Edgar Draper

photographer: Draper
Ord, Neb

There were two, maybe three photographers named Draper in the central Nebraska area, during the cabinet card era. Edgar Draper seems the best candidate for the originator of this cabinet card. He lived in Ord.

All data is from US census, newspaper items and municipal records. No city directories were available.

Edgar Draper
(1870 - 1927)

1870 May 04
Iowa, state records, Edgar Draper is born to William Tolbert Draper and Samantha Katherine Baker. (Some documents say 1868 for birth year)
1871 Sep 04
Iowa, state records, brother Henry Draper is born
1876
Approximate year that the family moves to Nebraska, probably Grand Island
1888
Edgar is age 18, family has moved to Central City, NE

1889
Edgar is age 19, family has moved to Ord, NE
1894 Sep 04
Valley County, NE, Edgar marries Amber E Hill
1896 Jan 24
Ord, NE, Quiz news item says the Edgar Draper photographic gallery will open Feb 03, above the Clements Bros Law office. At this point, Draper was calling his studio “Sunbeam Gallery.” (Only time “Sunbeam” appears.)
1896 May 09
Ord, NE, daughter Blanche is born (Edgar is age 26)
1897 Feb 05
Ord (NE) Journal item says H G Westburg has purchased the Edgar Draper business
1897 Feb 19
Ord (NE) journal item says Draper and family have moved to Montana (probably an error as shown by the next news clip)
1897 Jun 16
Central City (NE) Democrat display ad shows Draper has studio in Central City opposite Traver’s Hardware Store
1897 Jun 22
Central City (NE) Nonpareil news item says Draper has moved his “Photo Car” to Central city, two doors west of Desch’s Marble Works

1897 Jul 09
Central City (NE) Democrat news item says Draper has moved his gallery to the vacant lot between Osborn’s shoes and Lemaster’s barber shop
1897 Aug 26
Central City (NE) Democrat item says Draper has moved his photo car to a vacant lot opposite the City Bank Building
1897 Sep 09
Central City (NE) Democrat display ad puts the Draper studio back opposite the Travers Hardware
1898 Feb 17
Central City (NE) Democrat item says Draper has purchased some sage colored Montello Mounts
1898 Apr 07
Central City (NE) Democrat news item with rather confusing message that Draper has moved to Palmer (NE) and hopes that friends in Loup Township will welcome him. The two towns are about 10 miles apart.
1898 Nov 23
Ord (NE) Semi-Weekly Journal item says Draper’s photo car has been to Palmer, Wolbach and Elba, (all of NE) and will soon move to Ashton.

1899 Feb 02
Loup City (NE) Northwestern newspaper item says Draper will leave Loup City about Mar 01
1899 Apr 07
Loup City (NE) Times Independent item says Draper will move from Lop City to Boelus on Apr 10
1899 Jun 02
Loup City (NE) Times Independent item says Draper will be in Loup City during last half of June
1899 Jul 07
Loup City (NE) Times Independent item says Draper will not be in Loup City until Jul 11 staying only three or four weeks
1899 Jul 16
Loup City (NE) Times Independent item says Draper will be in Loup City in the last half of June
1900 Jun 01
Silver Creek, NE, US census, Edgar Draper as photographer (Silver Creek is about 100 miles via rail through Grand Island, NE, to Ord, NE. According to newspaper items, Draper was in town operating his photography business from April through June (see newspaper ad timeline below)

1901 Feb 07
Central City (NE) Democrat item says Draper has bought out H F Brown Photo Gallery and will take over about Mar 15
1902 Feb 11
Newspaper item, son Virgil Lynn Draper dies in Central City, NE
1902 Dec 13
Central City (NE) Republican news item says Draper is closing his gallery and plans to spend a year on the road with the photo car
1902 – 1913 - See ad timeline below
1910 Apr 16 Loup, NE, US census as photographer (Ord and Loup are less than 50 miles apart, and even today are connected by a direct rail line.) 1912 Jan 20
Hastings, NE, state records, daughter Gwendolyn is born
1917
About here, Edgar retires from photography and moves to a Colorado farm.
1920
Magee, CO, US census as farmer
1927
Edgar dies in Haxtun, CO, at age 57

Two examples found on Ancestry.Com.

Note the difference in the card design from the above example.

Between 1903 and 1910, the newspapers carry a small ad about every other week, not always accurate, sometimes even contradictory, detailing the travels of Draper’s Photo Car. One ad even announces upcoming dates for the Photo Car to arrive and then lists dates in the previous month.

They describe the travels of the Draper Photo Car between the Nebraska towns of Ansley, Aston, Boelus, Central City, Clarks, Comstock, Elba, Fullerton, Litchfield, Loup City, Marquette, Ord, Palmer, Saint Paul, Silver Creek, Wolbach

Apparently Draper was based in Loup City, NE and used his Photo Car to work in nearby towns. Following is a timeline of the Nebraska travels of the Draper Photo Car according to more than THREE HUNDRED, mostly two or three line ads in various newspapers:

1889 – 1895 - no ads found
1896 Jan - Oct - Ord
1897 Feb - Apr - Ord
1897 Aug - Sep – Central City
1898 Jan - Apr – Central City
1898 May - Palmer
1898 Nov - Ord
1899 Mar, Apr – Loup City
1899 Apr - Jun - Boelus
1899 Jul – Loup City

1899 Oct - Nov – St Paul
1900 Feb - Fullerton
1900 Apr - Jun – Silver Creek
1900 Nov - Clarks
1901 Feb - Dec – Central City
1902 to Dec 12 – Central City
1902 Dec – Silver Creek
1903 Jan 12 – 25 - Clarks
1903 May - Palmer
1903 Jul, Aug – Wolbach
1903 Sep - Elba
1903 Sep, Oct – St Paul
1904 Apr – Loup City
1905 Jun - Comstock
1906 April – Loup City
1906 May 28 thru Jun 15 – Loup City
1906 Nov 24, 25 and 26 - Ansley
1907 Apr 11 to Apr 20 - Ansley

1907 Jun 08, 09 and 10 - Ansley
1907 Aug 24, 25 and 26 - Ansley
1907 Oct 12, 13 and 14 - Ansley
1908 Feb 08, 09 and 10 - Ansley
1908 Mar 14, 15 and 16 - Ansley
1908 Apr 11, 12 and 13 - Ansley
1908 May 23, 24 and 25 - Ansley
1908 Jun 27, 28 and 29 - Ansley
1908 Sep 26, 27 and 28 - Ansley
1908 Sep 29 and 30 - Litchfield
1908 Oct 29 and 30 – Litchfield
1908 Nov 26 and 27 – Litchfield
1908 Nov 28, 29 and 30 - Ansley
1908 Dec 19-30 – Litchfield
1908 Dec 26, 27 and 28 - Ansley
1908 Dec 29 and 30 – Litchfield
1909 Mar – Dec – Ansley
1910 Feb - Dec – Ansley & Loup City

1911 Feb – Litchfield
1911 Dec – Sargent
1912 Jun – Sargent
1913 Apr 05, 06 and 07
1913 May 3, 4 and 5 – Ansley
1913 May 23-27 - Ansley
1913 Jul 05, 06 and 07 – Ansley
1913 Aug 03, 04 and 05 - Ansley
1913 Aug 27-30 – Ansley
1913 Sep 27, 28 and 29 – Ansley
1913 Oct 25, 26 and 27 – Ansley
1914 Feb 28 and Mar 01 - Ansley
1914 Mar 28, 29 and 30 – Ansley
1914 Apr 25, 26 and 27 - Ansley
1914 May 22, 23 and 24 – Ansley
1914 Jun 04, 05 and 06 - Ansley
1914 Jul 03, 04 and 05 – Ansley
1915, 1916, 1917 - No ads

A few of the hundreds of small ads tracing the location of the Draper Studio

The Ord (NE) Quiz - 24 Jan 1896

Ord (NE) Journal - 13 Mar 1896

Ord (NE) Journal - 05 Feb 1897

Central City (NE) Democrat - 16 Sep 1897

Central City (NE) Democrat - 26 Aug 1897

Central City (NE) Democrat - 17 Feb 1898

Central City (NE) Democrat - 07 Apr 1898

Ord (NE) Weekly Journal - 23 Nov 1898

Loup City (NE) - 10 Feb 1899

Sherman County Times Independent -
07 Apr 1899

Sherman County Times Independent -
02 Jun 1899

Sherman County Times Independent -
16 Jun 1899

Silver Creek Times - 06 Apr 1900

Silver Creek Times -
01 Jun 1900

Silver Creek (NE) Enterprise -
29 Jun 1900

Clarks (NE) Enterprise -
09 Nov 1900

Central City (NE) Democrat -
07 Feb 1901

Central City (NE) Nonpareil - 14 Mar 1901

Central City (NE) Democrat - 18 Dec 1902

Clarks (NE ) Enterprise - 09 Jan 1903

Litchfield (NE) Monitor - 25 Dec 1908

Ansley (NE) Argosy - 23 Oct 1913

Ansley Argosy and Chronicle Citizen -
18 Jun 1914

Sargent (NE) Leader - 03 Oct 1912

These two clippings clearly contradict others that show Draper continuing in the photography business until at least 1914.

The answer is possibly that his studio name was continued by other photographers who merely operated the studio for a fee or a percentage.

Ansley (NE) Argosy - 09 Jan 1913

Sherman County (NE) Times - 22 Jul 1927

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.

J A Lind

Lind
Ord, Nebraska
(blind stamp, very faint)

Anthony Christian Lind
was a photographer in Calumet, WI, at age 20 to his death in Marinette, WI, at age 81. From about 1900 on, his studio was at 1611 Main in Marinette, WI. At times. it was also his
place of residence.

However, no documents have been found to show that this A C Lind was ever in Ord, NE, over 500 miles from Marinette, IA.

And there is the photographer
James Abraham Lind
of Des Moines, IA, nearly 300 miles from Ord, NE. He can be documented as a photographer from 1894 through 1910 all in Des Moines, IA.

There is also a CDV example on Langdon Road site done by Lind and Donner of South Kaukauna, WI.

So far there is no documentation to show that any of these photographers worked in Ord, NE.

Ord, NE, is a small town in central Nebraska. The population in 1880 was less than two hundred and had grown to 1200 in 1890. With such a small population, it is probable that the town could not support more than one resident photographer and perhaps none. It is more likely that a photographer opened a studio there only a few days a year and actually lived in a nearby city on a rail line.

There were no city directories printed for Ord, NE.

Ord, NE, is about 130 miles from Lincoln, NE, and 150 miles from Omaha, NE. Quite possibly the photographer Lind was centered in one of those cities.

photographer: Lind
518 E Locust, Des Moines, IA
This is possibly the same Lind as the one who worked in Ord, NE

This example is from another photographer who also worked in Ord, NE

This example from an auction site
shows Westberg Lind (Westberg AND Lind?) working in Ord, NE

Here is an interesting discovery. Compare the blind stamp name and logo on the cabinet card above on this page, (greatly enhanced), with the Westberg Lind cabinet card found on an auction site and the Draper cabinet card found in the LOST GALLERY collection. Notice the similarity.

photographer: Lind
cor Fourth and Main, Fond DU Lac, WI
Example from auction site

photographer: Lind & Donner
South Kaukauna, WI
CDV example from Langdon Road

Reverse of card at left

So far there is no documentation to show that any of these photographers worked in Ord, NE.

photographer: J A Lind
502 E Locust, Des Moines, IA
(Dated in pencil on reverse "1894")
example from auction site

photographer J A Lind
502 E Locust. Des Moines, IA
example from Cabinet Card Gallery

photographer J A Lind
502 E Locust. Des Moines, IA
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.

Cabinet cards typically have the photographer’s name and address printed on the bottom edge or the reverse of the card. 19th century photographers moved around a lot. The basic idea here is to find WHEN a photographer was WHERE, which will help date an unidentified CABINET CARD from your family album.

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.