stereoviews - 19th Century Colorado Photographers

Researching George Mellen’s Journey to Colorado

George Mellen arrived in Gunnison, Colorado in 1880 and immediately began making finely composed stereoviews and boudoir cards of the new and growing town. A few years later, Mellen worked for the renowned landscape photographer, William Henry Jackson in Denver, Colorado. This post will try to answer several questions about his early life.

When was George E. Mellen born? George was the eldest child of Morris Mellen and Serepta Walkup Mellen. His younger brother, William, was about two years younger than George. Their mother died in September 1854.

Census records can help determine a birth date, but they are not entirely reliable, as we will see below. The closer the census date is to the birth date, the more likely it is to reflect reality. The 1855 census, which is the first time George appears in a census, shows him as three years old, allowing us to assume that he was born circa 1832.

1855 census — New York State Census, Gerry, Chautauqua County, 1855, enumerated on June 6, 1855

The 1900 federal census provides a birth month and year, but frequently contains inaccurate information. For example, George’s birth date is given as February 1855.

Where did he learn the photographic trade? By 1870, the Mellen family lived on a farm in Franklin County, Kansas. After a brief time in New York, Mellen considered a teaching career; however, by 1879, he discovered his true passion for photography. Apprenticing with veteran photographer, Alvin W. Barker, in Ottawa, Kansas, Mellen was soon traveling the countryside with Barker’s view wagon making photographs of schools, public squares, and farmer’s homes a “thing of beauty and a joy forever.”

Photo wagon — Mellen’s photographic wagon. Albumen silver stereo view. History Colorado

On the road to Colorado. Barker, a seasoned traveler who had made two trips to Colorado in the 1870s, accompanied Mellen. Barker wrote numerous lengthy trip essays under the title “Westward Ho!” that were published in the Ottawa papers. The first one described their wagon:

“Our outfit, perhaps will need but very little description, as most of Franklin Co. have become familiar with its appearance as a view wagon. The wagon is lightly constructed, two Texas ponies as the propelling power, and the most interesting driver that ever drew reins over the back of a Texas thoroughbred. At first sight he would be called rather lengthy, especially when he takes his position for business upon the front end of the ambulance, and throwing his legs over the dashboard, there not being room inside to contain them when unwound; his likeness has been painted at great expense upon the rear end of the wagon, which is as correct as the best artist in Ottawa could make a shadow, with one exception, his feet are a little out of proportion, owing to his being out of the city when the artist was about to put on the finishing touches…”

The essays provide entertaining and informative details, mentioning nearly every town they pass through, and give details about population, businesses, weather, crops, and prospects for farming and ranching on the land. The 700-mile trip took 2-1/2 months. The team arrived in Gunnison in the middle of June.

map — Mellen’s route between Ottawa, Kansas, and Gunnison, Colorado.

Mellen stayed in Gunnison and Barker returned to Ottawa, Kansas, possibly via rail as the Denver & Rio Grande had just started operation from Salida in May 1880.

Thank you to Jori Johnson and Aaron Marcus at History Colorado and Kellen Cutsford, Denver Public Library. Jerilyn Marshall assisted with biographical information to be published later.

Smallwood & Ball: Colorado Stereo Photographers

Smallwood & Ball were listed as photographers in the 1876 Denver City Directory. Although no views were published under their combined names, the same stereoviews were often published under both Smallwood’s and Ball’s names.

William John Smallwood was born in St. Joseph, Missouri to William Jackson Smallwood and Mary “Polly” Fox Smallwood. In 1850, his father traveled to the Lake Tahoe area of California in search of gold. He appeared in California’s 1852 census and supposedly died shortly thereafter.

William Smallwood grew up in Knox County, Missouri. In the 1870 census, he is listed as a photographic artist. By 1873, Smallwood had moved to Denver, Colorado, where he worked as a dyer. In 1876, he formed a partnership with photographer George Ball. He made photographs south and west of Denver.

William Smallwood, photographer. Balanced Rock, Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado, circa 1876. Albumen silver stereograph. History Colorado, accession number 84.192.690

A few years later, Smallwood returned to Knox County, Missouri. He married Anna Amanda Roberts on June 4, 1882. They spent their married life on a farm, raising six children to adulthood. William Smallwood died on January 7, 1912, and is buried in Knox County’s Baker Cemetery.

George E. Ball was born in Ross, Herefordshire, England, around 1848. He worked as a photographer in England before immigrating to the United States in November 1874, where he settled in the Denver area. He was the junior partner in the photographic firm of Smallwood & Ball. In 1876, he opened his own gallery in Golden, Colorado, specializing in stereoviews. He exhibited his views at Boulder’s Mineral and Agricultural Fair of 1877.

Green Lake stereo — George Ball, photographer. Green Lake, Georgetown, Colorado, circa 1876. Albumen silver stereoview. History Colorado, accession number 84.192.8.

By 1878, he was a popular resident of Golden, operating a lunch stand at the railroad depot. He organized a shooting club in the city and served as its president. Ball spent four months on a survey party for the southern portion of the Denver & Rio Grande railroad.

On January 18, 1881, the desirable bachelor married Miss J. M. A. Pearlburg in Golden. In July 1882, he sold his lunch counter and moved to a ranch in Middle Park, Colorado with his wife. The couple often wintered in Golden.
However, in the summer of 1886, George Ball’s life took an unexpected turn. Word from England revealed that while George had been living as a single man in the United States, he had a wife and three children in England. After George stopped writing home, his British wife assumed he had died in the United States. She took action to find him. In early 1886, an affidavit taken before a United States consul in Leeds, England, made by Elizabeth Ball, provided the details of their marriage.

The press reported that he could be arrested for bigamy or have a divorce brought against him by one or both of his wives. But, about two years later, George Ball surfaced in Alameda, California, as a photographer. He made portraits and a rare series of stereoviews with the mount “The New Series of Pacific Coast Views.”

In the fall of 1897, he left the Bay Area and headed to Sawyer’s Bay in Siskiyou County, California, where he had a placer claim. Further details about his life have not been uncovered.

Thank you to: W. G. Eloe; Krista N. Hanley; Jori Johnson and Aaron Marcus, History Colorado; and Beverly W. Brannan.

Wellington O. Luke: From Pennsylvania to Colorado and Back Again

Wellington O. Luke was born in Bradford County, Pennsylvania on February 9, 1847. He married Nancy “Nellie” E. Russell on September 7, 1869. In the early 1870s, he operated a photography studio in Meshoppen, Pennsylvania. In 1874, the Luke family moved to Colorado Springs. He partnered with another Pennsylvanian, possibly his brother-in law, Bentley B. Russell. They specialized in scenic stereoviews. After his young wife’s death of consumption in 1874 and his brother-in-law’s passing a few months later, W. O. Luke departed Colorado and set up a photo studio in Abilene, Kansas.

W. O. Luke, photographer. [Ravine, Rocky Mountains]; 1870s; Albumen silver print; Getty Museum collection.

In Abilene, Luke managed a portrait studio and occasionally took his outfit on the road to neighboring communities. In 186, he married Laura V. Chronister. In 1879, Luke moved his studio into Putnam’s new block, outfitting his rooms with new furniture and backdrops. However, a few months later, the Luke family, encouraged by Leadville, Colorado’s silver boom, moved west where Luke would continue his photo business.

stereo prospectors — Luke & Wheeler, photographers. {Prospectors], 1879-1881. Albumen silver stereoview. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas

In July 1879, Luke worked together with Danforth N. Wheeler as Luke & Wheeler, producing cabinet cards and stereoviews. Their work included scenic views and local events, including former president U. S. Grant’s 1880 visit to Leadville, the hanging of two men, showing a large crowd of spectators, street scenes of Leadville, and miners and mining operations. Luke and Wheeler maintained their partnership until December 1881.

W. O. Luke, photographer. Flume for hydraulic mining near Leadville, Colo., between 1879-1892, albumen silver print. Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, Z-14166.

In 1888, Luke and one of Colorado’s earliest photographers, Frank W. Grove, joined forces as Grove & Luke. Their studio resided at 425 Harrison Street.

Luke worked in Leadville for more than twelve years. Virginia Luke filed for divorce in November 1894, alleging non-support. After their divorce, Luke left Leadville for New Castle, Colorado and later Arizona, where it has been reported that he made identification cards for Chinese people living in the U. S., as required by the Geary Act. After a brief time in Auburn, California, Luke returned to Pennsylvania. He spent the remainder of his photographic career in Wilkes-Barre, calling his business the San Francisco Studio. Located in the Weitzenkorn building on Main Street, it was the only photo studio in the city with an elevator.

Wellington O. Luke suffered a stroke and died on January 8, 1907.

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

Byron H. Gurnsey, Colorado Springs’ First Photographer

B. H. Gurnsey produced hundreds of stereoviews of Colorado during the 1870s. His series, Gurnsey’s Rocky Mountain Views and Scenes on the Line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, include images of Canon City, Colorado Springs, Leadville, Manitou, Pike’s Peak, and the Grand Canon of the Arkansas. Numerous prominent institutions, including the George Eastman Museum, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, The J. Paul Getty Museum and the New York Public Library, collect and preserve Gurnsey’s work.

Leadville, Colorado. — B. H. Gurnsey, photographer. Leadville, Colorado, 1879. Albumen silver stereo view. The New York Public Library.

Byron Hamilton Gurnsey was born on October 12, 1833, in Chautauqua County, New York, to John M. Gurnsey and Susan Nevins Gurnsey. He married Delilah Ida Simpson on December 9, 1858, in Battle Creek, Michigan. B. H. Gurnsey served four years and nine months in the Civil War, first with the 41st Iowa Infantry, Company C, stationed at Fort Randall, Dakota Territory, and later in the 7th Iowa Cavalry.

Gurnsey & Illingworth, photographers. Spotted Tail, The Rebel Chief and HIs Party, circa 1870, albumen silver print. Copyright, The Trustees of the British Museum.

After the war, Gurnsey operated a photographic studio at the corner of Front and Pearl Streets on Sioux City, Iowa’s levee. He offered “Photographs and Ambrotypes.” His stock included stereoscopic views and stereoscopes from an eastern supplier. In 1870 he partnered with William H. Illingworth, as Gurnsey & Illingworth. On June 5, 1871 a fire completely destroyed his workplace. Even though he opened new photographic rooms over the Imperial Bakery, Gurnsey decided to leave Iowa City. In December 1871 he relocated to Colorado.

Gurnsey opened the first photographic studio in Colorado Springs, with a second studio in Pueblo, Colorado. In Pueblo, he worked above the St. James restaurant, until he completed a new studio on Main Street, which he operated until 1875. He partnered with Eugene Brandt at this location.

Cottonwood tree — B. H. Gurnsey, photographer. The Largest Cottonwood Tree in Colorado, Fifth Street, South Pueblo, circa 1875, albumen silver stereo view, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas.

As his success grew, Gurnsey completed a new brick building in Colorado Springs on Pike’s Peak Avenue in May 1874. The following year he sold an impressive $4,000 worth of stereoviews. In addition, his photographs received national attention when they were published in the July 4, 1874 issue of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. This weekly news magazine, with a subscriber base numbering in the tens of thousands, published four wood engravings from photographs by Gurnsey: three views of Monument Park and one of Balancing Rock.

Beginning in March 1877, Gurnsey advertised for a partner to take a one half interest in his stereoview business. It is unlikely he found someone to fill that role, but in June 1877, Frank W. Grove did assist Gurnsey on a Denver and Rio Grande railroad excursion for Denver journalists. The party traveled over the new track between Fort Garland and La Veta. Gurnsey secured negatives for ten stereoscopic views and four large 11 by 14″ views, including photographs of Mule Shoe Bend. He made prints for the railroad, as well as Eastern customers, with one railroad customer ordering 7,200 views. Gurnsey’s views were also sent as far away as Paris and China.

B. H. Gurnsey, photographer. The Mule Shoe, 1877, albumen silver print, The New York Public Library.

Gurnsey continued to operate in Colorado Springs until his death at the young age of forty-seven, on November 19, 1880. He is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs. Gurnsey’s widow, Delilah Ida Simpson Gurnsey, operated the studio after her husband’s death.

Frank Kuykendall’s Views of the Central Rockies

Frank Kuykendall (1855-1920) was born in Douglas County Oregon to George and Candace (Stark) Kuykendall. He attended Umpqua Academy, a public school organized by the Methodist church in Wilbur, Oregon. The family moved to California in the mid-1860s and by 1870 had settled in Santa Rosa. Frank learned the carpentry trade from his father, before mastering the art of photography.

Frank Kuykendall, photographer. Episcopal Church in Silver Cliff, 1880, albumen silver print. Amon Carter Museum of American Art.

In 1877, Frank and Nettie Louse Hadcock were married in Sonoma County. (They would later divorce, and Frank would remarry twice.) By 1880, they lived in Silver Cliff, Colorado, and Frank had begun photographically documenting local business houses, street scenes and landscapes. If the numbers scratched into his negatives are accurate, Kuykendall’s inventory included about 1,000 views of Saguache, Gunnison, Salida, Silver Cliff, Maysville and the surrounding area. The bulk of his output consisted of stereoviews, but he also made larger prints. His prints were stamped with “Fine Portraits and Views, S.W. Cor. of Ohio and Emery Sts., Near Colorado House, Silver Cliff, Colo.”

street scene — Frank Kuykendall, photographer. [Saguache County Bank and Ruby Saloon], ca. 1882, albumen silver stereoview. Amon Carter Museum of American Art

Log bridge — Kuykendall & Whitney, photographers. [Six workers on a log bridge], ca. 1885, albumen silver stereo view. Amon Carter Museum of Art.

In 1882 Kuykendall joined forces with William H. Whitney (1855-1936) and they would continue to work together until 1885, first in Silver Cliff and later in Ouray, as Kuykendall & Whitney.

By 1890, Kuykendall had moved to Santa Rosa, California, where he would end his photographic career. Later, he farmed in Washington and Arizona, and then took up carpentry again, working in San Diego until his death on February 29, 1920. He is buried at Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, in Santa Rosa, CA.