W H Staples

Photographer: W. H. Staples
Peirce City, MO
example from LOST GALLERY

Very little information has been found on photographer W H Staples of Missouri. There are records of a photographer named W. H. Staples, in Oklahoma, Texas, Indiana, Tennessee and perhaps Ohio. None of these could be connected to anywhere in Missouri.

The town of “Peirce” City, Missouri, is quite infamous. In 1901 it was the scene of terrible race related mob violence. The spelling of the name changed to “Pierce” City in the early 1920’s.

The style of the card would indicate that it was made in 1900 or after.

Below are some newspaper items that mention the name W H Staples. And no, these are not all about the same person.

Tarborough (NC) Southerner -
12 May 1870

Indianapolis (IN) Journal -
29 May 1887

Kansas City (MO) Times -
21 Oct 1890

Canton Stark County (OH) Dempcrat -
17 Sep 1891

Cleveland (OK) Trangle -
01 Nov 1900

Pawnee (OK) Times Democrat -
27 Ag 1903

Cleveland (Ok) Enterprise -
27 Aug 1903

Cleveland (OK) Leader -
20 Oct 1910

Cleveland (OK) Leader -
27 Oct 1910

Cleveland (OK) Enterprise -
24 Mar 1911

Cleveland (OK) American -
10 May 1923

Cleveland (OK) American -
30 Jun 1927

Kingfisher (OK) Weekly Free Press -
02 Feb 1928

The Thomas (OK) Tribune -
23 Sep 1937

The example at the right is by W H Staples of Cleveland, Oklahoma.

This is possibly the same W H Staples.

The name, if not the photographer, seems to cover a wide range of locations. Evidence of a photographer named W H Staples has been found in Indiana, Texas, Tennessee, Ohio and Connecticut. Which of these might also have worked in Pierce City, MO, and/or Cleveland, KS, is not known. Or perhaps it was a different photographer.

photographer: W H Staples
Cleveland, OK
example from auction site

The example at the right is probably not the same photographer Staples.

photographer Staples
88 S Illinois St, Indianapolis, IN
example from pin

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.

Cabinet cards typically have the photographer’s name and address printed on the bottom edge or the reverse of the card. 19th century photographers moved around a lot. The basic idea here is to find WHEN a photographer was WHERE, which will help date an unidentified CABINET CARD from your family album.

This is a work always in progress.

Aditional information and New examples are always welcome. Any additional information will help narrow the time that these precious antiques were made.

All submissions should be free of glare and shadows.
Do not crop.
Leave a border around each card. The edges are sometimes an important clue to the age of the card.
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Some examples on this page have been enhanced or restored for clarity and presentation here.

This page is free for educational and research purposes only but, as always, if the original owner of any of these examples objects to the use on this page, just let me know and they will be immediately removed.