photographer: Wybrant
329 Walnut, over Macauley's Theater
Louisville, KY
Wybrant Studio shifted titles, locations and operators several times.
There was Smith and Wybrant, Wybrant, Davis and Wybrant, Widmann and
Wybrant, and likely some others. The operators included Frank C, Frank
E, Henry E and Rozell W Wybrant. The locations were all in Louisville,
KY, but address changed at least 7 times. The studio was burned out
twice, 1867 and 1889.
This timeline should sort it all out.
1860 Jun 19
US census at age 18 as Daguerotypist
1860 Jul 09; Oct 29; Nov 13;
Louisville KY Daily Courier small ad Smith and Wybrant located “over
Morris & Hogg, Main Street, five doors below Fourth st”
1861
Louisville, KY, city directory as Daguerreotypist with Smith and
Wybrant at 505 Main
1864
Louisville, KY, city directory as photographer, studio over 405
Main
1865
Louisville, KY, city directory as Smith and WyBrant at 132 Main
1866 Oct 26
Louisville KY Daily Courier item mention Smith & Wybrant at 132 Main
st
1866 Jul 09
Louisville KY Daily Courier ad for Smith & Wybrant on Main
1867
Louisville, KY, city directory as Smith and WyBrant at 132 Main
1867 Jan 04, 05;
Louisville, KY, Daily Courier item story about fire below gallery at
132 Main st
1867 May 17 to Nov 12
Louisville, KY, Daily Courier small ads Smith and Wybrant studio now
at 144 Market
1867 Oct 31
Louisville, KY, Daily Courier item Smith and Wybrant dissolve
partnership, Wybrant keeps studio at 144 Market
1867 Nov 12 to 1880 Jul 17
Louisville, KY, Daily Courier small ads for studio at 144 Market
1868
Louisville, KY, city directory as Frank WyBrant at 144 Market
1868 Nov 26
Frank C Wybrant marries Ann Eliza J Jones (Her name varies with each
document. In the 1870 US census, it is Lydia; on the 1880 US census it
is Lida; on the 1900 US census it appears as Lyda J; on her 1903 death
registry it is Eliza)
1869
Louisville, KY city directory ad for studio at 144 w Market
1880 May 15
Frankfort (KY) Roundabout ad for studio at 144 w Market
1880 Jun 04
US census as photographer assisted by brother-in-law Theodore Jones
1882 Sep 18 to 1887 Oct 16
Louisville, KY, Courier Journal ad for studio at 418 Market
1882 Oct 04
Louisville, KY, Courier Journal item Theodore B Jones dies at age
34
1887
Louisville, KY, city directory ad for studio at 418 w Market
1887 Mar 13; Apr 10;
Louisville, KY, Courier Journal ad for studio at 418 w Market
1889
From Frank Wybrant obituary, gallery is destroyed by fire
1890 Mar 01 to 1894 Dec 30
Hopkinsville (KY) Kentuckian, Thirty ads for
studio at 327 Walnut
1895 Jan 13 to 1900 Aug 14
Hopkinsville (KY) Kentuckian, ads for studio at 580 and 582 Fourth
st
1900 Jul 14
Frank C Wybrant dies and his brothers Henry E. Wybrant and Frank E
Wybrant take over studio assisted by Henry E Wybrant’s son Rozell
Wybrant.
1900 Aug 15
Louisville, KY, Courier-Journal small ad showing 582 Fourth is now for
rent
1900 Sep 29 to Dec 29;
Kentucky Irish American, ad for gallery at 652 Fourth av
1901, 1902, 1903
Louisville, KY, city directory listing as Wybrant F E, 650 & 652
Fourth
-- Continued on next row --
1903 Aug 02
Louisville, KY, Courier-Journal photo credit to Davis and Wybrant
1904, 1905, 1906 and 1907 Louisville, KY, city directory listing as
Wybrant Frank E at 434 E Market
1904 Oct 23
Louisville, KY, Courier-Journal photo credit to Widmann and Wybrant
1905 Oct 08
Louisville, KY, Courier-Journal photo credit to Wybrant only
1906
Louisville, KY, city directory shows studio run by Frank E Wybrant
assisted by his father Henry E Wybrant; Rozell is associated with the
studio, but he has also works as a bill collector
1906 Jan 13
Kentucky Irish American item Frank Wybrant studio at 434 Market st
1906 May 15
Louisville, KY, Courier-Journal news item mentions Frank E. Wybrant at
434 e Market
1907 Jul 20 to Oct 05
Kentucky Irish American ads Wybrant Brothers studio at 578 Fourth; it
is likely that the "Brothers" are Frank E and Rozell W Wybrant, sons
of Henry E Wybrant, who also works for the studio as evidenced by city
directories of the time.
1908 May 30
Kentucky Irish American ad for Frank E Wybrant studio at 576 Fourth
av
1909 Mar 09
Louisville, KY, Courier-Journal newsphoto credit to Wybrant
1909
Louisville, KY, city directory listing as Wybryant Brothers (F E and
Rozel) assisted by their father Henry E Wybrant as printer at 576 s
Fourth
1910
Louisville, KY, city directory as photographer at 205 s Fourth
1910 Aug 27
Kentucky Irish American ad for studio at 543 s Preston
1911
Louisville, KY, city directory Frank E Wybrant as photographer with
Henry E Wybrant at 532 Market
1912
Louisville, KY, city directory Frank E Wybrant as photographer with
Henry E Wybrant at 532 Market
1913
Louisville, KY, city directory Frank E Wybrant as photographer with
Henry E Wybrant at 532 Market
1914
Louisville, KY, city directory Frank Wybrant (no “E”) residence only,
no studio, no occupation shown
This was difficult search because there were three Frank Wybrant’s in
Louisville, KY, and another in Indiana that turned out unrelated. With
the inclusion of a scant few middle initials, wives names and some
other clues, it was finally sorted which Frank did what.
It really matters little unless there are some cabinet cards out there
that include a first name. The studio seems to have been named simply
“Wybrant Photography” or “Wybrant Studio” in most advertising.
The Wybrant studio seems to go inactive after 1913.
Louisville, KY, Courier-Journal - 31 Oct 1867
note the prices
Typical city directory ad 1869
City directory ad 1887
Louisville, KY, Courier-Journal - 10 Apr 1887
Hopkinsville (KY) Kentuckian - 23 Nov 1897
Kentucky Irish American - 29 Sep 1900
The item above shows how difficult it is to trace Wybrant. Two
different people are cited here and the newspaper didn't bother to
differentiate between them with even a middle initial.
Rozell Wybrant, brother of Frank E Wybrant, apparently works as a
collection agent, part time, and then full time for rental, insurance
and loan companies.
Above is one of many ads from the "Wybrant Brothers Studio" running
in the years just after the death of Frank C Wybrant. Brother Rozell
seems to come and go in the arrangement.
By 1910 Rozell Wybrant has moved to Detroit, MI. He writes several
letters to the editor of the "Detroit Free Press". This is a typical
example.
Things do not go all that well for Rozell.
photographer Smith and Wybrant
405 Main Street
CDV finished in 1864
example from auction site
photographer: Wybrant
418 w Market, Louisville, KY
example from Kentucky Digital Library
finished 1882-1889
photographer: Wybrant
418 w Market, Louisville, KY
example from Kentucky Digital Library
finished 1882-1889
photographer Wybrant
144 West Market St,
Louisville KY
CDV finished between
May 1867 and May 1880
example from auction site
Reverse of the CDV on the left
example from auction site
photographer: Wybrant
example from the
Pierce/Vaubel genealogy website
Finished between Sep 1882 and Apr 1887
photographer: Wybrant
example from the
Pierce/Vaubel genealogy website
Finished between Sep 1882 and Apr 1887
Photographer: Wybrant418 W Market, Louisville, KY
example from auction site
Photographer: Wybrant418 W Market, Louisville, KY
example from auction site
Photographer: WybrantLouisville, KY
example from auction site
Photographer: Wybrant418 W Market, Louisville, KY
example from auction site
418 W Market, Louisville, KY
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.
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.
