The subject of this portrait is quite the handsome gentleman and has a wonderful beard. To view more interesting beards, click on the category “Beards (Only the Best). The reverse of the photograph has a printed stamp indicating that the photographer of this image was located in Portland, Oregon. In addition, the back of the cabinet card shows a medal for photography from the Oregon State Agricultural Society which was issued in 1881. Born in Illinois in 1844, Frank G. Abell moved to California with his parents in 1857. In 1862, at the age of 18, he joined the firm of William Shew in San Francisco, where he spend four years learning the art and business of photography. He opened his own gallery, Abell’s Star Gallery, in Stockton, California in 1866. The next year he moved back to San Franisco and then worked in such towns as Grass Valley, Red Bluff and Yreka. In 1877 he pursued his craft in Roseburg, Oregon and from 1878 to 1888 he was based in Portland. He must have left his heart in San Francisco because he returned there once again. His indecisiveness was evident when he returned to Portland where he worked between 1897 and 1907. When his health failed, he moved to Tacoma, Washington where he died in 1910.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 