Tag: Leadville

Meet the Brown Family

 

C. M. Marsh, photographer. The Brown Family, 1890s. City of Greeley Museums, Permanent Collection.

The Brown family sat for their portrait at Clark M. Marsh‘s Greeley studio in the 1890s. Greeley had a population of around 2,400 in 1890, and only a small number of Black families lived in the town.

1880
1880 Federal Census, Greeley, CO

The 1880 federal census provides information about the family. Elvira Brown was a single mother, born around 1851 in Michigan. She worked as a laundress. Her eldest son, William, was born in the New Mexico Territory, and her three other children—Ernest, Bertha, and Belle— were born in Colorado. The children’s father was born in the Indian Territory. Brown lived with her widowed mother, Charity Davis, and a brother and sister. Elvira’s two eldest children, and her brother and sister, attended school.

In the 1885 Colorado census, the Brown family lived on Seventh Avenue in Greeley.  All four children attended school.  Elvira’s mother and siblings did not live with the family.

In 1900, Ernest Brown worked as a porter in Greeley.  On August 3, 1907,  Brown married Violet Wright in Las Animas, Colorado.  He worked as a porter at a lodging house, where his wife was a chambermaid.

Bertha Brown married Benton Davis, a porter, on July 1, 1898, in Boulder, Colorado.   By 1900, the couple lived in Leadville, Colorado, with their two-year-old daughter.   Her sister Belle resided with them, working as a laundress at the Saddle Rock Restaurant. Elvira also lived in Leadville.

The family lived in Leadville through 1903, but I could not find any record of them after that date.  If anyone has more information about the Brown family, please let me know.

Thank you to Miranda Todd at the Greeley Museum for providing the names of the Brown children.

Wellington O. Luke: From Pennsylvania to Colorado and Back Again

Wellington O. Luke was born in Bradford County, Pennsylvania on February 9, 1847.  He married Nancy “Nellie” E. Russell on September 7, 1869.  In the early 1870s, he operated a photography studio in Meshoppen, Pennsylvania.  In 1874, the Luke family moved to Colorado Springs.  He partnered with another Pennsylvanian, possibly his brother-in law, Bentley B. Russell.  They specialized in scenic stereoviews.  After his young wife’s death of  consumption in 1874 and his brother-in-law’s passing a few months later, W. O. Luke departed Colorado and set up a photo studio in Abilene, Kansas.  

W. O. Luke, photographer. [Ravine, Rocky Mountains]; 1870s; Albumen silver print; Getty Museum collection.
In Abilene, Luke managed a portrait studio and occasionally took his outfit on the road to neighboring communities.  In 186, he married Laura V. Chronister.  In 1879, Luke moved his studio into Putnam’s new block, outfitting his rooms with new furniture and backdrops.  However, a few months later, the Luke family, encouraged by Leadville, Colorado’s silver boom, moved west where Luke would continue his photo business.   

stereo prospectors
Luke & Wheeler, photographers. {Prospectors], 1879-1881. Albumen silver stereoview. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas

In July 1879, Luke worked together with Danforth N. Wheeler as Luke & Wheeler, producing cabinet cards and stereoviews.  Their work included scenic views and local events, including former president U. S. Grant’s 1880 visit to Leadville, the hanging of two men, showing a large crowd of spectators, street scenes of Leadville, and miners and mining operations.  Luke and Wheeler maintained their partnership until December 1881.  

W. O. Luke, photographer. Flume for hydraulic mining near Leadville, Colo., between 1879-1892,  albumen silver print. Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, Z-14166.

In 1888, Luke and one of Colorado’s earliest photographers, Frank W. Grove, joined forces as Grove & Luke.  Their studio resided at 425 Harrison Street.

Luke worked in Leadville for more than twelve years.  Virginia Luke filed for divorce in November 1894, alleging non-support.  After their divorce, Luke left Leadville for New Castle, Colorado and later Arizona, where it has been reported that he made identification cards for Chinese people living in the U. S., as required by the Geary Act.  After a brief time in Auburn, California, Luke returned to Pennsylvania.  He spent the remainder of his photographic career in Wilkes-Barre, calling his business the San Francisco Studio.  Located in the Weitzenkorn building on Main Street, it was the only photo studio in the city with an elevator.  

Wellington O. Luke suffered a stroke and died on January 8, 1907. 

Thank you to Beverly W. Brannan, former curator of photography at the Library of Congress for proof reading this post.