Charles Frank Smith

Photographer: Smith
Sterling, Illinois

There isn’t much about C F Smith in official records. There are only two city directory listings, 1908 and 1909, in Sterling, IL, where he lived all his life, but he is in newspaper items from the Sterling Standard and the Sterling Gazette that show him as a photographer from 1889 through 1895.

He is in the US Census of 1880 and 1900 as photographer. The 1910 US Census shows his second wife as widowed and his last child born in 1908.
Charles Frank Smith
(May 1857 - 1909)
1857
born in Iowa
1880
(US Census) as photographer in Sterling, IL
1889 Dec 14
newspaper item show he moved his studio building to the East part of town
1889 - 1895
newspaper items show him as photographer in Sterling, IL
1895 Dec 19
(Newspaper) as photographer; obit for wife Lyda/Lida
1898 Jul 29
married to 2nd wife Genevieve Pearl
1900
US Census - as photographer at 608 4th av
1908
birth of son Franklin
1909
city directory shows wife Genevieve as widowed
1910
US Census shows wife Genevieve as widowed

This cabinet card could have been done anywhere from about 1880 to 1900

photographer: Smith
cor Main & Madison streets, Peoria, IL
example from Peoria Historical Society

photographer: C F Smith
Sterling, IL
example from Curt J on Flickr

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.