Photographers Active in Greeley in the 1880s (Part 1)

This post identifies studio photographers active in Greeley between 1880 and 1887.   See my earlier post for photographers working in the 1870s.  This post shows how quickly some studios changed hands.  Did I miss any photographers?  Can you provide any additional biographical details?

1880
Orlando D. Shields (b. c. 1851-1935) was born in Mahoning County, Ohio. The 1880 census lists Shields as a photographer living in Greeley, Colorado, although no examples of his work have been found.  For many years he operated a nursery business, selling fruit, shade and ornamental trees from his farm in Larimer County.  Shields died on April 3, 1935, while visiting family in Long Beach, California.

George Wallace Wright (b. c. 1855-1931) was born in Maine.  His older brother, Charles C. Wright, was also a photographer.  Wright worked as a photographer in Chariton, Iowa, until June 1880, moving to Greeley, for his health.  The town board permitted Wright to set up a temporary gallery in August.  Later, he moved to Loveland, Colorado, and continued his trade.  A tintype from this time notes that Wright ran a railroad picture car in Colorado and Wyoming.

For the next decade or so, Wright lived a peripatetic life, moving to Portland, Maine; Holyoke, Massachusetts; and Bath, New York.  He settled in New London, Connecticut for several years before finishing his career in Laconia, New Hampshire.  Wright died on December 9, 1931, in Tilton, New Hampshire.  

1880, 1885-1886, 1891-1908                                                                                               Clark M. Marsh (1833-1910) and his twin brother, Benjamin, were born on December 26, 1833, to Belorman Marsh and Mary Heller Marsh on a farm in Southport, New York.

Marsh, an early practitioner of photography, began making ambrotypes in Elmira, New York as early as 1856.  On July 11, 1860 he married Charlotte E. Kellogg.  By 1860 he moved his studio to Canandaigua, New York, offering photographs in lockets or pins for as little as 25 cents.  He specialized in copying and enlarging daguerreotypes.  In 1866 he updated his gallery with a new skylight.  Marsh acquired the exclusive right to use Wing’s Patent Gem Camera, designed by Simon Wing.  This camera used multiple lenses to produce tiny gem tintypes measuring approximately 1” by 1-1/4”.

In December 1866, Marsh took E. B. Lewis as a partner. Marsh & Lewis added a music store to the photo gallery.  They sold organs, violins, pianos, sheet music and other musical merchandise.  However, the partnership dissolved in May 1867.  In January 1868, a fire damaged Marsh’s photography gallery.  He quickly set up a new gallery on Canandaigua’s Main Street and became an agent for Grover & Baker Sewing Machines.  But later that year, Marsh announced that he planned to move West and scheduled an auction to sell his household goods, including five mattresses, one marble-topped table, three good carpets, and three swarms of bees.  He lived briefly in Painesville, Ohio, but returned to Canandaigua by the winter of 1869. 

In March 1870 Marsh took J. C. Bushfield as a partner.  They worked together for about five months.  Shortly after that, Marsh relocated to Havana, New York, where his output included stereoviews of the local scenery, showing rocks, bridges, tunnels, cascades, and gorges.

Havana Falls stereo
B. F. Marsh, photographer. “Eagle Cliff Falls, [Havana, NY]” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs.
A year later, Marsh spent six months in Greeley to improve his health and started selling ice cream from his photography gallery.  In the fall of 1885 Clark Marsh was back in Greeley working with his brother Benjamin as the Marsh Bros. Their partnership lasted until April 1886.  

Dr. Hawes
Clark M. Marsh, photographer. Dr. Jesse Hawes wearing his antiseptic suit for contagious diseases, ca. 1899. City of Greeley Museums, Permanent Collection,
1974.25.0022.

It was not until 1891 that Clark Marsh set up a permanent gallery in Greeley, purchasing goods for the studio in Denver.  During the Christmas season, he took 65 baby pictures for free, which resulted in 400 portrait orders.  In August 1895, Marsh offered free portraits to every potato farmer and planned to exhibit them on Greeley’s Potato Day.  Two years later, he expanded his studio with a brick addition and added  four new backdrops.  By 1901, his son, Charles, “Chub” had joined the business.  They offered Kodak cameras and supplies.  

In October 1908, Marsh sold his photography business to E. Wallace.  Shortly afterward, Marsh spent six months in San Diego, California visiting his daughter.  Clark M. Marsh died on May 19, 1910, at the age of 76, due to heart failure while visiting family in Boise, Idaho.  His body was returned to Greeley and he was buried at Linn Grove Cemetery. Clark M. Marsh was survived by four daughters and a son.  

C.C. Wright cdv
Verso of C. C. Wright carte de visite with the date of 1882 printed on the card.  Scan from ebay.

1882
Charles C. Wright (b. c. 1840-1887) Wright came to Colorado in 1882 from Indiana.  His Greeley studio was located near the depot.  In October 1882, he opened another studio in Denver over Reithmann’s Drug Store, at the corner of Fifteenth and Larimer streets.  In early 1883, he turned over his Greeley studio to John R. King.  

1882-1883
John R. King
(b. c. 1853-1927) began his photographic career in Elmira, New York in the late 1870s.  During the 1880s, he worked in photography studios throughout Colorado, including Denver, Central City, Boulder and Greeley, where he was often associated with C. C. Wright.  In 1882, he managed Wright’s Greeley gallery, which specialized in photographing homes.  King took possession of the gallery in January 1883, planning to only stay in Greeley for a couple of weeks, but demand for his services kept him in town until early February.  Later that year he moved his photographic operations to Boulder.  By 1891, King had returned to Elmira and worked various jobs, including bookkeeper and bartender.

1883-1885
E. W. Pierce (or Peirce) (b. c. 1836-1888) Born in Troy, New York, Pierce arrived in Greeley in September 1883, leasing Benjamin F. Marsh‘s studio.  He published an accordion-style souvenir booklet of Greeley illustrated with nine photographs.  In 1886, he relocated his gallery to Los Angeles, California.

1885-1886
Marsh Bros.
 Benjamin Franklin Marsh and his twin brother Clark M. Marsh worked 
together between the fall of 1885 and April 1886.

1885-1887

Three children
Koontz & Son, photographers. Three unidentified children on cabinet card mount. Collection of the author.

John Luther Koonz  (1838-1890) was born in New York to Isaac Koonz and Roxana Jennings Koonz.  J. L. Koonz married Catharine Mary “Kate” Dickerson on January 27, 1866, in Outagamie County, Wisconsin and they welcomed their first and only child, James, in July 1867.

By 1868, Koonz had opened a photography gallery in the rapidly growing town of Appleton, Wisconsin, on the Fox River.  After 17 years in Appleton, the Koonz family moved to Greeley, Colorado In 1885.  Initially, John operated the studio independently, but a year later, his son James A. Koonz (1867-1917) joined him. 

In the late 1880s, the family moved to Herkimer, New York.  Unfortunately, John L. Koonz died of cancer on July 19, 1890.  His remains rest at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Gloversville, New York.

Thank you to Miranda Todd, Archives Assistant, Greeley Museum,  for research assistance and providing scans and to Beverly W. Brannan for proofreading this post.

C. C. Wright Photographs Colorado’s Legislature

Charles C. Wright was born in East Livermore, Maine.  He married Sarah Ann Judkins on November 28,1860, in Lawrence, MA.  Marriage records cite his occupation as a teamster.

By 1870, Wright, known professionally as C. C. Wright, operated a photography studio in Lafayette, Indiana where he worked for more than a decade.  In 1882 he arrived in Colorado, setting up a temporary gallery in Central City, before opening a studio in Denver that December over Reithmann’s Drug Store, at the corner of Fifteenth and Larimer streets.

Stereo of Larimer Street
Alexander Martin, photographer. Larimer St. from 15th St., showing C. C. Wright’s photography gallery on the right, between 1882 and 1886, albumen silver stereo view. History Colorado. Accession # 84.192.405.

In 1884, for the July 4th holiday, Wright and his wife accompanied a small group to Silver Plume on the Colorado Central via the recently completed Georgetown Loop, an engineering feat of horseshoe curves and four bridges that were used to link Georgetown with Silver Plume, only two miles apart.

That same year, Wright employed a young Adolph F. Muhr, later known for his portraits of Native Americans.  In 1885, Wright’s brother-in-law, David Roby Judkins, briefly worked at the Denver studio. In December 1885, Wright opened a branch gallery in Central City, employing Morton E. Chase.

CO Senate
C. C. Wright, photographer. Colorado Senate, 1885, albumen silver print. Denver Public Library Special Collections.

Wright photographed the Colorado legislature on more than one occasion, making a composite portrait of the 1885 Colorado Senate.  He also made a group portrait of the pages that assisted the state legislature.  Nine boys wearing hats bearing the words “House Page,” stand in front of a hand painted backdrop.  The backdrop is signed on the lower left corner by Davis and a partner’s name that is illegible.  

Wright was one of six photographers who submitted work to the Colorado Manufacturers Exposition held in Denver in 1886.

House Pages
C. C. Wright, photographer. House Pages, between 1882-1887, albumen silver print. Denver Public Library Special Collections.

On January 20, 1887, Wright was traveling through the city in his carriage when he made a sharp turn.  The carriage tipped over, and Wright landed in the street.  He died less than a week later from injuries sustained during the accident at the age of forty-six.  A large funeral was held with participation of fraternal organizations and many local photographers. The procession led by the Opera House band, walked to Wright’s studio where services were conducted.  The crowd then proceeded to Riverside Cemetery.  

Shortly before his death, Wright had opened a new studio at 910 Sixteenth street. His wife is listed as a photographer in the 1887 Denver City Directory.  Henry Rothberger took over the studio by October 1887.

Thank you to Beverly W. Brannan, former curator of photography, Library of Congress, for proof-reading this post.