Sunday, March 21, 2021

Peter's Studio


Photographer: Peter's Studio
1722 W. 47th st
Near Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL
(it is unknown why there is
an apostrophe in the title)

Enlarged to show the address

George Peters
(1865 – 1903}
Caroline Margarette Kleker
(1879 – 1958)

1865 Oct
Chicago, IL, state records, George Edward Peters is born
1879 Jun 23
Chicago, IL, state records, Caroline Margaret Kleker is born to Bernard Kleker and Therese Kleker
1880 Jun 18
Chicago, IL, US census, Caroline Kleker at age 1
1888
Chicago, IL, city directory, George Peters as photographer at 3509 Halstead


1889
Chicago, IL, city directory, Business section only goes to ELE; Res section lists a George E Peters as fireman. Res 3121 Lasalle (only a possibility)
1889
Chicago, IL, dated photo on file Langdon Road imprinted G Peters, 3510 s Halsted, Chicago IL
1890
Chicago, IL, city directory, George Peters as photographer; 3510 s Halsted
1891
Chicago, IL, city directory, Pages missing after MIN
1992 to 1895 Chicago, IL, city directories not available
1896
Chicago, IL, city directory, pages missing after Livingston
1897
Chicago, IL, city directory, pages missing after Lynch
1898
Chicago, IL, city directory, pates missing after McFann
1899
Chicago, IL, city directory, pages missing after Maurer

1900
Chicago, IL, city directory, pages missing after Merriman
1900 Jun 11
Chicago, IL, US census, George Peters as photographer; res 4841 Ashland Av
1900 Oct 06
Chicago, IL, state records, George Peters and Carolyn Kleker are married
1901
Chicago, IL, city directory, pages missing after McCollum
1901 Aug 26
Chicago, IL, state records, Son George Clarence Peters is born to Carolyn and George Peters
1902, 1903
Chicago, IL, city directory, NO listing in the business section; residential section not available
1903 Oct 19
Chicago, IL, state records, George E Peters dies
1903 Oct 20
Chicago (IL) Tribune death notice for George Peters, husband of Carrie Peters
1904
Chicago, IL, city directory, Mrs Carrie Peters as photographer at 1722 w 47th st; (no residential pages available)


1905
Chicago, IL, city directory, NO listing for Carrie Peters in business pages; res pages not available
1907 Jun 16
Chicago, IL. State records, Carolyn M Peters marries James T Horacek
1920
Chicago, IL, US census, Carolyn M Horacek as no occupation; husband James T Horacek is an insurance agent
1958 Mar 14
Los Angeles, CA, state records, Caroline Margarette Kleker-Peters-Horacek dies at age 78 to 80; birthdate is different in nearly every document found

It appears that Carrie Peters worked as a photographer only in the year 1904, apparently taking over the studio after the death of her husband George Peters.

No record shows exactly when the Peter’s studio moved to the address 1722 W 47th Street. It is not associated with George Peters in any record. His last published address, 4833 Ashland Ave, is in a clipping listing him as a precinct worker for a 1903 election. Carrie Peters is listed as photographer at that address in the 1904 city directory.

Yes, this photograph could have been finished by either of them but, It is a good bet that Carrie Peters is the photographer for this card.



The lives of women are more difficult to trace than men. Many records avoid their actual name using instead something like “Mrs George Peters” or “George Peters and wife.” And city directories had policies that excluded a woman’s name unless she was a widow or owned a prominent business.

Further, women tended to fib about their age. In young years they often wanted to pass for older and in later years, to seem younger, so the birth date is adjusted to fit.

And as if being known only as Mrs George Peters wasn’t obscuring enough, women often switched to their middle name for a while. Caroline or Carrie becomes Margaret or Margarette.

All of which makes their lives difficult to follow from one document to the next

Chicago (IL) Tribune - 07 Oct 1900

(Chicago, IL) Inter Ocean - 17 Feb 1903
(note address)


Chicago (IL) Tribune - 20 Oct 1903



photographer: George Peters
3509 Halsted Street, Chicago, IL
example from pinterest

George Peters studio is listed at 3510 Halsted Sreet from 1888 to 1890.

3509 Halsted would be across the street.


photographer: Peters studio
1722 W 47th Street, Chicago, IL
example from pinterest
(this is NOT a cabinet card)



photographer: J H Peters
914 Market, San Francisco, CA
example from auction site
(No connection has been made to Peters of Chicago, IL)
photographer: J H Peters
914 Market, San Francisco, CA
example from auction site
(No connection has been made to Peters of Chicago, IL)
photographer: J H Peters
914 Market, San Francisco, CA
example from auction site
(No connection has been made to Peters of Chicago, IL)
reverse of card at left

Then there is this one. Imprinted only "Peters Portraits" it is unknown where this was done.

Cabinet Card family

The CdV at the right is imprinted "Peters" and "1885" but the location is obscured.

It really doesn't look like any of the other examples from Peters of Chicago. It does, however, have a comma after the name, similar to the card at the left


Not the one you were looking for? Here's the photographer's INDEX by name. Listed here are all the Cabinet Card photographers of the 19th century found in LOST GALLERY. This is a work in progress. For a look at the original postings go to LOST GALLERY.

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, they will be immediately removed.

Friday, March 12, 2021

Rollin M Foster


Photographer: R. M. Foster
Cawker City Kans.
Iowa & Kansas

Rollin M. Foster
(15 Feb 1858 - 26 Feb 1924)

1858 Feb 15
Dublin, IN, US census, US passport application, several other sources say Rollin M Foster is born to Robert James Foster and Susannah Cook
1860 Jun 18
Franklin Township, Indiana, Rollin Foster at age two
1870 Jul 13
New Garden, Indiana, Rollin Foster as a servant, age 12
1886 Apr 18
Cawker City, KS, obituary unknown source, marriage to Leona Jeannette Ayres
1893 Nov 10
McLouth, KS times, item says R M Foster and family are moving to McLouth, KS
1894 Mar 10
Oscaloosa (KS) Independent, item says R M Foster is looking for a location in Oskaloosa, KS
1894 Aug 24
Oscaloosa (KS) Times news item says R M Foster will open new gallery at the north west corner of the square, next week
1894 Sep 21
Oskaloosa (KS) Times small display ad telling of studio at north west corner of the square
1895 Jan 04 Oskaloosa (KS) Times, short promo/bio for Foster studios in Oskaloosa and McLouth, KS
1895 Mar 01
Oskaloosa, KS, Kansas state census, R M Foster, 37, occupation not shown
1897 Apr 21
Oskaloosa, KS, Kansas records, Newspaper obituaries, Foster’s wife Leona Ayres dies

1898 Feb 25
Oskaloosa (KS) Times item says Miss Irene Coulter of Winchester will work at the Foster Studio In McLouth
1898 Jul 20
Oskaloosa (KS) Oskaloosa Times, news item says R M Foster marries Belle Hodson of Earlham, IA
1898 Jul 29
Oskaloosa (KS) Times item says R M Foster and Belle Hodson are married at Earlham, IA, on the 20th and will return to Oskaloosa on Aug 10
1898 Sep 23
Oskaloosa (KS) Times news item says Mrs R M Foster has decided to go into the dressmaking business
1899 Apr 14
Oskaloosa (KS) Independent news item says R M Foster has sold his gallery in McLouth, KS, to Miss Irene Coulter
1899 Apr 21
Jefferson County (KS) News item says R M Foster has sold his gallery in McLouth, KS, which will be moved to Winchester
1900 Feb 23
Oskaloosa (KS) Independent news item says R M Foster will keep his gallery open a few more days
1900 Apr 13
Oskaloosa (KS) Times item says Mrs Foster has left with the household goods for Earlham, IA; R M Foster will remain in Oskaloosa a bit longer pending the sale of the gallery
1900 Jun 12
Oskaloosa, KS, US census, R M Foster as photographer, boarding at the home of Henry Hopewell

1900 Jun 15
Jefferson County (KS) Tribune item says R M Foster is still at the northwest corner of the square but is still looking for a buyer for the gallery
1900 Aug 17
Jefferson County (KS) Tribune item says Foster has shipped his art fixtures to Pleasantville, IA
1901 May 24
Oskaloosa (KS) Independent news item says Mr Oaks of Holton has bought R M Foster’s Gallery and will re-open the following Monday
1901 Jun 07
Oskaloosa (KS) Times news item says Mr. Oaks, from Holton, KS, is now open for business in the old Foster Gallery
1901 Aug
Pleasantville, IA, a son of R M Foster and Belle Hodson dies; most sources say he was only a year old
1901 Nov 10
Jefferson County (KS) Tribune item says Mr. Reiderer as bought the studio from Mr Oaks
1910 Apr 22
Pleasantville City, IA, US census, Rollin M Foster as photographer; wife Isabel as dressmaker
1918 Nov 02
Earlham, IA, Passport application for Merle Foster lists his father Rollin M Foster as photographer
1920 Jan 02
Earlham, Madison County, IA, US census, Rollin (Rolland) M Foster as photographer; res on Center Street
1924 Feb 26
Earlham, IA, state records, newspaper items, Rollin M Foster dies at age 66

From contributor:
Following are the most pertinent newspaper clippings for Foster and Oaks that the narrative timeline below is based upon.

Foster moved his gallery from Enterprise, KS to McLouth, KS in December 1893.

Foster opened his gallery in Oskaloosa, KS in August 1894. (Foster expressed his desire to open a gallery in Oskaloosa on March 9, 1894, but perhaps his wife's surgery on March 16, 1894 forced him to delay such a move.)

After Foster opened his Oskaloosa gallery across from the northwest corner of the town square, he limited the operation of his McLouth gallery to the Friday and Saturday after the third Monday of each month. In April 1899, he sold his McLouth gallery to Irene Coulter, who then moved it to her hometown of Winchester, KS. (Coulter had worked as an assistant in Foster's McLouth gallery in 1898. At the time of the sale, however, Coulter was working for another photographer in Kansas City.)

Foster announced that his Oskaloosa gallery and house were for sale in November 1899. He was successful in selling his house by March 1900. (His family moved to Earlham, Iowa the following month.) Selling his gallery, however, proved to be much more of a challenge. His gallery was still doing business in June 1900. In August 1900, Foster shipped his photographic equipment to Pleasantville, Iowa, where he had set up a new gallery.

Foster finally sold his gallery to William M. Oaks, the well-known photographer of Holton, KS, in May 1901. Oaks' move to Oskaloosa, however, was short lived. He was forced to shut down his gallery because of the August heat. Even after his display ad in the September 2, 1901 issue of the Oskaloosa Independent, Oaks was apparently still waiting for more customers. Thus, the announcement in November 1901 that Oaks had sold The Old Foster Gallery to Albert A. Riederer, who moved it from the northwest corner of the square to the east side, was not surprising. Oaks returned to Holton to resume what and where he had left off just a few months before.


McLouth (KS) Times -
10 Nov 1893 Oskaloosa (KS) Independent -
10 Mar 1894
McLouth (KS) Times -
13 Apr 1894 Oskaloosa (KS) Times - 24 Aug 1894
Oskaloosa (KS Times
24 Aug 1894
Oskaloosa (KS) INdependent -
25 Aug 1894 Oskaloosa (KS) Times -
21 Sep 1894
Oskaloosa (KS) Times - 04 Jan 1895

Here are two obituaries for Mrs Leona (Ayers) Foster, published the same day in different newspapers. Note similarities and especially the differences.

Oskaloosa (KS) Independent - 23 Apr 1897
Oskaloosa (KS) Times - 23 Apr 1897
Oskaloosa (KS) Times -
25 Feb 1898 Oskaloosa (KS) Times -
29 Jul 1898 Oskaloosa (KS) Independent -
23 Sep 1898
Oskaloosa (KS) Independent -
14 Apr 1899 Oskaloosa (KS) Times -
14 Apr 1899 Jefferson County (KS) Tribune -
21 Apr 1899 Jefferson County (KS) Tribune -
15 Dec 1899
Oskaloosa (KS) Independent -
23 Feb 1900 Oskaloosa (KS) Times -
13 Apr 1900 Jefferson County (KS) Tribune -
15 Jun 1900 Jefferson County (KS) Tribune -
17 Aug 1900
Oskaloosa (KS) Independent -
24 May 1901 Oskaloosa (KS) Times -
07 Jun 1901 Oskaloosa (KS) Independent -
02 Aug 1901
Oskaloosa (KS) Independent -
06 Sep 1901
Jefferson County (KS) Tribune -
10 Nov 1901 Here Holton (KS) Signal -
31 Jul 1913 -->


Photographer Foster
Cawker City KS
From the collection of KEN on Flickr
photographer: R M Foster
Cawker City, KS
from Flickr member Clair
photographer: Foster
Enterprise, KS
example from contributor

photographer: R M Foster
Enterprise, KS
Example from auction site
(Although Enterprise is over 100 miles from Cawker City, this is probably the same photographer
photographer: Foster
Oskaloosa and McLouth, KS
example from contributor Curtis
(Dec, 1893 - April, 1899)
(owner named subjects: Mrs. Jane French, her daughter Naomi Elizabeth (French) Casebier, and her son James Keith French.

photographer: R M Foster
Cawker City, KS
example from pinterest
photographer: Foster's
Cawker City, KS
example from Vintage Reveries
(Note that the chair is the
same as in the photograph at the left)
Reverse of card at left
photographer: R M Foster
Enterprise, KS
example from contributor
reverse of card at left

At the right is an example of from W M Oaks who occupied the Foster Studio from late May of 1901 to early November of 1901.
See here for W M Oaks page

photographer: M Oaks
East Fifth Street, Holton, KS
example from contributor
reverse of card at left
(owner inscribed at top:
"Mrs Simon Purdy Broadhead Wis")

Is this the same Foster that worked in Cawker City, Kansas?
Lamar, MO, is about 260 miles from Cawker City, KS.

12 Mar 2017 update
A new example from Foster was contributed for the page, adding Oskaloosa, KS, to his territory. Oscaloosa is only about 165 miles from Lamar, MO.


photographer: Foster
Lamar, MO
example from auction site

This card is by Foster of Texas.
No connection has been made to R M Foster of Kansas, so far.

photographer: Foster
Bonham, Whitewright, Clarksville, Honey Grove, TX
example from contributor
Another Foster obituary
source unknown

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.

Email to the address found in the profile at the bottom of this page.

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.

Old stuff here...

About Me

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I am 4' 3", eat small insects, dress in the dark and take annual showers. phase65@yahoo.com