Portraits from the first 100 years of photography
This cabinet card portrait was made at a studio in the port city of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The studio belonged to a man named John O'Neil. Google didn't turn up any information about Mr. O'Neil, so I looked at census records on Ancestry. In the 1880 U.S. Census, I found a John E. O'Neil, age... Continue Reading →
I completely made up the title of this post, so it probably isn't true at all, but it sounds like something you'd hear in an Irish ballad. This cabinet card portrait was made at the Lafayette studio in Dublin, founded by James Lafayette and his three brothers in 1880. Advertising on the back lists medals... Continue Reading →
The name "L.C. Pike" is written on the back of this carte-de-visite. Generally a name on the back of a portrait refers to the sitter, but not always, so it's important to try to find corroborating information. I searched on Ancestry for an L.C. Pike who was about forty years old in the early 1860s and... Continue Reading →
I had assumed the clothing in this photo was Scottish, but someone said the design of the bottom of the dress looks more Irish. Any insights from visitors would be appreciated! This bonnie lass was photographed by O. Frank Stafford in Minneapolis. According to the Minnesota Historical Society's "Directory of Minnesota Photographers," his studio was... Continue Reading →
This photograph was taken in Watertown, New York, a few miles from Lake Ontario and only 31 miles from the Canadian border. The name of the studio at the bottom of the cabinet card looks like "Gray," but I have yet to find a record of a photographer there by that name. I don't know... Continue Reading →
Tokens of Companionship 
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