Charles Henry Harris

Photographer: C. H. Harris
Blair, Nebraska
Example from LOST GALLERY

Charles Henry Harris
(1842 - 1928)

1842 Jul 02
New York, state records, Charles Henry Harris is born
1874 - 1881
Blair, NE, there is some evidence that Harris had a studio in Blair for a short time between these dates
1878 - 1879
Omaha, NE, city directory no listing for Harris
1880 Jun 11
Omaha, NE, US census Charles as photographer, lives next door to S W Stelles, photographer
1880 Nov 04
Blair (NE) Pilot newspaper, item says “Prof.” Harris, photographer at “New” gallery is ill
1881 - 1883
Omaha, NE, city directory no listing for Harris
1882
Moline, IL, city directory Charles H Harris NOT listed
1883 Jun 26, 1883 Jul 06, 1883 Aug 25
Rock Island (IL) Argus, small ad for Price’s Photo Parlor at 1621 Second Av
1885 Aug 17
Omaha (NE) Daily Bee, display ad for Photographer C H Harris at 702-704 N 16th in Omaha

1888 Nov 04
Blair (NE) Pilot newspaper, item “Prof” Harris proprietor of the “New” photograph gallery, is ill
1890 Dec 25
Blair (NE) Pilot, small very negative ad compares photography of G B Riker to that of “Mrs Harris Gallery and her operator Lauritz Neilson”
1891 Nov 07
Henry, IL, state records, Charles Harris and Fannie Harnen are married
1891
Moline, IL, city directory, Charles H Harris NOT listed
1892
Moline, IL, city directory, Charles H Harris res Dickson se cor Second; NOT shown in bus. section
1895 (1893, 1894 not available)
Rock Island, IL, city directory, Charles H Harris NOT listed
1895-1896
David Hayne’s “Catching Shadows” lists Charles H Harris as photographer in Houston, TX, for these years
1897
Rock Island, IL, from a comment (see below) there is a cabinet card imprinted “C H Harris, 1621 Second Street, Rock Island, IL”
1897 Aug
Rock Island, IL, birth of daughter Eva

1899
Moline, IL, city directory as photographer South Side Dickson E 3rd
1900 Jun 15
US census, Black Hawk, IL, Charles H Harris as photographer at NE cor 3rd
1901
Moline, IL, city directory Charles H Harris as photographer at 1926 3rd, res Milan, (wife: Fannie)
1902
Moline, IL, city directory, Charles H Harris NOT listed
Davenport, IA, city directory, Charles H Harris NOT listed
1902
From obituary, Harris moves from Rock Island to Davenport this year
1906
Davenport, IA, city directory as photographer at 512 W 4th; res 409 Western
1908
Davenport, IA, city directory as photographer at 112 w 4th; res 411 ½ Western
1909
Davenport, IA, city directory as photographer at 411 ½ Western
1910
US census Davenport, IA, as real estate agent, res 411 ½ Western; Davenport city directory lists as photographer at 325 Brady, res 411 ½ Brady

1911
Houston, TX, city directory as photographer 2015 Gentry
1912
Houston, TX, city directory as photographer 110 w Ash
1913
Davenport, IA, city directory as no occupation shown; res 1110 w 6th
1914
Davenport, IA, city directory as photographer; res 1110 w 6th
1915
Iowa state census as elevator operator; res 1110 w 6th
1920
US census, Davenport, IA, as photographer; res 207 1/3 Brady st
1925
Iowa state census as resident of Old Soldiers Home

1928 Dec 15
Davenport, IA, Charles Henry Harris dies of senility and arterial sclerosis.
1928 Dec 17
Rock Island (IL) Argus obituary says Harris moved from Rock Island to Davenport in 1902

The whereabouts of Charles Harris before 1880 are pretty sketchy. He was born in New York but there is no record of when he left there. There is some evidence that he was enlisted with the Union army in the US civil war, 1861- 1865.

Also there is an imprint on a cabinet card mentioned on an Ancestry message board, "From C. H. Harris's Gallery, west of O. V. Palmer & Co.'s Store, Blair Nebraska". According to Andreas' History of Nebraska, O V Palmer’s store was in operation in Blair, NE, from 1874 to 1881.

Apparently, Charles Henry Harris was in Omaha, NE, for only a very short time. The 1880 US census lists him as photographer that year. The Omaha, NE, city directories for the years before and after do not include a listing for him. In 1891, eleven years later, he is married in Henry, IL. His daughter Eva was born in Rock Island, IL, Aug 1897
A comment adds that there is a cabinet card imprinted with “C H Harris, 1621 Rock Island, IL” which was probably finished around the time of the birth of Harris’s daughter Eva, in August 1897.

Except for a couple years in Houston, TX, he spends the rest of his life in Davenport, IA. He worked mostly as a photographer but also was a real estate agent in 1910 and an elevator operator in 1915.

The cabinet card at the top must have been finished around 1874 – 1879

1200 The Blair (NE) Pilot - 04 Nov 1880

The Rock Island (IL) Argus - 26 Jun 1883

Rock Island (IL) Argus - 25 Aug 1883

Omaha (NE) Daily Bee - 17 Jul 1885

A very negative ad against "Mrs Harris photographer".
Did Fanny take over in the absense of her husband?

Blair (NE) Pilot - 25 Dec 1890

Rock Island (IL) Argus - 17 Dec 1928

Not the one you were looking for? Here's the photographer's INDEX by name. All the Cabinet Card photographers of the 19th century found in LOST GALLERY are listed there.

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