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
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