THE PHOTOGRAPHER/ PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO:
Photographer: Charles F. Hamilton (b. c. 1825, Ireland). Hamilton was an inovative and prolific daguerreotype, ambrotype and paper photographer who is documented as working in San Francisco between 1852 and c. 1869. His original studio was at 163 Clay Street in the Rabe’s Building. He later moved to 111 Montgomery Street in the Lecount’s Building. Throughout these years he collaborated with several other photographers including Thomas N. Starr and Reuben F. Lovering.
Carl Mautz, Biographies of Western Photographers, A Reference Guide to Photographers Working in the 19th Century American West, Expanded and Revised Edition, 2018, p. 131; Peter E. Palmquist and Thomas R. Kailbourn, Pioneer Photographers of the Far West, Stanford University Press, 2000, pp. 273-275
THE SITTERS:
Names: Barnabus Haskell (1817-1887), William Barnabus Haskell (1842-1914) and Abigail Ainsley Goodwin Haskell (1819-1884)
Description:
Biographical Note: Beginning in the 1860s, Abigail Ainsley Goodwin Haskell worked as Petaluma’s preeminent advocate for women’s right to vote. With intellectual brilliance, a deep knowledge of western culture, and assertive authority, she served as a leader and founding member of the Sonoma County Woman Suffrage Association, the California Woman Suffrage Association and the Pacific Coast Suffrage Association. She was among one of the first women allowed to address the California State Legislature. On March 18, 1870, she delivered the CWSA’s petition for women’s right to vote. Her inspiring speech is preserved on an eleven-page, handwritten document donated to the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, by Haskell’s descendant, Ann Nisson.
Family Affiliation: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/72995487/abigail-ashley-haskell. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59091492/william-barnabas-haskell.
Bibliography: John Sheehy, “Petaluma’s Suffrage Pioneer",” Petaluma Argus-Courier, March 1, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXXMH5vzR6E
THE PHOTOGRAPH:
Format / Size:
Medium: daguerreotype
Case Description:
Date: The date of this photograph is problematic. The photographer is documented as having begun his work in San Francisco in 1852, but the child in the photograph was born in 1842 and appears to be, at most, five years old.
Condition:
Owner: The Ann Nisson Collection, digital copy by permission. 2019-887-01
Reproduction rights: The Petaluma Museum Association makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to the digitized images here reproduced. These images are intended for personal or research use only. Any other kind of use, including, but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the Association. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use.
