TWO ADORABLE YOUNG SIBLINGS POSE FOR THEIR PORTRAIT IN ONEIDA, NEW YORK

 

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This charming late nineteenth-century cabinet card was photographed by W.J. Richardson of Oneida, New York, and depicts a beautifully dressed young girl standing beside a seated toddler boy in a carefully arranged studio interior. The girl wears her hair in long braids and is adorned with decorative buttons or breast ornaments that add visual interest to her otherwise modest Victorian dress. She stands confidently, her posture poised and composed. She is adorable. Beside her, the younger boy sits with a softer, slightly tentative expression, creating a lovely contrast between sibling composure and childhood vulnerability. The “big sister” seems to be assuming a protective posture in relationship to her sibling. Both children share pleasant smiles. The careful posing, the understated backdrop, and the children’s clothing all reflect the aesthetic sensibilities of the 1880s–1890s, when cabinet cards were at the height of their popularity. The mount style and photographic tone strongly suggest a date in the late 1880s to early 1890s. The image retains strong contrast with tonal depth. There is light, even age toning consistent with photographs of this period. The mount shows gently rounded corners, and the cabinet card remains solid and structurally sound. The cabinet card has gold beveled edges which are in good condition. Overall, the card presents in very good antique condition and displays beautifully (see scans).

This cabinet card is available for purchase at my store, The History Peddler, for $35.00 at auction.

Interested collectors may view the listing here:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/336449098030

Published in: on March 2, 2026 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
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PORTRAIT OF EDWIN PHELPS IN ROME, NEW YORK AND THE EASTMAN KODAK CONNECTION

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An inscription on the reverse of this cabinet card portrait reveals that the subject’s name in Edwin Phelps. The photograph was taken at the Brainerd Photo Company in Rome (Oneida County), New York. Preliminary research tells us a little bit about Mr. Phelps. He was born in Oneida County in 1829. He was married to Amanda Howard (1832-1904). The 1880 census indicates that the couple had three sons living at home with them. He worked as a carpenter during at least four decades.  He died in 1902 in Baltimore, Maryland and is buried in Forest Park Cemetery in Camden (Oneida County), New York. The images seen below include a portrait of Phelps taken at a later date than the portrait seen above, and a photograph of Phelps’s gravestone. The photographer that produced this image is Jonathan Millard Brainerd (1851-1926). Brainerd was born in Oneida, New York. After finishing school, Brainerd began working for photographer H. Hovey and after two years the two men became partners in a firm named appropriately Hovey & Brainerd. The business partnership lasted ten years until Brainerd bought out Hovey. Brainerd was married to Sarah C. Knight in 1874. Brainerd’s studios included locations in Rome (112 West Dominick Street) and in Oneida (28 Main Street). He had an interest in public service which is reflected in the three years that he spent as an alderman and his position as treasurer of State Custodial Asylum. He died in Utica, New York and is buried in Rome Cemetery in Rome, New York. His obituary appeared in the Rome Sentinel (1926) and the article included an interview with his colleague, photographer Betty Filchard. She noted that Brainerd was a friend of the famed photography entrepreneur George Eastman, one of the founders of Eastman Kodak. She stated that Brainerd was a genius and had invented a new camera shutter that Eastman had patented under his own name and “broke Jonathan’s heart”.  SOLD

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                                                                                                                               LATER PORTRAIT OF EDWIN PHELPS

 

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                                                                                                                                     GRAVESTONE OF EDWIN PHELPS

 

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                                                                                                                           PORTRAIT OF JONATHAN MILLARD BRAINERD

 

 

Published in: on June 17, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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MOM AND DAD AND THEIR EIGHT KIDS NICELY DRESSED IN MADISON, SOUTH DAKOTA

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This cabinet card is a portrait of a large family taken at the studio of A. T. Lewis in Madison, South Dakota. This family is well dressed and likely well-to-do. South Dakota was part of the Dakota Territory until it became a state in 1889. This knowledge reveals that this photograph was taken in 1889 or later. The city of Madison was named after Madison, Wisconsin. Wikipedia reports that the city’s original name was Herman and that it was founded in 1880. Abrah T. Lewis, the photographer of this image was married to Miss Sarah J. Norcott in 1873. She was also a photographer and is actually the more likely of the two to have taken this photograph. Mrs. Lewis tended to do portraits while Mr. Lewis focused on scenic views. Abrah Lewis was born in Oneida, New York in 1853. He next lived with his family in Canada between 1855 and 1873. In 1873, Abrah and his bride moved to Michigan and eight years later he lost his house to a forest fire (1881). Mrs. Lewis’s grandmother perished in the fire and she nearly lost her mother. The couple left for a brief stay in Canada and then settled in South Dakota and worked as photographers in Sioux Falls. Three years later they moved to Madison and opened a photography studio there that was predominately operated by Mrs. Lewis while Mr. Lewis attended to branches of the studio at Brookings, Elkton, and Arlington (all in South Dakota). The pair resided in Madison (five years), Huron (two years) and Clark (two years). Like many photographer of the cabinet card era, this couple kept moving. Their next stop was various locations in Iowa where they continued to work as photographers. One of their locations was a town called Rock Rapids. To view photographs by other female photographers, click on the category “Female Photographers”.

Published in: on February 27, 2015 at 7:19 pm  Comments (1)  
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