Let’s take a look at a little known photographer who worked in Golden in 1904-1905. Biographical details about Harry J. Gottleib are both limited and confusing.
Gottleib was born in New York City. Records provide his birthdate variously as April 1874 (1900 census), 1880 (WWI draft records and 1920 census) and 1886 (1930 census). Some of these dates are certainly unrealistic. At around twelve years of age, Gottleib began photographing houses for an itinerant photographer. For more than a decade, he made tintypes under the employ of a female tintypist on Coney Island. In 1894 he married Daisy Ann Brown. By 1900 they lived in northern Florida, where he worked as a photographer, first in Monticello and later in San Augustine. (It is easy to confuse him with N. I. Gottlieb, a photographer working in Ocala, FL in the 1890s, whom the press called “Artist Gottlieb.”)
Harry J. Gottlieb, photographer. Unidentified man standing with a child sitting on a donkey, tintype, 1904 or 1905. Collection of the author.
In September 1904 Gottlieb set up a photo tent in Golden, Colorado where he worked for about a year. He specialized in photographs of babies for which he charged $5.00 for 16 stamp photos. Very few of his Colorado photographs are extant.
After Golden, he lived briefly in Raton, New Mexico (1906), El Paso, Texas (1907-1911) and Tucson, Arizona (1911-1912). By 1914 he resided in California, where he placed an ad in the San Francisco Examiner on March 26, 1915: PHOTOGRAPHER: first class, all round man; wants position, or will take odd jobs and piece retouching.H. J. Gottlieb,1359 Golden Gate ave. In 1916 Gottlieb was back in Arizona, working in Phoenix (1916), Tempe, (1916-1919) and Williams (1919).
Gottlieb led a colorful personal life. He married four times. He lost a custody battle over his daughter from his first marriage. After the divorce of his third wife, Beatrice Montague “ended her own life after taking that of Hamilton W. Mannon, a motion picture executive… whose love for the beautiful girl had grown cold,” stated the Denver Post on August 7, 1927. She left a young daughter that she had with Harry.
Harry’s Picture Place, Real Photo Postcard, ca, 1927. Hubbard Museum of the American West
Only when Gottlieb settled in Alamogordo, New Mexico in the mid-1920s, did his career flourish. He married his fourth wife, Bessie Graham, in 1924 and she joined him in the business. He continued to make portraits, but he also captured views of southeastern New Mexico’s stunning scenery, coloring them with oil paint. He open a second studio in Ruidoso, NM, where he sold postcards as well as other souvenirs. Gottlieb’s pictures were also published in tourist brochures. Harry Gottlieb died on August 2, 1936 of Buerger’s disease, which causes blood vessels to swell.
Special thanks to Beverly W. Brannan, former curator of photography, Library of Congress, for proof reading this post.
This blog post provides a chronological list of all known 19th century professional studio photographers in Ouray County between 1880 and 1891. Part 2 will continue the chronology. Did I miss any photographers? Can you provide any additional biographical details?
The first photo studio in Ouray, circa 1880. Ouray County Historical Society.
1880-1881 Gilbert & Kelley (aka Kelly) John E. Gilbert & D. J. Kelley (possibly David Jesse Kelley, 1850-1928) operated under the firm name of J. E. Gilbert & Co. They dissolved their partnership in May 1881.
1880-1883, 1891 John E. Gilbert (born circa 1858-1931) John E. Gilbert began working as a photographer in Ouray, Colorado with D. J. Kelley, producing portraits and landscape views. After May 1881, Gilbert continued the business on his own as the only photographer in town.In August 1882, Gilbert planned to acquire a 14 x 17″ view camera for landscape work.He kept busy photographing residences and mining concerns.In the mid-1880s, Gilbert moved about 200 miles northeast to Leadville, one of the most prosperous mining communities in Colorado. Gilbert returned to Ouray in 1891, operating with M. Brumfield as Brumfield & Gilbert.They boasted that they could take large views, just like the Denver photographers. In 1914, Gilbert left Colorado for Seattle, Washington.His final residence was the Kings County Alms House, where he died on January 2, 1931.
1883?-? George R. Porter (c. 1845-1896) George R. Porter operated at Sneffels.
George R. Porter, photographer. Unidentified group, albumen silver print, Ouray County Historical Society.
1884-1885 Kuykendall & Whitney A partnership of Frank Kuykendall and William Henry Whitney.
1884-1889William Henry Whitney (1855-1936) Whitney first appears in Colorado in 1882 as a partner in the photographic firm of Kuykendall & Whitney with Frank Kuykendall, working originally in Maysville, and later Ouray.
In 1888, Whitney’s personal life made the newspapers when he was charged with having an affair with Mrs. J. H. Lewis, the wife of the manager of the Lewis Hotel in Ouray.Whitney had worked as the accountant at the hotel one summer.The Lewis’ divorced and Whitney married Lydia Lewis one week later.
Whitney formed a partnership with Alvin L. Roloson in 1889, as Whitney & Roloson.He then moved to Denver where he operated as a photographer and painter through 1892.Whitney appears to have given up photography and moved to San Juan County, New Mexico, in the 1890s.He later farmed in Coles Valley, OR before returning to San Juan County where he would live for the remainder of his life.He died on December30, 1936, in Cedar Hill, New Mexico and is buried in the Cedar Hill Cemetery.
1888-1889 Whitney & Roloson A partnership of William H. Whitney and Alvin L. Roloson.
1889 Herbert D. P.Reeve (1850-1918) H. D. P. Reeve was born in Horseheads, New York on October 23, 1850 to Silas G. Reeve and Sarah Tucker Reeve.The 1870 federal census lists Reeve as an artist in Pleasantville, Pennsylvania. In 1872 Reeve worked as a photographer in Sherman, New York.
No information has surfaced about Reeve’s life between 1873 and the early 1880s.Around 1884 he married Isabella Sparkes, a native of Sherman, N. Y.The couple relocated to Battle Creek, Michigan where Reeve ran a photography business until 1886 when a fire destroyed his studio.
Reeve, photographer. Unidentified man, albumen silver print, circa 1889. Ouray County Historical Society.
In May 1887 Reeve moved to Pueblo, Colorado buying Mr. W. P. Mealey’s photography gallery for $3,000. He exhibited a collection of his photographs at the Pueblo State Fair later that year.By November, Mealey, who had planned to focus on his real estate business, realized he missed photography. He and Reeve formed the Mealey-Reeve Company, promising to renovate the galleries and purchase new photographic equipment.
Reeve did not stay in Pueblo.He took a position with Clark in Salida, Colorado and in 1888 with Dean in Gunnison.By 1889 he was in Ouray, but in February 1890 he had leased his gallery to S. G. White.By 1891 Reeve was back in Pueblo, working as an alfalfa farmer.He died on January 11, 1918, at the age of 67.He is buried at Pueblo’s Roselawn Cemetery.
1890
Frank S. Balster, copyright claimant. Page from Gems of the Rockies, Ouray, Colorado, 1890.
Frank S. Balster (1861-1931) was born in Ontario, Canada. He arrived in the U. S. around 1883, settling in Emporia, Kansas, where he worked as a watchmaker and jeweler. Balster accepted a position with jeweler, C. E. Rose in Ouray and moved to Colorado with his family in August 1889. The following year, Balster published Gems of the Rockies, Around Ouray, Colorado.
In 1893 Balster relocated to Durango. He was known as the“Scenic photographer of the San Juan Country.” He continued to work as a jeweler and optician. Balster remained in Durango until the mid-1910s, then moved to California. He died at age 75 on November 4, 1931, leaving two daughters.
S. G. White worked at Newcomb’s Gallery in Salt Lake City in December 1889.In March 1890, White took out a three month lease on the gallery formerly occupied by H. D. P. Reeve in Ouray.He made portraits and landscapes.After his lease ran out, he planed to open a gallery in Silverton.By April 1891, G. W. Moore had taken over White’s gallery. An S. G. White who operated a photo studio in Dardenville, Arkansas may be the same individual.
S. G. White, photographer. Ouray, ca. 1890, albumen silver print. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas
E. Adams, photographer. The Burro and His Playmates, 1892. Ouray County Historical Society.
1891E. Adamsadvertised his services as a landscape photographer in Ouray in the spring of 1891 in the Solid Muldoon Weekly newspaper. In 1892 Adams relocated his studio to Silverton.
Brumfield & Gilbert A partnership of Michael Brumfield and John E. Gilbert. They also operated a branch studio in Silverton.
Brumfield & Gilbert, photographers. No. 31, Red Mountain, Ouray, CO., Winter Altitude, 11300 feet, 1891, Denver Public Library Special Collections.
Charles A. Erickson (1866-1946) Born in Sweden, Erickson immigrated to the United States in 1882. He came to western Colorado in 1891, working in Ridgway (1891, 1893); Montrose (1892-1893); Delta, (1893-1894, 1909-1912); Telluride (1894-1896); Rico, (1895); Florence, (1897-1899); Raton, NM, (1900-1904); Ouray, (1906-1909); and Malad, ID, (1920-1930).
C. A. Erickson, photographer. Mineral Farm Mill, Ouray,Colo. Modern silver gelatin print. Denver Public Library Special Collections.
George W. Moore was born in the Finger Lakes region of New York in January 1854.As early as 1870, he worked as a photographer in Orleans County, NY.By 1888, Moore was employed as a photographer in Colorado, first in Grand Junction with T. E. Barnhouse as Barnhouse & Moore. Later he took over S. G. White’s studio in Ouray. His extant work from Colorado includes boudoir card views of Ouray and the Red Mountain mining district.In 1893 Moore relocated his photography business to Denison, Texas.Moore’s photographs appeared as illustrations in T. V. Munson’s, Foundations of American Grape Culture, (NY: Orange Judd Company, 1909). On March 2, 1911, Moore fell down a stairway at his home and suffered a head injury. He did not recover. Moore is buried at Fairview Cemetery in Denison.
George W. Moore, photographer. “Porters,” Mt. Sneffles, Colo., albumen silver print, 1891-1893, Ouray County Historical Society.
L. R. Phillips, photographer. Portrait of George Norris, 1888, albumen silver print of cabinet card mount. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas.
Loren “Ren” Rawson Phillips was born on October 27, 1867, in Hoosick Falls, New York to Lorenzo Simon Phillips and Olive Adelia Snyder Phillips. In 1887, Phillips opened a photography studio in Saguache, a town of about 600 residents in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. He charged $3.00 for a dozen cabinet cards, like the dapper portrait of George Norris with his bicycle. Note that the brick wall behind the bicyclist is actually a beautifully crafted painted backdrop.
Phillips photographed everything from babies to mining interests. He also made stereoviews and specialized in copying and enlarging photographs.
He exhibited his work at the Second Annual Fair of the Southwestern Colorado Industrial Association. In 1890, Phillips photographed a city street in Saguache showing the office of the new Saguache Crescent newspaper, retouching his negative to add the sign for the paper. At times, Phillips taught school in addition to his photographic work. Phillips closed his Saguache photo studio on October 31, 1890, and moved to Aspen to assist in his brother’s hardware business.
L. R. Phillips, photographer. Saguache Street Scene, 1890; Denver Public Library
By 1892, Phillips lived in Roswell, New Mexico where he operated a photography studio, Phillips & Sheek. Sheek’s first name is unknown, but the team made photographs that were displayed at the 1893 World’sColumbian Exposition in Chicago. Their photographs focused on the Alfalfa Palace, constructed from 2,500 bales of alfalfa and built for the Southeastern New Mexico and Pecos Valley Fair held in October 1892. He married Ola Lee Fountain in Chaves, New Mexico on August 12, 1894.
Phillips returned to Colorado in the late 1890s, settling in Grand Junction where he continued to make studio portraits until 1899 when he sold his studio. Phillips remained in Colorado for the next fifteen years working as a school principal and serving as town treasurer of Fruita. He patented a globe for teaching geography, a fire kindler, and an oscillating water motor.
By 1930, Phillips lived in Los Angeles and was employed in the insurance industry. He died on December 3, 1944, leaving a wife and five children.
Thanks to Beverly Brannan, recently retired Curator of Photography, Library of Congress for editing assistance and Karen Hendrix for pointing out the painted backdrop.
George R. Porter, photographer. [Cabin in the snow], circa 1885, 5 x 4″ albumen silver print. History Colorado, 90.501.39George R. Porter’s photographic artistry and expertise stand out among the 19th century photographers working in Ouray county. Based in Sneffels, Colorado, a thriving mining community in the 1880s, Sneffels is now a ghost town. During Porter’s time, winter travel between Ouray and Sneffels could prove dangerous due to avalanches and rock slides.
Porter’s use of a variety of photographic formats surprised me. He made stereo views, boudoir cards, and unusual 5 x 4″ sized cards–I had never seen this format before.
George R. Porter was born around 1845 in Ottawa, Illinois. He married Elizabeth Deland on May 27, 1867 in La Salle, Illinois. In 1873, Elizabeth gave birth to their only child, Jane “Jennie” Porter. Porter worked as an express agent in Ottawa until moving to Colorado in 1875. George came west to prospect near Georgetown, Colorado leaving his wife and daughter in Illinois.
George R. Porter, photographer. Detail of cabin in snow, albumen silver print. History Colorado-Denver, Colorado, 90.501.39
Porter relocated to Ouray County in 1877, where he would live for the remainder of his life. Porter wore many hats, owning an interest in the Revenue Mine, serving as postmaster at Mount Sneffels and running a general store that included a room devoted to his photographs. He specialized in winter scenes and usually included people in his views. One of his more unexpected views captured a funeral procession on snowshoes, as a group of miners carried their deceased colleague’s body to Ouray via a sled.
Snow drifts predominate Porter’s photograph of a cabin (above). A close look at the left side of the image reveals a man smoking a long pipe and two cats, making the stark scene more hospitable.
George R. Porter, photographer. Frozen waterfalls, Canyon Creek, circa 1885, albumen silver stereo view. History Colorado, 84.192.565
On December 10, 1895, a nail stuck into Porter’s knee, resulting in blood poisoning. During his illness, Porter stayed at Ouray’s Beaumont Hotel. He succumbed to his illness on March 14, 1896.
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.
