George J Ernst

Photographer: Ernst Studio
SW corner
Hampshire and sixth Sts.
Quincy, Ill

There were about a dozen photographers named Ernst in the cabinet card era. Worse, there were two or possibly three men named George Ernst living in Quincy, IL between 1887 and 1900.

George J Ernst
(Mar 1867 - 1902 )

Timeline
1867 Mar
born in IL
1870
US census in Quincy, IL
1871
birth of sister Anna
1872
Birth of brother Frederick
1880
US census at Quincy, IL
1884
city directory as Ernst and Co at 5th and Chestnut, Quincy, IL

1887
city directory as photographer; res 423 State
1889
NOT in city directory Quincy, IL
1891
NOT in city directory Quincy, IL
1892
marries Ellen B. Eddy
1896
city directory as photographer at 601 1/3 Hampshire (1/3 is correct)
1900
US census and city directory as photographer at 419 State Quincy, IL
1902
city directory lists wife Emma B as widow of George J, Quincy, IL

The only time an address similar to the one on the cabinet card here found was the one in 1896 at 601 Hampshire. 601 would be on the corner of sixth and Hampshire.

photographer: P? or F? Ernst
(Monogram design uncertain)
228 9th Street, Lebanon, PA
example from auction site

photographer: Ernst
27 E King Street, Lancaster, PA
example from LOST GALLERY

photographer: George Ernst
24 E King Street, Lancaster, PA
example from LOST GALLERY

All the same photographer Ernst or all different?
Further research in progress.

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.

New examples and additional information 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.

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.

Easterly

Photographer:
Freeman and Easterly
McKinney, Texas
Listed also under Freeman

Who was the Easterly of “Freeman and Easterly” the photographers credited on this cabinet card example?

Thomas Martin Easterly seemed like a possibility. He lived in Saint Louis, MO, only 600 miles from McKinney, TX, where the team of Martin and Easterly is mentioned in a 1887 news item. However, Thomas Martin Easterly died in 1882. He had no children or siblings who might have carried on the profession in Texas. And, no records have been found that say he ever left Saint Louis, MO. It wasn't Thomas Martin Easterly.

Nor is it Albert N Easterly who plied the photography trade around 1884 and 1885 in Mechanicsville, Iowa. No record has been found that he ever left Iowa.

The strongest possibility would be George Bascomb Easterly who grew up in Virginia and then established a photography business in Lake, California. He died there in 1906. Records place him in Virginia in 1880 and then in California in 1896. Nothing has been found to place him in McKinney, Texas, but he certainly could have been just passing through there around 1887. It was not unusual for a young man to be “working his way west” in those years.

There were various other Easterly’s in the US at the right time, a farmer, a fireman, a stone cutter, a prospector, a burglar and the reverend George Easterly. None were found in Texas. In the right time frame, only two other people by the name Easterly are found in Texas: Daniel James Easterly and his wife Texanna. However, no records have been found connecting them to photography or art.

It looks very much like the Easterly part of “Freeman and Easterly” was in the photography business in Texas for only a short time, apparently around 1887. He was not there long enough to be established in a city directory, enumerated in a census or make the newspapers.

And it’s not so unusual for an established photographer to take on an apprentice and set him up as a partner, in lieu of actual salary. Many of the more aggressive business people in the photography dodge, such as Alfred Freeman, took on assistants and novices hoping to cultivate a partner who could profitably operate a studio in one place while another studio was opened elsewhere.

See also:
The colorful life of Alfred Freeman.

Information written on the reverse indicates this card was finished in 1885 or 1886.

Fort Worth (TX) Daily Gazette - 14 Oct 1887
Only mention found of Easterly
in connection with Freeman

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.

Frank Donahue

photographer: Donahue
58 Canisteo Street, Hornellsville, NY

photographer: Donahue
58 Canisteo Street, Hornellsville, NY

Frank Donahue
(1846 - 1930 aprox)

1846
Ireland, Frank Donahue is born
1850 circa
Frank Donahue arrives in US
1875
Hornellsville, NY, city directory Donahue NOT listed
1881
Hornelsville, NY, US census for 1900, Frank Donahue marries Elsie Breneman
1882
Pennsylvania, US census, NY state census, daughter Francis K Donahue is born
1886
New York, US census, daughter Florence E Donahue is born
1889
New York, US census, daughter Bertha Louise Donahue is born
1890
Hornellsville (NY) Weekly Tribune newspaper item says Donahue and family have moved from Cuba, NY, to Hornellsville, NY

1891
Steuben County, NY, directory, F Donahue at 58 Canasteos, Hornellsville City, NY
1892
Hornellsville City, New York, NY state census, Donahue as photographer
1893
Hornellsville, NY, city directory incomplete
1894
Hornellsville (NY) Weekly Tribune news item says wife Elsie Donahue is seriously ill
1900
Hornellsville, NY, US census Donahue as carpenter; res 49 Maple st
1905
Hornellsville, NY, NY state census, Donahue as carriage wood work;
1910
Hornellsville, NY, US census Donahue as carpenter; res 41 Armory Place
1911
Hornellsville, NY, city directory Donahue as wood worker; res 41 Armory Place
1914
Hornellsville, NY, city directory Donahue as cabinet maker; res 41 Armory Place

1915
Hornellsville, NY, NY state census, Donahue as cabinet maker; res 41 Armory Place
1918
Rochester, NY, city directory, Donahue NOT listed
1919
Rochester, NY, city directory, Donahue as clerk at 906 Goodman; res 159 7th st
1920
Rochester, NY, US census, Donahue as clerking in a cigar store; res 159 7th st
1923 Oct 27
Hornell (NY) Evening Tribune society news item about card party with Frank Donahue’s wife Elsie Donahue
1925
Hornell, NY, NY state census, Donahue as no occupation; res 41 Armory Place
1930
Hempstead, NY, US census, Donahue’s wife Elsie is listed as Widowed. However the Presbyterian Church of Hornell indicates his Frank Donavan’s death as in 1932. This appears to be written in later so it may be a guess or an estimate by someone.

The documents show that Frank Donahue worked as photographer in Hornellsville, NY, from 1890 to 1893. He was a photographer in Cuba, NY, for a short time before that, probably about 1886 to 1890. Sometime between 1893 and 1900 he turned to carpentry and woodworking and apparently never returned to photography.

Hornellsville (NY) Weekly Tribune - 16 Mar 1890

Hornellsville (NY) Weekly Tribune - 03 Aug 1894

Hornellsville (NY) Weekly Tribune - 27 Oct 1823

photographer: F Donahue
stamped on reverse according to owner
example from auction site

photographer: F Donahue
58 Canisteo Street, Hornellsville, NY
example from auction site

photographer: Frank Donahue
Cuba, NY
example from auction site

photographer: F Donahue
58 Canisteo Street, Hornellsville, NY
example from auction site

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.

New examples and additional information 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.

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.

Robert Wolstenholme Dawson

Photographer
Dawson
Little Rock

This is a slightly enhanced version. To see the original, click on this picture and then in the resulting page, scroll down.

Robert Wolstenholme Dawson
(1833 - 1910)

1833 Nov 03
Lankashire, England, death certificate, R. W. Dawson born in Nuttall Lane, Lancashire, England
1843 or 1844
US census 1900 and 1910: arrives in US at age 10 or 11
1860 Mar 22
Vienna, WI, Family records, marries Lucy M Freeman
1861
Elgin, IL, state records, daughter Elva E. born
1865
Elgin, IL, state records, son Robert Henry born
1866
Woodstock, IL, son Charles Henry born
1880 Mar 5
(Little Rock) Daily Arkansas Gazette news item, studio at 106 Main
1880 Jun 10
Little Rock, AR, US census as photographer studio at 203 ½ s Main
1882 Oct 15
Daily (Little Rock) Arkansas Gazette item Wm Cooper at Dawson studio 205 Main st
1883 May 26
(Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat item new studio almost complete

1883 Jun 04
(Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat news item open house at new studio at 424 ½ Main
1883 Jun 06
(Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat news item opens new studio at 424 ½ Main
1883 Nov 29
(Little Rock) Arkansas Gazette daughter Elva marries B W Butler in Little Rock, AR
1884 Apr 03
Little Rock, AR, state records, wife Lucy M dies
1884 Jan 9, 12, 15, 18, 21
Arkansas Democrat classified ads property for sale; studio at Main & 5th
1885 Jun 23, 24, 25
(Little Rock) Daily Arkansas Gazette classified ad property for sale
1885 Jul 11, 31
(Little Rock) Daily Arkansas Gazette small ad for gallery but address not shown
1885 Jul 23
(Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat item Dawson present at death of U S Grant
1885 Aug 2
(Little Rock) Daily Arkansas Gazette display ad for studio
1886
Little Rock, AR, city directory as photographer at 422 ½ Main; both sons Nelson and Charles works at gallery

1886 Mar 28
(Little Rock) Daily Arkansas Gazette small ad Wm. Cooper artist at Dawson studio
1886 Apr 29
Arkansas state records R W Dawson marries Laura Eldridge Hamilton
1886 Jun 09, 10,
(Little Rock) Daily Arkansas Gazette new item studio at Main and 5th
1887 Jan 17, 19
(Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat Dawson has 8 room house for rent
1887 Mar thru 1888 Feb
(Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat, many small classified ads for studio at 424 ½ Main
1888 Jan 31
Little Rock, AR, state records, R W Dawson’s second wife Laura Eldridge Robins dies giving birth to daughter Irene; Irene Dawson dies in August of 1890 (error corrected, thanks to an alert commenter)
1888 Nov 20
(Little Rock) Daily Arkansas Gazette describes building owned by Dawson burns
1889 Dec 13
(Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat item religious group no longer meeting at Dawson studio
1890
Little Rock, AR, city directory as photographer at 424 ½ Main; son Nelson working at studio

1890 Aug 31
(Little Rock) Daily Arkansas Gazette news item about infant Irene memorial
1890 Nov 14
(Little Rock) Daily Arkansas Gazette item Dawson purchases four head of cattle
1892 Jan 19
Little Rock, AR, state records son Nelson marries Lollie E Stillwell in Little Rock, AR
1892 May 24
(Little Rock) Daily Arkansas Gazette item Dawson sells property to Charlie Simmons
1891 Dec 22
(Little Rock) Daily Arkansas Gazette item R W Dawson administrator of estate of Laura E Dawson
1892 Jan 25
(Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat son Nelson R Dawson to marry Lollie E Stillwell
1892 Jun 3
(Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat small ad 8 room house for rent
1892 Feb 17, Mar 9, 11
(Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat item real estate transactions
1892 Jun 1
(Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat classified ad to rent house at 11th and Gains sts

1893
Little Rock, AR, city directory as photographer at 422 ½ Main; son Nelson working at studio; (Address is possibly a typo, probably 424.)
1893 Dec 9, 12, 19
(Little Rock) Daily Arkansas Gazette small ad, studio at 5th and Main
1894 Feb 4
Los Angeles (CA) Times lists license to marry Sue V Neal in CA
1895
Little Rock, AR, city directory, Dawson Gallery remains open at 424 ½ Main now operated by Nelson R Dawson
1895 Aug 7
Los Angeles (CA) Times item R W Dawson now living in Glendora, CA
1896
Los Angeles, CA, city directory as rancher
1897
Little Rock, AR, city directory, Dawson Gallery no longer listed
1897 Apr 09
Los Angeles (CA) Times item R W Dawson now living in Alamitos, CA
1900 Jun 21 US
Long Beach, CA, census Dawson as farmer

1908 Feb 02
Los Angles (CA) Times news item says Dawson has had a stroke
1910 Apr 26
Long Beach, CA, US census, no occupation shown in Long Beach, CA
1910 May 18
dies at age 76 in Long Beach, CA

It appears that Robert W. Dawson was photographer in Little Rock, AR, from 1880 through 1893 mostly at 424 ½ Main. There is no address on the cabinet card at the top, so it could have been done at any time during that period.

There are no records found so far that indicate he was in the photography business before that time, in Illinois or Wisconsin.

Arkansas Democrat - 06 Jun 1883

Daily (Little Rock) Arkansas Gazette - 05 Mar 1880


Arkansas Democrat - 25 Jul 1881


Daily (Little Rock) Arkansas Gazette - 24 Jan 1883

Arkansas Democrat - 06 Jun 1883

Arkansas Democrat - 03 Apr 1884


Arkansas Democrat - 05 Apr 1884

Daily Arkansas Democrat - 04 Aug 1885


Daily Arkansas Democrat - 29 Apr 1886

Daily Arkansas Democrat - 18 Jun 1887


Arkansas Democrat - 27 Aug 1890


Daily Arkansas Democrat - 09 Dex 1893

Daily Arkansas Gazette - 14 Dec 1893


Los Angles (CA) Times - 04 Feb 1894


Arkansas Democrat - 03 Jul 1903

Los Angles (CA) Times - 02 Feb 1908


Arkansas Democrat - 20 Nov 1908


The Canyon (CA) News - 18 Dec 1908


Los Angeles (CA) Times - 18 May 1910

Daily Arkansas Gazette - 24 Aug 1910

photographer: Dawson
imprint on reverse
example from auction site

photographer: Dawson
Little Rock, AR
example from auction site

photographer: Dawson
imprint on reverse
example from auction site

photographer: Dawson
Little Rock, AR
example from mj aux on Flickr

The cabinet cards at the right are probably NOT by R W Dawson. R W Dawson was in Vienna, Wisconsin in 1860 when he and Lucy M Freeman were married. But the card style, elaborate printing and deckle edge seem more from about 1900, long after he had moved to California from Little Rock, AR.

photographer: Dawson Studios
Oshkosh, New London, Hortonville, Seymour, WI
example from auction site

photographer: Dawson
Seymour, Hortonville, Lintonville
example from auction site

photographer: Dawson
Oskosh, New London, Hortonville, WI
example from auction site

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.

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.