ENDEARING YOUNG COUPLE IN QUINCY, ILLINOIS (FEMALE PHOTOGRAPHER / CIVIL WAR NURSE)

A handsome young couple pose for their portrait at the Reed photography studio in Quincy, Illinois. This unidentified endearing couple are nicely  dressed, and the woman is wearing a necklace. Advertising on the bottom of the front of the cabinet card indicates that Reed operated a branch studio in La Grange, Missouri. To view other couple portraits, click on the category entitled “Couples”. Candace McCormick Reed (1818-1900) was born in Crab Orchard, Tennesee  and moved to Missouri as a young girl. In 1842, she married Warren Reed, a photographer. The couple left Missouri and relocated to Quincy, Illinois, and established a daguerreotype gallery in 1848. Warren Reed died in 1858 and Candace Reed became  the gallery owner and photographer. She quickly sold the gallery and opened a new gallery which she named the “Excelsia Gallery”. Candace’s sister, Miss Celina McCormick, worked as an assistant in the studio. At times, Candace worked under the name of  Mrs W A Reed or Mrs Warren Reed. She kept her gallery up to date technologically and she was especially gifted in the art of painting photographs. She was known for her talent in enlarging old photographs and retouching them in crayon, oil, watercolor, and India ink.  Candace was able to financially support her two children and mother-in-law, with proccds fro the business. Candace was admirably very civic minded. She established a support organization for soldiers and their families during the civil war. The group was called the “Sisters of the Good Samaritan”. She also served as a nurse in Union Army hospitals in Nashville, Chattanooga, and Vicksburg. While she was volunteering for the Union effort, she left her gallery in the care of her brother, who was also a photographer. After the war, Candace operated the Quincy gallery, and also ran galleries  in Missouri. The galleries were located in the towns of Canton, La Grange, and Palmyra. Candace Reed’s Quincy gallery was in busines between  1848 and 1888.

MAN WITH A GREAT BEARD IN LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY

This cabinet card is a portrait of a middle aged man with a wonderful mustache and beard. The Cabinet Card Gallery has a collection of interesting facial hair cabinet cards which can be visited by clicking on the categories of “Beards (Only the Best)”  and “Mustaches (Only the Best)”. The photographer of this image is Louis Bergman, whose studio was located at 56 & 58 Market Street, in Louisville, Kentucky. Perusal of Louisville business directories reveals that Bergman began business with a partner. Bergman & Flexner; the firm was listed in the 1868 and 1869 directories. He was reported to be the sole proprietor of a studio from 1872 until 1886. Bergman was listed at a number of different addresses over these years. Using these addresses, it appears that this particular photograph was taken between 1873 and 1881. From 1886 through 1894 the proprietor of the studio became Caroline Bergman. The Photographic Times and American Photographer (1883) reported that Bergman was Vice President of the Photographers Mutual Benefit Society of Louisville. Louis Bergman (c1838-?) was born in Hanover, Germany to Prussian parents. His wife, Carrie (!845-?) was born in Louisiana to German parents. The couple married  in about 1865. The Bergman’s had a daughter, Lillie, who was 12 years-old at the time of the 1880 census. The census listed Louis as a photographer and Carrie as a homemaker. It is interesting to note that when the couples daughter reached 18 years of age, Carrie became the studio’s proprietor/photographer.

PRETTY YOUNG WOMAN PHOTOGRAPHED BY AIME DUPONT IN NEW YORK CITY

This cabinet card features an attractive young woman posed holding a book. The woman is nicely dressed and has a lovely figure. Her great figure is, no doubt, assisted by her tight corset. The book she is holding is entitled “Grifting“. The definition of grifting is “engaging in petty swindling”. What is a nice girl like the girl in this image doing with such a sensational book? The most likely reason she has possession of that particular title is that; it was there in the studio. The book likely belonged to the photographer. The studio that produced this photograph was the Aime Dupont gallery. Dupont (1842-1900) founded his photography business in 1886 in New York City, New York. He was formerly a sculptor and he was of Belgian origin. His American wife, Etta Greer, was also a photographer. She was well respected for he work as a portraitist of opera singers in Paris, France. She was educated in Paris and spent much of her childhood there. She also met and married Dupont in Paris. The couple was very talented and they became very popular as portrait photographers in New York. Among their society and celebrity clients were many singers who were appearing in New York. After Dupont’s death, his wife, and later his son (Albert), operated the studio. His wife kept the name of the studio the same, after the death of her husband. In 1906, the Metropolitan Opera hired its own official  photographer, resulting in diminished portrait work in that sector. The studio went bankrupt in 1920.  A couple of interesting questions about this photograph remain unanswered. Is the subject of this photograph someone famous in society or the performing arts? Who was the photographer, was it Aimee Dupont, or his wife, Etta?

ADORABLE TWIN GIRLS AND THEIR LITTLE SISTER (FEMALE PHOTOGRAPHER)……….AKA “LOVELESS IN CARLINVILLE”

This family portrait features adorable identical twin sisters and their younger sibling. The three children share the same face and hairstyle. Like many twins of today, these twins are dressed identically. The twins are holding hands and are standing in front of their sibling who is posed in a prominent position, centered and standing on a chair peering over her sisters shoulders. The photographer who created this photograph was Miss Trumbull of Carlinville, Illinois. The precious children in this photograph are identified on the reverse of the image. Their names are, from left to right, Lila, Georgia, and Lela Loveless. The U.S. census of 1920 sheds some light on the Loveless family. First of all, the family was far from loveless, considering that Cyness and Sarah Loveless had five children. The twins, Lila and Lela, and their little sister, Georgia, had an older brother named Lincoln and a younger brother (Mack) and younger sister (Sadie). It is interesting to note that the Loveless parents named a son Lincoln. The boy was born in 1896, and that despite the fact that three decades had passed since the civil war, the Loveless’s honored their native son assassinated President. After considering the census data, it is likely that this photograph was taken approximately 1904. By 1920, Lincoln Loveless, age 24, had joined his father working as a farmer. Unfortunately, research has not yet uncovered any information about the photographer of this image. Women photographers during this era were not common. Hopefully, a visitor to the Cabinet Card Gallery will be able to supply biographical information concerning Miss Trumbull.

JULIA BLAESS KLAGER: MICHIGAN BICYCLIST (PHOTOGRAPHED BY FEMALE PHOTOGRAPHER)

An inscription on the reverse of this cabinet card, indicates that the young woman posed with the bicycle, is Julia Blaess Klager. Note the bell on the handlebars of the bike. Julia is beautifully dressed for her portrait at the studio of Susan  T. Cook. Cook had galleries in both Ann Arbor and Dundee, Michigan. She is listed in an 1890 Ann Arbor directory. An attempt to find biographical information about Julia Klager, produced uncertain results. The 1920 US census lists a Julia Klager, residing in Washtenaw, Michigan. Her date of birth was listed as 1877, which could be a match for the woman in this cabinet card. A Julia Klager was also found to be associated with the University of Michigan. A woman with that name received a music degree (piano teacher) in 1907 and is also listed as a music patroness in the 1908 University of Michigan Yearbook.  This musically inclined woman, may, or may not be, the woman in this photograph.

YOUNG BOY PULLING HIS TODDLER SISTER IN A WAGON (FEMALE PHOTOGRAPHER IN COUNCIL GROVE, KANSAS)

This is the likely scenario. The boys parents, at the photographers suggestion, said, “Go stand over there and pretend that you are pulling your sister in the wagon”. The boy followed his parents suggestion, but, he wasn’t too happy about it. He certainly wasn’t going to smile for the photographer. This day at the photographer’s gallery was certainly not the fun he had hoped it would be. In contrast, little sister was interested in her surroundings and she sits in the wagon taking it all in. Examination of the wagon reveals that she appears to have a pillow behind her and that there may be a toy , perhaps a spinning top, directly in front of her. The photographer of this image is Kate Adele Aplington (1859-?). Her studio was in Council Grove, Kansas. Kate Aplington was an author and an artist. She was a professional photographer between 1886 and 1900. She held office in the state suffrage association and gave lectures about suffrage issues. A photography journal indicates that she sold her photography gallery to Emma Harvey (1900). In 1901 she donated a small set of photogravures which became the nucleus of a state art study collection which was basically a travelling art gallery. It became known as the “Aplington Art Gallery”. The purpose of the traveling exhibit was to cultivate the appreciation of art in Kansas. Aplington wrote the lectures accompanying the exhibit. In 1912, she published a novel about the pioneering times. Aplington was a truely accomplished woman. As an aside, it is interesting to note that Council Grove is named after an agreement between European Americans and the Osage Nation that allowed settler’s wagon trains to pass through the area on their way out west. Council Grove was one of the last stops on the Santa Fe Trail heading southwest.

PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG WOMAN BY MISS ANNIE LINDQUIST: PIONEER FEMALE PHOTOGRAPHER IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

This cabinet card captures  a profile portrait of a young woman wearing a necklace and pin (possibly a cameo) on her collar. The noteworthy feature of this cabinet card is that the photographer is a woman, Miss Anny Lindquist whose studio was located in Chicago, Illinois.

UNREMARKABLE PORTRAIT BY MISS GARRITY: FEMALE PHOTOGRAPHER IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

This cabinet card is a very ordinary profile portrait of a middle aged woman. She is nicely dressed in a high collar dress with lace trim. The only thing remarkable about this cabinet card is that the photographer, Miss Garrity, is a woman. Miss Garrity’s studio was located in Chicago, Illinois. To see other photographs by this photographer; click on the category “Photographer: Garrity”.

FEMALE PHOTOGRAPHER IN McPHERSON, KANSAS (1893)

Mrs. Vreeland Whitlock photographed this cabinet card in 1893. Whitlock’s studio was located in McPherson, Kansas.  Her subject is a young woman wearing a corsage, necklace, earrings, and a hair clip. The images of other female photographers can be viewed by clicking on the category “Female Photographers”.

STUNNING WOMAN IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (FEMALE PHOTOGRAPHER)

An attractive woman poses for her portrait at the studio of Misses Garrity in Chicago, Illinois. She is wearing a terrific hat, a fur collared coat, gloves, as well as ribbons, cameo collar pin and earrings. She is a stunning woman and is wearing the best finery of the day. Mrs Garrity’s studio was located at the corner of Clark and Elm Streets. Sallie E. Garrity was one of a number of outstanding early female photographers whose marriage stifled a successful career. She opened her first public studio in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1886. She later opened a large and successful photography business in Chicago. In 1893, while working at the Chicago Exposition, she met a man who “wooed her away from Chicago and Photography to Los Angeles and matrimony”.