Sunday, October 17, 2021

Alexander Daniel Backstrom



Photographer: Backstrom
Temple and Cameron
Texas

Alexander Daniel Backstrom
(1867 - 1950)
Timeline

1867 Mar 06
Philadelphia, MS, Alexander D Backstrom is born to David Murray Backstrom and mary Magdalene Daniels
1880
Bell, TX, US census after the death of his father in 1876, the his mother and 7 of the children move to Texas
1891 Oct 23
Temple (TX) Weekly Times item Backstrom has refitted his gallery called Harper Blue, corner of “D” and 6th st
1892 Feb 23
Temple (TX) Times ad for Blue Gallery at “D” and 6th
1897 Jul 30
Temple (TX) Times ad for Blue Gallery at “D” and 6th
1899 Apr 28
Temple (TX) Times item Backstrom of Kileen is visiting Temple
1899 Oct 18
Burnet, TX, A D Backstrom marries Annie Elizabeth Breazeale
1900
Burnet, TX, US census as photographer
1902 May 15
Cameron (TX) Herald small ad as photographer at Yoe building, upstairs

1902 Jun 26
Cameron (TX) Herald 4 small ads as photographer at Yoe building, upstairs
1903 Jan 29
Cameron (TX) Herald news item about wife taken to Austin asylum
1903 Feb 05
Cameron (TX) Herald small ad as photographer no address
1903 Sep 24
Cameron (TX) Herald news item Backstrom and wife have returned from a visit several weeks in west Texas and he has resumed his photograph work
1904 Jul 08
Cameron (TX) Herald 3 small ads as photographer in Yoe Building, upstairs
1905 no advertising found
1906 Dec 06
Cameron (TX) Herald 6 small ads as photographer no address
1907 Feb 07
Cameron (TX) Herald display ad as photographer no address
1911 Feb 25
Comanche, TX, wife Annie Breazeale dies
1913 Aug 01
Comanche (TX) Chief 5 small ads as photographer at North East Main st, Comanche, TX
1914 Nov 13
Comanche (TX) Chief 5 small ads as photographer in Comanche, TX

1908- 1912 no advertising found
1915 Mar 12
Comanche (TX) Chief 12 small ad as photographer in Comanche, TX
1916 Oct 10
Comanche (TX) Chief small ad as photographer in Comanche, TX
1917 Sep 14
Comanche (TX) Chief 24 small ads as photographer in Comanche, TX
1918 Apr 12
Comanche (TX) Chief 17 small ads as photographer in Comanche, TX
1919 Oct 03
Comanche (TX) Chief 11 small ads as Jackson’s Studio, formerly A D Backstrom, photographer
1919 Oct 31
Comanche (TX) Chief small ad explains that A M Heflin now owns the Jackson Brother’s studio formerly owned by A D Backstrom
1920
Temple, TX, US census as photographer
1926 Nov 25
Comanche (TX) Chief news item The ArtHome studio is now operated jointly by D D Jackson and A D Backstrom
1930 Apr 14
Llano, TX, US census as photographer; living in rooming house
1930 Nov 13
Llano (TX) News small ad as photographer no address given
-- Continued in next row --


1931 May 07, 21
Llano (TX) News small ad as photographer close out, leaving town Jun 06
1937 Feb 09
Llano (TX) News small item Backstrom photographer, has opened a studio over Watkin’s Grocery
1942 Nov 19
Cameron (TX) Herald news item Backstrom visits from Temple
1950 Mar 07
Texas Death Certificate A D Backstrom dies of uremic poisoning at age 83

Alexander Daniel Backstrom had a long career in photography, all in Texas. He changed towns regularly. His first document as a photographer was an 1891 ad in the Temple (TX) Weekly Times. After that records and newspaper ads place him in Temple, Cameron, Comanche, Llano and Moody, all less than a hundred miles apart, all connected by rail line, no doubt. He was probably in a number of other small towns in that area too, that went undocumented.

There are no city directories available from any of those small towns so some addresses are not known.

A recap from the timeline above:
1891 Oct 23 thru 1899 Apr 28 as photographer in Temple, TX
1899 -1900 as photographer as photographer in Burnet, TX
1902 May 15 - 1907 Feb 07 as photographer in Cameron, TX
1911 Feb 25 - 1919 Oct 03 as photographer in Comanche, TX
1920 as photographer in Temple, TX
1926 Nov 25 as photographer, partners with D D Jackson in Comanche, TX
1930 Apr 14 - 1931 Jun 06 as photographer in Llano, TX
1932-1936 unknown location
1937 Feb 09 as photographer reopened in Llano, TX
1942 Nov 19 - 7 Mar 1950 as photographer in Temple, TX

The cabinet card at the top must have been finished between 1890 and 1900 while he still had a studio in Temple, TX.

Temple (TX) Weekly - 23 Oct 1891

Temple (TX) Weekly - 30 Jul 1897

Cameron (TX) Herald - 26 Jun 1902

Cameron (TX) Herald - 29 Jan 1903

Cameron (TX) Herald - 05 Feb 1903

Cameron (TX) Herald - 24 Sep 1903


Cameron (TX) Herald - 28 Jul 1904

Cameron (TX) Herald - 07 Feb 1907

Comanche (TX) Chief - 01 Aug 1913

Comanche (TX) Chief - 13 Nov 1914

Comanche (TX) Chief - 12 Mar 1915

Comanche (TX) Chief - 10 Oct 1916

Comanche (TX) Chief - 23 Aug 1918

Comanche (TX) Chief - 03 Oct 1919

Comanche (TX) Chief - 31 Oct 1919

Comanche (TX) Chief - 05 Nov 1926

Llano (TX) News - 13 Nov 1930



Llano (TX) News - 07 My 1931

Llano (TX) News - 21 may 1931

Llano (TX) News - 09 Dec 1937

Cameron (TX) Herald - 19 Nov 1942

Cameron (TX) Herald - 22 Jul 1943



example from Portal To Texas
This photograph is part of the collection entitled:
Rescuing Texas History
and was provided by the Private Collection of
T. B. Willis to The Portal to Texas History,
a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries

example from Portal To Texas
This photograph is part of the collection entitled:
Rescuing Texas History
and was provided by the Private Collection of
T. B. Willis to The Portal to Texas History,
a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries

photographer: A D Backstrom
Burnett, TX
This card would have been finished around 1900 when Backstrom was in Burnett, TX
example from Flickr member Frank Suvari

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.

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