This cabinet card is a portrait of Melville Elijah Stone (1848-1929). Stone was a reporter when in 1876 he founded Chicago’s first penny paper, “The Chicago Daily News”. In 1881 he established the “Chicago Morning News” which became the “Chicago Record”. In 1893, while employed with a bank, he was named General Manager of the “Associated Press” which under his stewardship became a major news agency. Stone retired in 1921. The photographer who produced this portrait was W. J. Root, a celebrated Chicago photographer.
MELVILLE ELIJAH STONE: NOTED CHICAGO JOURNALIST
LITERARY MAN STANDING NEXT TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN HAYWARD, WISCONSIN
Ok. So, he’s not exactly standing next to Abraham Lincoln but he is standing next to Abe’s picture on the binding of a very well known book of the time. The title of the volume is “Giants of The Republic”. The book was written by a “Corps of Competent Biographers” and covers the “lives, deeds and personal traits of eminent men and women” in American history. Some of the subjects profiled are Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Charles Sumner, William Sherman, Robert Fulton, John Jacob Astor, and Edgar Alan Poe. The well dressed gentleman in this cabinet card photograph must have thought that the book had historic potential or at the least, was worth remembering. It is unusual to see someone posing with a specific book title (unless its the bible). The book in this photograph is clearly meant to play a prominent role in the photograph. The photographer of this cabinet card is G. H. McElroy of Hayward, Wisconsin.
HEFTY MAN DRESSED FOR WINTER ON BROADWAY IN NEW YORK CITY
This nicely dressed portly gentleman is posing for his portrait at the studio of Golder & Robinson in New York City. He appears as if he just walked in off the street and didn’t take the time to remove his overcoat and fur hat. His pocket watch and a couple of rings are visible.To view other photos by this studio click on the category “Golder & Robinson”.
MOUTHLESS MAN IN SPICELAND, INDIANA (MAN WITH FORMIDABLE BEARD)
This Cabinet Card is an image of a gentleman with a very interesting beard. I wonder what the psychological implications are of a man who keeps his mouth completely hidden by facial hair. The mans eyes however, are very communicative. The photographer is Huddleston whose studio was in Spiceland, Indiana. Cephus M. Huddleston (1832- ?) was born in Indiana but little biographacial data was uncovered in recent reseach. The town of Spiceland was settled in the 1820’s by Quaker pioneers from Virginia and the Carolinas. The town was named after the spice bush which was prevalent there. In the 1890’s there were a number of factories including those that manufactured furniture, glass and glue. The town was the location of Friends Academy (1870-1921) and the Spiceland Sanitarium and Mineral Springs (1893-1913).
BUSHY MUSTACHE IN EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN
This cabinet card is an addition to the “Mustache (Only the Best) category in the Cabinet Card Gallery. The gentleman in this photograph is wearing a long and bushy mustache and dress clothing for his portrait at the studio of Bonell, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Bonell was a photographer in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin from 1875 until 1890. To view more photographs by Bonell, click on the category “Photographer: Bonell”.
ALBERT STROUT WEARS A STRING TIE
An inscription on the reverse of this cabinet card indicates that the man sitting for this portrait is Albert Strout. The photograph was recently purchased from an estate in Porter, Maine. Research discloses that there is an Albert Strout (1847-1925) buried in Cedar Crest Cemetery in Otisfield, Maine. Albert Strout was married to Ida M. Spurr Strout and records suggest that he may have been a carpenter. It is very possible that the biographical information discovered is accurate but it certainly may be incorrect. Albert Strout is a not an extremely rare name and the photographer who produced this image (Smith) does not list the location of his studio on the cabinet card. Perhaps this photograph followed Strout’s ancestors to Maine but originated in another part of the country. Note that Albert Strout is wearing a pin on his lapel and a string tie.
COOL LONG HAIRED MAN IN FARIBAULT, MINNESOTA (WILLIE NELSON TYPE)
This Cabinet Card photograph is an image of a very interesting looking man. His long hair and beard makes him look like Willie Nelson. This gentleman is from Faribault, Minnesota; or perhaps he was from elsewhere and just “on the road again”. The photographic studio was Peavey and Peterson of Faribault, Minnesota. Louis Peavey (c1832-1902) was a photographer active in Decorah, McGregor, and Ossion, Iowa (1864-1870). He opened a studio in Faribault, Minnesota in 1870 and partnered with Christian Peterson in about 1878 until near the end of the 1890’s.
GROOMED BEARD IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
A distinguished serious gentleman sits for his cabinet card portrait at one of the studios of photographer B. Etter. Etter had photographic studio locations in New Hampshire. He had a businesses in Great Falls and in Rochester.
INCREDIBLE MUSTACHE IN SAN FRANCISCO
Mr. George West poses for his photograph at the Morse studio in San Francisco, California. Mr. West is sporting an incredible mustache earning him a spot in this blog’s Mustache (Only the Best) category. Research reveals that the photographer of this cabinet card is George Daniels Morse (b1835-?). Morse was active in photography in Grenwich, New York; New York City; San Francisco (1862-1869 and 1896-1905); and Chicago. To view other photographs by Morse, click on Cabinet Card Gallery’s category “Photographer: Morse”.
POINTY BEARD IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS (1885)
Mr A. W. Sibley poses for his portrait at the studio of E. S. Dunshee in Boston, Massachusetts. Mr Sibley is well dressed and his hair and beard are very styled. His beard comes to a point and is eligible for the Cabinet Card Gallery’s category of “Beard (Only the Best)”. Please visit this beard hall of fame. Interestingly, unlike most hall of fame inductees, Mr Sibley lacks a mustache. Photographer Edward Sidney Dunshee was born 1823 in Bristol, Vermont and died in 1907 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1857 he and Cornelius Dunshee (his father) were photographers in Falls River, MA. He produced ambrotypes and daguerrotypes there. He next operated out of New Bedford, MA. One of his New Bedford clients was Henry David Thoreau, who sat for a portrait in 1861.By 1873 he and Thomas Rice Burnham operated as Dunshee and Burnham in Boston, MA. Between 1873 and 1876 he and Edward Byron Dunshee were in business as E. S. Dunshee and Son and located on Tremont Row in Boston, MA. By 1880, Edward Sidney Dunshee had moved to Philadelphia and apparently, after some time, his son took over the business. It appears that E. S. Dunshee had his last studio in Trenton, New Jersey (1894-1901). This Cabinet Card is dated 1885 and appears to be a product of the studio when it was operated by the son in the business, Edward Byron Dunshee. To view other photographs by E. S. Dunshee, click on the category, “Photographer: Dunshee”. Dunshee’s photography resume is confusing because different sources offer slightly different histories. In addition, the fact that his father and son were photographers, further clouds the accuracy of his biographical material. Clearly some writers have confused and entangled each of the Dunshee’s life story.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 