News reported on the opening of the studio in great detail, describing the decor of the handsome reception room, the large skylights and the movable case holding backgrounds in the operating room, the printing room with storage for 40,000 negatives, and Rinehart’s private artist’s studio. Rinehart presided over all portrait sessions. Long-time employees John Lehman headed the printing room, Charles Nast oversaw retouching and Mrs. Lehman framed portraits in the finishing room.
“Photographic: Brilliant and Successful Opening of the Magnificent New and Spacious Gallery of A. E. Rinehart.” Rocky Mountain News, January 1, 1888, page 2, column 1A. E. Rinehart, photographer. Portrait of Wellington and Emma Randolph with daughter Mathilda (Tillie), circa 1888, albumen silver print on cabinet card mount. History Colorado-Denver, Colorado, 2020.73.6
The Wellington Randolph family visited Rinehart’s new studio shortly after it opened. Randolph (1848-1909) was born in Virginia and moved to Colorado in the 1880s. He earned a living as a janitor. Tillie was the first of eventually three children.
Another portrait made in the new studio shows Blanche Wannemaker Webber. In posing Mrs.Webber, Rinehart chose to make a profile view from the back to show off the sitter’s long tresses. This portrait was probably made soon after Miss Wannemaker’s marriage to Republican political figure Dewitt C. Webber. After thirteen years of marriage, Mrs. Webber filed for divorce, claiming extreme cruelty, general unkindness and desertion. The story does not end there, however, about a year after the divorce, Blanche’s father hired two men to kill his former son-in-law. Mr. Webber learned of the plot and was able to avoid the purported killers.
In 1890, Rinehart claimed to have photographed between thirty and forty thousand Denverites. He kept all of his negatives, so customers could request additional prints at a later date. Early in his career, Rinehart thought it might be best to have customers purchase their negatives, as he believed many would never be used again, but that was not standard studio practice.
As early as December 1897, Rinehart placed a brief advertisement in Wilson’s Photographic Magazine, offering his studio for sale. In June 1910, Rinehart placed another notice, this time more detailed, outlining the contents of his studio including Dalimeyer lenses, cameras up to size 20 x 24, and backgrounds painted by the prominent New York City artist, Lafayette W. Seavey. Stating he planned to retire, the asking price was $2,500. Rinehart was sixty years old.
In 1912 Rinehart moved from his long-time studio on Arapahoe Street to a smaller space on Welton Street. He died at St. Joseph’s Hospital on May 14, 1915 from complications associated with appendicitis. He is buried at Denver’s Riverside Cemetery.
Ancestry.com. Colorado, Wills and Probate Records, 1875-1974 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data:Colorado County, District and Probate Courts.An inventory of Rinehart’s studio was made after his death. Once all his outstanding bills were accounted for and his studio contents sold, the estate was found to be insolvent. This is a sad ending to such a treasured Denver business, but the visual record of Denver personalities and residents lives on.
Inventory of the A. E. Rinehart collection at the Denver Public Library.
My thanks to History Colorado staff Jori Johnson and Cody Robinson, who always help make my onsite visits pleasurable and Viviana Guajardo, for her scanning expertise. Additional thanks to Vanya Scott, Curatorial Assistant, Golden History Museum & Park, Golden, CO. Special thanks to Beverly W. Brannan, recently retired photography curator at the Library of Congress, for editing this post.
Charles L. Gillingham was born on July 18, 1848, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Samuel Gillingham and Rebecca Ann Shur Gillingham.The family moved to Fairfax County, Virginia a few years later.By 1870, Gillingham was living in Leavenworth, Kansas working first as an insurance agent and later in sewing machine sales.He married Delphina E. Hall in that city on March 8, 1871 .
Washington, District of Columbia, City Directory, 1876, page 244.
Gillingham must have been an established photographer when he relocated to Washington, D. C’s “photographer’s row” in 1876 and opened Gillingham’s Centennial Gallery of Artistic Photography on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Later listings in the DC city directories are smaller and he no longer provides a studio address.In 1879, now in Newton, Kansas, Gillingham operated out of a photo car with a partner named Mr. Birney.A fire in August 1880 completely destroyed his gallery and all of his glass negatives.In less than a month, Gillingham resumed his trade in a new one story brick building.
C. L. Gillingham’s trade card. History Colorado, Accession #1957.2.1.05.29.
In December 1880, Gillingham moved to Colorado Springs, taking a position with photographer, Thaddeus E. Hopkins, before opening his own business. Photographers had to be flexible in the 19th century, always learning new photographic processes and using the latest card formats. His trade card,, or what we would call a business card today, stated “First Class and Instantaneous work a specialty.”
Gillingham made stereo views of Colorado Springs’ street scenes, including the state-of-the-art Antlers Hotel. He used the cabinet card format (4-1/2 x 6-1/2″) for studio portraits and the larger boudoir format (5-1/4 x 8-1/2″) for some landscape views. During his time in Colorado Springs, he also published a souvenir viewbook entitled “Manitou and Vicinity.
C. L. Gillingham, Ute Pass, above Manitou. Old Indian Trail from Leadville. Albumen silver print on a boudoir card. History Colorado, Accession #95.200.38.
C.. L. Gillingham, photographer. [Unidentified boy on hobby horse.] Albumen silver print on cabinet card mount. Collection of the author.Gillingham’s skill as a photographer is evident in his cabinet card portrait of a young boy on a hobby horse. To keep the child engaged, the photographer choose an age-appropriate prop, rather than an ordinary chair. Looking directly into the camera, the young boy’s feet rest in the stirrups, with one hand on the reins and the other on the horse’s mane.
In the summer of 1882, Mrs. Gillingham and her two young sons were camping at Manitou Springs when a big storm flooded the canon where the two boys were playing. The boys climbed up to a small building near a lime kiln, and while the Harvey, older boy, hung on to the buildings’ rafters, 6 year old Charley was tragically sweeping away.
Gillingham worked as a photographer in Colorado Springs through 1890. Gillingham died in 1914, leaving his wife and son Harvey. He is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs.
Thank you to photography collector, Karen Hendrix, for her expertise in 19th century children’s fashion and Beverly Brannan for her editorial assistance.
Adis “A. C.” Murphy and Josephine Buell were two of Evergreen’s earliest photographers. Examples of their photographic work have eluded me, but I share their stories below in the hopes that this post leads to additional biographical information about the photographers and examples of their work.
Evergreen is located in the foothills less than twenty miles southwest of Denver. In the 1890s, about two hundred people lived in the area known for its saw mills and ranches. It was and continues to be a popular a summer resort.
A native of Michigan, A. C. Murphy (b.1845) operated a photography gallery in Fenton, Michigan in 1882, before moving to Evergreen, Colorado. Murphy resided at a rustic residence, Artist’s View, on land he homesteaded. According to the July 5, 1893, Colorado Transcript, Murphy began photographing the Evergreen area in August 1889 at Bear Creek Canyon. A later article, in the Jefferson County Graphic (August 3, 1901), mentioned that his views and sketches have been exhibited at the World’s Fair at Chicago and also at Buffalo, New York. Murphy divided his time between Denver and Evergreen during the 1900s. I can find no info about him after 1912 and surprisingly no obituary.
Josephine Howard Bailey Buell (1853-1930) was also born in Michigan.She married James Whitcomb Buell, Assistant Surgeon in the military, on October 14, 1875.Buell retired from the military in 1884 and settled with his family on a 1,000 acre stock farm in Sebastian County, Arkansas.
After her husband’s death in 1897, Mrs. Buell moved to Evergreen, Colorado. She joined her sister, Mary Neosho Williams, and niece, Dr. Jo Williams Douglas, prominent residents of the area. They lived at Camp Neosho (now called Hiwan), in their custom-built log home situated on 100 acres of land.
Josephine Buell worked as a photographer in Evergreen between 1900 and 1901.Later, she lived in Golden, where her son, Arthur W. Buell, attended the School of Mines.By 1910 she had made her home in New Jersey and remained there for the rest of her life.She died on Christmas day, 1930 and is buried next to her husband at Fort Smith National Cemetery, Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Have any of my readers seen work by Murphy or Buell?
Thank you to Andrea Keppers, Education Specialist, Hiwan Museum and Beverly Brannan, recently retired curator of photography at the Library of Congress for proofreading.
Dalgleish Bros., photographers. [Woman in snowstorm], Albumen silver cabinet card, circa 1889, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TexasMarch is typically Colorado’s snowiest month and it just so happens that it is snowing as I write this post. Snow pictures, photographic portraits made in the studio, gained popularity in the 1880s.
Wilson’s Photographic Magazine (Dec. 1900, p. 548) outlines the steps to “fake” the negative: “…take Chinese white, as sold in tubes by the artists’ colormen, and thin it with water on a palette; then take an ordinary toothbrush and touch the ends of the bristles on the palette so as to take up a little of the pigment…pass, say, the back of the knife across the bristles so as to flick the color on to the negative in fine particles. Before doing this it is desirable to varnish the negative, as then, if the result is not satisfactory, the pigment can be cleaned off.” Notice that the photographer carefully avoided getting “snow” on the customer’s face.
During the 19th century, photographers often posed their clients in front of painted backdrops and used studio props, such as columns and plaster tree stumps, to add interest. To make their snow scene more realistic, the Dalgleish Bros. retouched the background areas of the negative, adding snow to the foreground, rocks and roof of the building. By adding pigment to these areas on the negative, consequently blocking light from exposing the photographic paper, the snow appears white in the final print.
Dalgleish Bros., photographers. [Woman Before Snowstorm.] Albumen Silver cabinet card, circa 1889, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas.In this rare instance, courtesy of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, we are fortunate to also have a photograph showing a portrait of the woman before snow was added to the negative.
Born in Scotland, the Dalgleish Bros., George and Thomas, operated photography studios in Wyoming and Colorado. George (1854-1933), the better known of the two, learned photography in Toronto, Canada. Between 1886 and 1889, the brothers worked in Sheridan and Buffalo, Wyoming. They offered portraits made in the latest styles and also copied old photographs.
In 1889 the brothers opened a third gallery in Georgetown, Colorado. Georgetown, surrounded by high mountains, prospered as a mining town in the 1870s. Located about forty-five miles west of Denver, George Dalgleish managed mining claims in addition to managing his photography business. After 1890, George seems to be operating independently from his brother. He continued his photography business in Georgetown for about two decades. I was unable to find additional information about Thomas Dalgleish.
George Dalgleish, photographer. Georgetown, 1892. Albumen Silver print. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas
While the Dalgleish studio produced the popular cabinet card portraits, they also made outdoor views including landscapes, mining scenes, and documented local events.
George Dalgleish, photographer. Parade, Georgetown, Colorado, July 5, 1897. Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, X-1163.
In 1898 George Dalgleish organized the Georgetown Camera Club. The Georgetown Courier (Nov. 5, 1898, p4, c2) reported that the club would promote the “general advancement and mutual improvement in photography, and exchange of ideas with other camera clubs, through the exchange of slides and photographs.”
Swept by a Snow-Slide. Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly, March 23, 1899, page 238
In February 1899, George Dalgleish photographed the aftermath of an avalanche that brought snow, rocks and trees down the steep hillside of the neighboring mining community of Silver Plume. Cabins, some occupied by mining families, were overwhelmed by the snow’s impact and about two dozen people lost their lives. Dalgleish’s photographs received national attention when they were published in Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly.
The local press covered Dalgleish’s mining activity in great detail in the early 1900s. Initial reports were very promising. But in 1911, he sold all his claims and moved his family to Sterling, Colorado, on the eastern plains in northeast corner of the state. He continued his photography business in Sterling until shortly before his death on May 13, 1933.
Now back to Thomas Dalgleish. There was a Thomas Dalgleish active as a photographer in Texas in the early 1880s. I suspect he was George’s brother, but I have no proof. If anyone has additional information about the Dalgleish brothers that they would like to share, please let me know.
Want to see more photographs by George Dalgleish? The Denver Public Library has a selection of Dalgleish’s photographs
March is Women’s History Month. More than eighty women worked in Colorado’s photographic industry during the 19th century, as photographers, retouchers, colorists, and print mounters. Biographical information about these women and examples of their work are often hard to find.
Earlier this year, I received a research grant from the The Peter E. Palmquist Memorial Fund for Historical Photographic Research that will allow me to travel to libraries and museums in distant Colorado locales to learn more about the photographers, both men and women, working in their communities. I am very grateful for this support and will share my findings in this blog, so stayed tuned.
Charles A. Nast, photographer. Portrait of Julia Skolas, circa 1893. Courtesy of Special Collections, Pikes Peak Library District, image no. 394-46.
Fortunately, Julia Skolas, is one of the better known woman photographers in Colorado. She was born to Norwegian immigrants in Wisconsin on May 14, 1863. She grew up with her nine siblings on a farm outside Cottage Grove, WI, a short distance east of Madison.
In the early 1890s, single and about thirty years of age, she moved nearly one thousand miles from her family and home to Denver. On December 31, 1892, she attended Denver’s annual Norwegian New Year’s Eve ball. (Rocky Mountain News, Jan. 1, 1893, p. 2, c. 1) It is very likely that she was living in Denver at this time, but she doesn’t appear in the city directory until 1894, with no occupation listed. Her relaxed and unconventional pose in the portrait by Charles A. Nast makes me wonder if perhaps she learned photography from him. Nast operated at the 1624 Curtis Street address between 1891 and 1893, which matches the time Skolas arrived in Denver. Unfortunately, no records exist to confirm my suspicions.
Julia Skolas, photographer. North Cheyenne Canon, hand-colored photograph. Courtesy of Special Collections, Pikes Peak Library District, image no. 394-17.
By 1896, Skolas lived in Colorado Springs, where she ran a photographic studio for a decade. She was a member of the Monday Progress club, a women’s social and educational organization. The members would give talks on current events and the arts. The Colorado Springs Gazette (Jan. 29, 1905, p23) reported on a debate about “Labor organizations,” with Mrs. C. L. Smithof Manitou, taking the union side, Skolas, the non-union. In 1903, at the club’s annual day-long picnic, held among the wildflowers in North Cheyenne Canon, “Miss Skolas…presented each guest with a puzzle, which proved to be a little sketch illustrating the name of the individual.” (Colorado Springs Gazette, June 28, 1903, p. 16, c.6) She was also a founding member of the Colorado Springs Badger club, a group of ninety-one residents of the Springs who claimed Wisconsin as their former home.
Madonna and Child, Taber-Prang Art Company Illustrated Catalog, 1923, p. 162
In 1906, Skolas sold the copyright of her photograph “Madonna and Child” to the Tabor Prang Art Company, a well-known producer of art prints based in Springfield, MA. Prang continued to offer this print for sale well into the 1920s.Skolas submitted a several photographs to the Library of Congress’ Copyright Office between 1907 and 1912, but they do not appear in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.In 1911, James Alexander Semple, singled out Skolas for inclusion in his book Representative Women of Colorado.
In 1907, Skolas moved her business to the mining town of Cripple Creek. She photographed the interiors and exteriors of mines extensively, even making and selling real photo postcards that were just gaining favor as souvenirs. She remained there until around 1920, leaving many of her glass plate negatives behind.
Julia Skolas, photographer. Elton Mine, circa 1908, gelatin silver postcard.Courtesy of Special Collections, Pikes Peak Library District, image no. 394-29.
In her sixties, Julia moved temporarily to Madison, Wisconsin, but she was back in Denver by 1924, working as a photographer. She placed the following advertisement in the January 18, 1925 Denver Post: “ONE 8 x 10 view camera, 1 8 x 10 portrait lens, cheap.Skolas, Apt. 29 1/2 1720 Logan.” signaling the end of her photographic career.
In later years she worked as a milliner, candle maker, and in candy sales. This list of careers may show how difficult it was for an older woman to make a living. By 1931 she had returned to Madison, Wisconsin, where she lived until the end of her life.She died of a heart condition on December 31, 1934, and is buried at the West Koshkonong Lutheran Church Cemetery, in Stoughton, Wisconsin.
Additional resources:
See more Julia Skolas photographs online at the Pikes Peak Library.
Bathke, Nancy and Brenda Hawley.“Searching for the Early Women Photographers of the Pikes Peak Region.”in Film and Photography on the Front Range.Colorado Springs:Pikes Peak Library District, 2012.
Thank you to Beverly Brannan, recently retired curator of photography at the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, for editing this post.
This post examines William Henry Jackson’s employees between 1891 and 1896. Jackson’s business travels took him away from Denver, so he needed a solid management team. He bought out his former partners, the booksellers and publishers, Chain & Hardy and moved to a modern studio on Colfax Avenue. In 1897, Jackson left Denver to join the Detroit Publishing Company.
The list below provides Jackson’s entries from the Denver city directories, followed by a list of his employees and their roles in the firm, if cited, and the dates of their employment. I have included all the names associated with Jackson’s photo studio.
For earlier employees see the links at the end of this post.
1891 W. H. Jackson Photograph and Publishing Company, 1615 Arapahoe Street
Horace A. Bird secretary and treasurer, W H Jackson Photograph and Publishing Co. 1891-93 Bird (b. circa 1859) started his career as a newspaper reporter.Later he joined the Colorado Midland Railroad, where he most likely met William Henry Jackson. In 1889, Bird authored History of a Line (Colorado Midland Railway): A Handbook for Tourists and Sportsmen in the Rocky Mountains. He joined Jackson’s firm at a critical moment, after Jackson bought out Chain & Hardy and planned to increase photo sales across the country.
Walter S. Cross Probably Walter Shaumburg Cross (1869-1951), a Baltimore photographer, who spent a brief time in Denver in the early 1890s, working with photographer Horace E. Hunt before his employment with Jackson.
Joseph Edelmann No biographical information found.
George A. Ferguson (1891-1893) toner, printer After four years with Jackson, Ferguson (b. 1871), worked as a photographer in Chicago (1897) and Detroit (1899-1901).
Miss Florence L. Hoopes, often incorrectly spelled Hooper (1891, 1893) colorer Hoopes (b. circa 1862-1944) attended Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, graduating in 1886. In 1891, Hoopes and Emma Jackson (see below) lived at the same Denver address. After working for Jackson, Hoopes relocated to the Baltimore area.
Miss Emma K. Jackson (1891, 1895) artist Emma Jackson (1858-1927) was William Henry Jackson’s sister. She remained friends with her co-worker, Florence L. Hoopes, for many years. They traveled together and attended art lectures in Santa Fe and Detroit, where Emma Jackson later made her home. Emma Jackson continued to color photographs after she left her brother’s firm. Most notably, she hand-colored twelve photographic transparencies from various projects undertaken by the United States Geological Survey that were exhibited at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis and other sets that were exhibited in 1909 at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition and the 1911 International Exposition in Turin, Italy.
1892 W. H. Jackson Photograph and Publishing Company, 1615 Arapahoe Street
E. Cameron Hunter After one year with Jackson, Elijah Cameron Hunter (b. circa 1862-1928), worked for Denver photographers Max Kalischer (1893) and Alvah B. Thompson (1895). He remained active in Denver’s photographic community through 1902.
Miss Sadie E. Potter, clk Potter is listed as a photographer in the 1891 Denver City Directory, one year before working for Jackson. She rented Benjamin F. Marsh’s Greeley studio during February and March of 1891, making cabinet photographs.
1893 W. H. Jackson Photograph and Publishing Company, Industrial Bldg, Colfax Avenue, bet 12th and 13th
Paul Balsiger, toner
P. Balsiger & Co., photographer. Denver Art Club, c1905, Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, Call number X-19514
Paul Balsiger (1862-1943) moved to Colorado from Highland, Illinois, around 1891 with his sister, Marguerite. He worked for Denver photographer, Frederick E. Post, before taking a position with William Henry Jackson. Around 1900 Balsiger and his sister opened their own studio which they operated for about a decade. The Denver Post frequently published his work. The Denver Public Library’s collection includes many of his architectural views and street scenes focusing on the Denver City Tramway Company. In 1912 Balsiger sold his studio and relocated to a farm in southwestern Colorado. Paul and his sister moved to Redlands, California in 1923.
Miss Daisy Burchfield, colorer Daisy Burchfield (b. circa 1863-1939) briefly worked for W.H. Jackson, but she had a long career as a Denver artist. She specialized in hand coloring photographs and lantern slides. Photographers Howard F. Peirson and Paul Balsiger, a former employee of Jackson, both hired Burchfield as a colorist.
D. Burchfield. Pike’s Peak, circa 1900-1910. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas
Arthur C. Burnham, operator No biographical information found.
K. P. Howe, photographer. Mount Evans from Window Ledge. Municipal Facts: Volume 6 Number 5, May 1923, p14.
Kensel P. Howe, clerk, finisher (1893, 1895-97) Kensel P. Howe (1875-1957) spent decades as a photographer in Denver. In the 1910s Howe made photographs for the Colorado State Highway Commission. His landscape views appeared in several issues of Denver Municipal Facts. Around 1925 Howe moved to Los Angeles where he continued his photographic career.
Miss Mills, printer No biographical information found.
Mrs. Mary Donaldson Wetherwax, stenographer, bkkpr, 1893-1897 Around 1913, Mrs. Wetherwax (1861-1936) moved to Colorado Springs with her husband George E. Wetherwax where they remained until their deaths.
Miss Minnie Wilder, finisher Wilder (b. 1873) lived in Denver throughout the 1890s. She married Harry Lander Price in Texas on June 5, 1900.
A. Woodward, printer No Biographical information found.
1894 W. H. Jackson Photograph and Publishing Co., Industrial Bldg, 433 Colfax Avenue W.
Walter F. Crosby, secretary, vice-president (1894-95) Photography enthusiast, Walter F. Crosby (1857-1915), managed Jackson’s business for two years. Through his efforts, the business moved into a sophisticated studio in the Industrial Building at 433 Colfax Avenue. Crosby maintained mining claims in the Cripple Creek area and was later treasurer of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Clarence S. Jackson and wife with child, between 1900 and 1910, Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division
Clarence S. Jackson Clarence S. Jackson (1876-1961) was William Henry Jackson’s son.
1895 W. H. Jackson Photograph and Publishing Company, Industrial Bldg, 13th and Tremont Street
William M. Rhoads, sec. 1895-96 Son of Philadelphia photographer, William H. Rhoads (1835-1885), William M. Rhoads returned to Philadelphia where he continued his photographic career.
William H. Walker, photographer Walker worked only one year with Jackson, but was active as a photographer in Denver (1887-90, 1892-99, 1910-17) and Idaho Springs (1891-92).
1896 W. H. Jackson Photograph and Publishing Company, Industrial Bldg, 13th and Tremont Street
Miss Mary S. Cassedy, colorist 1896-1897 Cassedy (1867-1898) moved with her parents and siblings to Denver in the mid 1890s. She died in 1898 at the young age of 31. Her younger sister, May L. Cassedy also worked as a colorist in Denver.
Louis J. Schiermeyer, printer Probably Louis C. Schiermeyer (1872-1899). Louis was born in Germany, but his family moved to the United States shortly after his birth. The Schiermeyer’s operated a grocery store in Denver, with Louis working as a clerk before his employment with Jackson.
Thank you to Beverly Brannan, recently retired photography curator, Library of Congress, for editorial assistance and to Breahna Beecher for bringing Daisy Burchfield’s work in the Amon Carter Museum’s collection to my attention.
When I started researching 19th century Colorado photographers several years ago, I wondered how many Black photographers worked in the state. So far, I have encountered very few. In honor of Black history month, here is a brief glimpse into the career of John Green.
John Green, photographer. Unidentified woman, tintype. Collection of the author.
Remarkably, John Green worked in Denver as a photographer for more than 40 years, yet hardly any of his photographs survive today. Tracking down details his life has been complicated as John Green is a fairly common name and official records provide inconsistent information.
Green was born circa 1854 in Canada to an Irish mother. Census data provides conflicting information about his father’s ancestry, varying from the West Indies (1900), South America (1910) and Australia (1930). John Green’s race is listed as mulatto in the 1910 and 1920 censuses, but as White in the 1930 census. He may have identified as White due to the rise in Klan activity in Denver at this time.
Green first appears in Denver in the 1885 city directory as a colored photographer with his photo business at the corner of Blake and 18th Street. The 1887 Sanborn map shows his studio was located in a photo car, probably an old rail car.
Sanborn Map, Denver 1887, Sheet 14
Green’s earliest work, tintype portraits of Black and White sitters, are found in a few public and private collections. This in itself is unusual. Most tintypes are unattributed. Green carefully assembled the iron plates (not tin as the name implies) into paper sleeves, stamped with his name and address on the back. When the cabinet card format became popular, Green switched to that style of card mount.
In 1889, Green photographed the Colorado House at the Capital. This photograph is not known to be extant. A few years later, Green moved to a permanent building at 1337 18th Street. In 1910 he moved again, this time to 1952 Arapahoe Street.
John Green never married and I have not been able to track down any siblings. Green died on May 24, 1930, and is buried at Denver’s Fairmount Cemetery. Unfortunately I have not found a detailed obituary for Green. Like many photographers of his time, his story has been lost to the past.
John Green, photographer. Western Steam Laundry, circa 1915, silver gelatin print. History Colorado, object id# 88.713.8
B. H. Gurnsey produced hundreds of stereoviews of Colorado during the 1870s. His series, Gurnsey’s Rocky Mountain Views and Scenes on the Line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, include images of Canon City, Colorado Springs, Leadville, Manitou, Pike’s Peak, and the Grand Canon of the Arkansas. Numerous prominent institutions, including the George Eastman Museum, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, The J. Paul Getty Museum and the New York Public Library, collect and preserve Gurnsey’s work.
B. H. Gurnsey, photographer. Leadville, Colorado, 1879. Albumen silver stereo view. The New York Public Library.
Byron Hamilton Gurnsey was born on October 12, 1833, in Chautauqua County, New York, to John M. Gurnsey and Susan Nevins Gurnsey. He married Delilah Ida Simpson on December 9, 1858, in Battle Creek, Michigan.B. H. Gurnsey served four years and nine months in the Civil War, first with the 41st Iowa Infantry, Company C, stationed at Fort Randall, Dakota Territory, and later in the 7th Iowa Cavalry.
Gurnsey & Illingworth, photographers. Spotted Tail, The Rebel Chief and HIs Party, circa 1870, albumen silver print. Copyright, The Trustees of the British Museum.
After the war, Gurnsey operated a photographic studio at the corner of Front and Pearl Streets on Sioux City, Iowa’s levee.He offered “Photographs and Ambrotypes.” His stock included stereoscopic views and stereoscopes from an eastern supplier.In 1870 he partnered with William H. Illingworth, as Gurnsey & Illingworth. On June 5, 1871 a fire completely destroyed his workplace. Even though he opened new photographic rooms over the Imperial Bakery, Gurnsey decided to leave Iowa City. In December 1871 he relocated to Colorado.
Gurnsey opened the first photographic studio in Colorado Springs, with a second studio in Pueblo, Colorado.In Pueblo, he worked above the St. James restaurant, until he completed a new studio on Main Street, which he operated until 1875.He partnered with Eugene Brandt at this location.
B. H. Gurnsey, photographer. The Largest Cottonwood Tree in Colorado, Fifth Street, South Pueblo, circa 1875, albumen silver stereo view, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas.
As his success grew, Gurnsey completed a new brick building in Colorado Springs on Pike’s Peak Avenue in May 1874. The following year he sold an impressive $4,000 worth of stereoviews. In addition, his photographs received national attention when they were published in the July 4, 1874 issue of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. This weekly news magazine, with a subscriber base numbering in the tens of thousands, published four wood engravings from photographs by Gurnsey: three views of Monument Park and one of Balancing Rock.
B. H. Gurnsey, photographer. Pike’s Peak from Colorado Springs, circa 1875, albumen silver print. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas.
Beginning in March 1877, Gurnsey advertised for a partner to take a one half interest in his stereoview business.It is unlikely he found someone to fill that role, but in June 1877, Frank W. Grove did assist Gurnsey on a Denver and Rio Grande railroad excursion for Denver journalists.The party traveled over the new track between Fort Garland and La Veta.Gurnsey secured negatives for ten stereoscopic views and four large 11 by 14″ views, including photographs of Mule Shoe Bend.He made prints for the railroad, as well asEastern customers, with one railroad customer ordering 7,200 views. Gurnsey’s views were also sent as far away as Paris and China.
B. H. Gurnsey, photographer. The Mule Shoe, 1877, albumen silver print, The New York Public Library.
Gurnsey continued to operate in Colorado Springs until his death at the young age of forty-seven, on November 19, 1880.He is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs.Gurnsey’s widow, Delilah Ida Simpson Gurnsey, operated the studio after her husband’s death.
In 1859, overblown reports of gold discovered along Denver’s Cherry Creek brought a stampede of newcomers to the sparsely populated area, including a few photographers. But it was George D. Wakely who stayed for five years and produced a large body of work that continues to inspire and inform researchers today.
George D. Wakely was born in England circa 1836. It is not known when he arrived in the United States, but in 1855 Wakely was living in New York City with his wife, Mathilda Brown and four children from her previous marriage. (The New York State Census for that year lists Jos. B. Wakeley, age 38, born in England, working as a photographer. While his name and age are incorrect, I believe this is George D. Wakely, as his wife, Matilda, and her four children are also listed.)
Rocky Mountain News, September 29, 1859, p3, c3
The following year, Wakely moved west to Chicago where he made ambrotypes. His peripatetic nature led the Wakely family to Leavenworth, Kansas, in the late 1850s, where George’s three step-daughters, Rose, Louise and Flora, acted in Colonel Charles S. Thorne’s Star Company. They performed under the last name Haydee. George was active behind the scenes.The theatrical troupe was invited to perform in Denver, a city less than two years old.The troupe loaded up five ox-drawn wagons for the five-week journey to Colorado, arriving in September 1859.Thorne’s Star Company was the first theatrical company to perform in the “Territory of Jefferson” at Denver’s Apollo Theatre.After only six performances and rave reviews, Thorne secretly left Denver and returned to Leavenworth.Undeterred, the Wakely women established their own troupe, the Haydee Star Company.
Meanwhile, George Wakely opened Denver’s first photographic gallery across the street from the Apollo Theatre in 1859.He produced ambrotypes and photographs on leather. The latter could be easily sent through the mail to Easterners. His half-plate ambrotype of Mademoiselle Carolista, an itinerant tightrope walker, performing across Larimer Street on July 18, 1861 is held by History Colorado.
George D. Wakely, photographer. Madame Carolista walking on a tightrope above Larimer Street in Denver, July 18, 1861, half-plate ambrotype. History Colorado, 86.70.29.
In June 1862, Wakely built a new gallery on Larimer Street across from the post office.He obtained the latest equipment from New York, and offered the new carte de visite photographs, as well as ferrotypes.Later that year he enhanced his studio with a mammoth sky light and extra side lights. In addition to his own photographs, he also sold views of Colorado’s mountain scenery by photographer Henry Faul.
In April 1864, Wakely put his gallery up for sale due to health concerns, offering to teach the art to the buyer. When no interested parties materialized, Wakely continued to photograph Denver and its environs, documenting the May 1864 Cherry Creek flood.
George D. Wakely, photographer. West Denver No 2, May 19-20, 1864, albumen silver print. J. Paul Getty Museum.
On June 27, 1864, Wakely announced: “I will close my photographic rooms in a few days. Patrons are requested to call and get their pictures.A few more views of the flood left for sale.”
George D. Wakey, photographer. Mouth of Fall River, View up Clear Creek, Four Miles above Idaho, Colorado Territory, 1862-1865, albumen silver print. J. Paul Getty Museum.
In October 1864, he copyrighted 26 photographs with the First Judical District of Colorado Territory, including views of the Garden of the Gods, Central City, Black Hawk, and mining views in North Empire.
Wakely had closed his gallery and moved New York by February 1865.At that time he offered his Rocky Mountain and mining views for sale in Harper’s Weekly magazine.But later that year, Wakely, now living in Washington, DC, with a studio at 524 Pennsylvania Avenue, produced a series of stereoviews documenting government buildings.
George D. Wakely, photographer. Interior of Patent Office, circa 1866, albumen silver print. The J. Paul Getty Museum.
In 1869 or 1870 Wakely opened a photographic supply store in Kansas City, publishing a catalog of the materials he offered for sale. He ran this business until 1877 when he sold out to Fred Mullett. During this time, Wakely also wrote articles for professional photograph journals.
In the summer of 1877 Wakely relocated to Los Angeles, running a livery stable. He returned to Colorado in 1879, working in Leadville, and the following year he was back in the photo business with Edward N. Clements as Wakely & Clements.
By 1884, Wakely was on the move again, this time to Dallas, Texas. He was employed by Alfred Freeman, a photographer and dealer in pianos and organs. Working as a traveling salesman based out of Waco, Texas, Wakely sold pianos and organs in 1888 and 1889.By 1890, he had again opened a photography studio, this time in McKinney, Texas, while also still selling pianos.In 1894 he joined forces with photographer William F. Cobb, operating as Wakely & Cobb until March 1897.In November 1898, Wakely started a new gallery in McKinney in the Dr. Metz building.He worked there until 1901 when he accepted a job for a Dallas music company as a traveling salesman.For the next several years, Wakely’s photography took him to various towns in Texas and Oklahoma, before retiring in Dallas.
In April 1922, Wakely was hit by a car or train.He died from his injuries on April 22, 1922.Wakely was survived by his second wife, Etta R. Lawrence.He is buried atGrove Hill Memorial Park, Dallas.
In June 1862, Wakely built a new gallery on Larimer Street across from the post office.
