The gentleman in this cabinet card photograph sports a very unusual beard. One could call this beard a “neck beard” because there is virtually no facial hair populating the beard. This image was photographed in 1888 by C. Burr Marsh in Fayette, Ohio. Other photographs by Marsh, as well as biographical information about him, can be found by clicking on this site’s category “Photographer: Marsh”.
A MOST UNUSUAL BEARD IN FAYETTE, OHIO (1888)
A PHOTOGRAPHER NAMED MARSH IN GALION, OHIO
This cabinet card enters the cabinet card gallery on the basis of the photographer’s last name, Marsh. That is my last name too, but we are not relatives. My last name was assigned to my family members courtesy of an Ellis Island immigration agent back in the 1910’s. This was a common ocurrance, according to many immigrant families who entered the United States years ago. Certainly some of the immigrants changed their name by themselves for assimilation or business reasons and then blamed immigration agents. This cabinet card is actually a nice portrait of an unidentified couple. They are well dressed and the man is a handsome gent. The photographer is Charles Burr Marsh (1861-?), born in Michigan, and married in 1887 to June White (1867-1933) in Ohio. He had studios in Fayette, Wauseon, and Galion, Ohio. In 1908 he became a charter member of the Professional Photographers Society of Ohio. He served as an officer of the organization. A 1915 issue of Erie Railroad Magazine indicates that Marsh also worked as a newspaper photographer.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 