H B Ellsworth

Contrary to the normal parameters of this research, this page looks at a cabinet card not in the
LOST GALLERY collection.

photographer: H B Ellsworth
La Cygne, KS
example from auction site

Aunt Dell – Mrs Miller

Mrs Saunders- Mrs Ella Seaton

Kate Thorne

Mrs Judson, nee Chloe Seaton

Ella Vallie (Vallee)

Annie Horton

Beelzebub

The tiny rural town of La Cygne, KS, had population was less than a thousand in the years just before 1900. Looking for a photographer by the name of H B Ellsworth there turned up no results.

So a different approach was used. Was there ANYONE in the town by that name? Yes. A resident named Helen B Hesser married William H Ellsworth in 1881 when she was 26. She became Helen B Ellsworth. This establishes only that there really was a person by the name H B Ellsworth.

Following is a timeline showing a parade of photographers that WERE in La Cygne, KS, as based on several newspaper items and ads.

This timeline of photographers was formed using available news items and ads noted in old newspapers of the times.

1871 Sep – George F Dewey as photographer
1876 Sep 30 to 1887 Mar 26 – J A Young as photographer
1883 Jan 21 - O A Sullivan as photographer
1891 Apr - Caman (see card below)
1892 Jul 10 - NO photographer
1893 May to 1894 Feb – gallery now operated by Miss Lear Hesser
1894 Feb 03 – Hesser Gallery now operated by
------------------------Mrs W I Ellsworth (H B Ellsworth)

1895 Apr 05 - 1895 Aug 02 – Joseph Riley
1895 Oct 11 - photo gallery being remodeled for photographer T J Goss
1896 Aug 14 to 1896 Oct 09 - C H Goss Gallery, photographer C H Koentz
1897 Aug 20 to 1898 Mar 04 - Miss Jessie Shrake as photographer
1899 Feb 17 - C L Shrake, photographer leaves La Cygne
1899 Jun 09 - Mrs Caldwell as photographer
1900 Sep 21 - Green Stapp, photographer with tent studio is now leaving town
1902 May 09 - Gay A Spencer has leased the studio in La Cygne
1903 May 22 - Brown as photographer
1904 Sep 30 - J A McCoach as photographer for two weeks
1908 Feb 06 - Coleman, photographer, is in La Cygne looking for location
1908 Oct 16 - George F Chapman and P Finn operated for two weeks in La Cygne, have now left
1908 Nov 17 - Mrs Belle Hurston is looking for gallery space
1909 Jan 21 - B R Coleman takes Mrs Spencer’s old stand at Bway and Chestnut
1909 Jul 22 to 1910 Mar 03 - B R Coleman as photographer
1910 Oct 13 – R C Allen buys Coleman Gallery; B R Coleman is moving to Duke, OK
1912 Mar 14 to 1912 May 17 - J R Frazier as photographer
1914 Apr 16 to 1915 Mar 26 - Mrs Stewart as photographer

In 1892, a newspaper item complains that the city has no working photographer.

From May of 1893 to February of 1894, the gallery in the J A Young building is operated by Miss Lear Hesser.

Miss Lear Hesser is a niece of Helen (Hesser) Ellsworth, a daughter of Helen’s brother, Joseph Henry Hesser. Joseph Hesser is a physician living in nearby Paris, KS.

In February, 1894, Miss Lear Hesser takes a photographer’s position in Temple, TX and leaves La Cygne

H B Ellsworth (Mrs W I Ellsworth) takes over the gallery from February 1894 to April 1895 when Joseph Riley takes over.

So it appears H B Ellsworth was photographer in La Cygne, KS, for just a little over a year.



Just below are some of the newspaper items found.

>

La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1892 Sep 10 La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1892 Sep 20 La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1893 Jan 21 La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1893 Feb 18

La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1893 Apr 15 La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1893 Apr 29 La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1893 May 13

La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1893 Nay 13 La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1893 Jun 03 La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1893 Dec 02 La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1894 Feb 3

La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1895 Mar 22 La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1895 Nov 08 La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1906 Jun 29

La Cygne (KS) Journal - 1914 Jun 12

other photographers of La Cygne, KS

photographer: Jonathan Young
La Cygne, KS
example from auction site

photographer: Caman
La Cygne, KS
example from auction site

reverse of card at left
(dated, see timeline at 1891)

photographer: Caman
Wellington, KS
example from auction site
(Caman was NOT in LE Cygne, KS, for this one)

photographer: C E Koentz
Onega, KS
example from pinterest
Connection to C H Koenst is not known at this time.
(see timeline at 1896)

photographer: G M Koentz
Onega, KS
example from pinterest
Connection to C H Koentz is not known at this time.
(see timeline at 1896)

photographer: George F Dewey
Mound City, KS
CDV example from auction site
(See timeline at 1871)

reverse of card at left

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.