Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Miller of Kansas


Photographer: Miller
Cherokee, Kansas

There were a number of photographers named Miller in Kansas during the late 19th century. E W Miller of Overbrook, J H Miller of Rock Creek, P A Miller of Arkansas City, J B Miller of Great Bend, G H Miller of Iola and E E Miller of Sylvan Grove for example.

Traveling the small towns and setting up a temporary studio for a day or a week would have been an easy routine for a photographer. One small town would not produce enough business so canvassing several small communities would be necessary to make a living income. Adding the town name in the corner of a pre-printed cabinet card blank would have been a simple enough task. When there is a city named on the card, it doesn’t necessarily mean the photographer ever actually lived there.

They could even be caught in a census if they happened to be there on the day of enumeration.

There are many small towns around Cherokee, Ks. This Miller could have been working out of Joplin, MO, which is only 25 miles southeast.


Is this the same Miller? Maybe not. Blue Rapids, KS, is more than 250 miles from Cherokee, KS. But if the two towns were both on a rail line, it's quite possible.

Also note that the chair is the same in two of the photographs.

Gaylord (KS) Herald 13 Oce 1898

photographer: Miller's Cottage Studio
Blue Rapids, KS
example from Photographer's Net

photographer: Miller's Cottage Studio
Blue Rapids, KS
example from Photographer's Net

photographer: Miller's Cottage Studio
Blue Rapids, KS
example from pinterest
photographer: Miller
Arkansas City, KS
example from auction site

The example at the left would be from P A Miller of Arkansas City, KS

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, just let me know and they will be immediately removed.

2 comments:

  1. I have a cabinet card taken from a studio operating in both Pittsburg and Cherokee KN from "Millers' Art Studios" On the card in impressed gold cursive writing it reads: "Millers' Art Studios Pittsburg and Cherokee, KN" Could this be the same Miller photographer as the one who took the Cherokee KN photos?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That’s probably a sure thing. Pittsburg, KS, is less than 10 miles from Cherokee, KS, and it WAS, in the late 1800’s, connected by a rail line.

      Thanks for the nudge; I’ll look at the Millers again to see if I can find anything new.

      Delete

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