Photographer: Abell & Priest
Bancroft Building
723 Market Street
S F Cal
Typical city directory ad
(1844 - 20 Jul 1910)
All data from US census and city directories
1844
born in Roscoe, Winnebago County, Illinois, on September 20
1857
family moves to Petaluma CA
1860
tries out working in the mining industry in eastern OR
1862
returns to California to pursue a career in photography
1863 Oct 01
marries Catherine Celissa Lauder
1863 - 1872
joins the gallery of William Shew to learn photography
1879 1882
opens own gallery 167-169 First Portland, OR
1884 - 1887
gallery operates as Abell and Son, 29 Washington, Portland, OR
1888
returns to San Francisco, CA, to open a gallery
1889 - 1891
returns to San Francisco, CA, where he and Charles F. Priest open gallery at 723 Market
1896 Oct 13
San Francisco (CA) Call, newspaper item says Abel and Ewing are at 131 Post Street
1900
US census finds him back in Portland, OR
1905
marries second wife Viola Baker in Orange, CA
opens a new gallery at 724 Johnson in Portland, OR
1908 - 1910
moves gallery to 631 Provident, Tacoma, WA
1910 Jul 22
San Francisco (CA) Chronicle obituary says Abell has died
An excellent, detailed account of F G Abell can be found at the Wayback Machine site
Charles F. Priest
(6 Jun 1852 - 5 Mar 1916)
All data from San Francisco, CA, city directories and US census
1852
Priest born in Massachusetts
1870
now living in San Francisco, CA
1873 - 1874
as carpenter for stepfather William H. Smith; res 730 Folsom, San Francisco, CA
1875 - 1878
as carpenter for stepfather William H. Smith; res 1033 Howard, San Francisco, CA
1878 Aug 01
Portland, OR, New Northwest newspaper item says Abel is at 167-169 First St. Portland, OR
1880
US census says working as carpenter, city directory says working as machinist; res 18 ½ Rausch, San Francisco, CA
1881
as brushmaker living at 18 ½ Rausch, San Francisco, CA
as brushmaker living at 323 Minna, San Francisco, CA
1885
Marries Frances C Lauder
1884 Jul 30
The Morning Astorian,, news item says Abell is at 29 Washington St, Portland, OR
1887
as carpenter again; res 427 9th, San Francisco, CA
1889 - 1891
as photographer with Franklin George Abell at 723 Market, top floor, San Francisco, CA
1896
as photographer at 723 Market but Abell is not mentioned
1896 Oct 13
San Francisco (CA) Call, news item says Abell and Ewing are at 131 Post Street
1897 - 1900
as photographer at 2518 Mission, San Francisco, CA
1901 - 1915
as photographer at 2532 Mission, San Francisco, CA
1916
Priest dies in San Francisco, CA, age 63
A very detailed review of Franklin George Abell's life is at Historic Photo Archive
This cabinet card must have been finished in that short time between
1889 and 1891 when Abell and Priest worked together in San Francisco,
CA.
The card at the right is a "boudoir card" which is slightly larger than a cabinet card at about 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches.
It was contributed by Suzanne on Flickr who adds this information about the pictue:
Robert and Annie Fitzgerald
"In the 1880 census in Portland, Oregon, Annie was 5 and Robert was 1. They had 3 year old twin siblings, Minnie and James. Their father Zachariah was a farmer. The 1990 census shows that more siblings came along. Charles 15, Silah (girl) 14, Rose 12, May 10 and a girl with just the initial E, who was 8. The cabinet card is boudoir sized"
photographer: Abel and Son29 Washington Street, Portland, OR
Example from Suzanne on Flickr
(probably finished between 1884 and 1887)
reverse of card at left
photographer Abell and Son
29 Washington St. Portland, OR
Example from auction site
reverse of card on the left
(1884-1887)
Photographer Abell and Sons
29 Washington Street,
Take the Elevator
example from auction site
(1884-1887)
Photographer Abell and Sons
29 Washington Street,
Take the Elevator
example from auction site
(1884-1887)
Photographer Abell and Sons
29 Washington Street,
Take the Elevator
example from auction site
(1884-1887)
The cards imprinted Abell and Son would have been finished between
1884 and 1887.
Update 13 Aug 2018
photographer: Abell
Portland, OR
example from auction site
(1879-1882)
photographer: Abell
(No location imprinted)
example from RSSING.com, source unknown
photographer: Abell and Priest
723 Market Street, San Francisco, CA
example from auction site
reverse of card at the left
(1889-1891)
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.
This is a work always in progress.
Additional 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.
Hi, I have a picture of a relative in our family bible, and don't know who it is of, wondering if there are any old records kept from the Abel & Priest days. The picture is of the turn of the century I'm guessing, a portrait.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your note.
DeleteYour photograph would be from that short period Abell and Priest worked together, 1889-1891. By 1896 they had apparently parted ways.
In most cases the records and negatives of the early photographers are lost to neglect and natural disaster. And some photographer’s records passed on to descendants who may or may not have preserved them. Those records that the photographer didn’t destroy when retiring, were often passed on to another photographer. Reprints were a good business. When Abell moved back to Portland, he probably left their negatives and records with Priest, in San Francisco.
Any photographer’s records from that period that actually still exist are most likely in the hands of a local historical society or museum. In this case, The San Francisco Historical Society or the California Historical Society would be a good place to look. https://sfhistory.org/research/
Something else to consider is that cabinet cards were often sold by the dozen. It is possible that there are eleven other copies of that photo in the hands of someone in another branch of your family tree.
Get a good scan of the complete card (no cropping) and publish it in as many places as you can. I will add it to the Abel and Priest page if you wish. Consider some of the photo sharing sites such as Flickr and Facebook. Tags and descriptions will get the photo onto Google searches. Good luck in your search. Let me know if you find anything.