Lewis Dowe’s Portrait Photograph of Clara Whitney
THE PHOTOGRAPHER/ PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO:
LEWIS DOWE was born in 1838 in Hanover, New Hampshire and died in 1919 in Portland, Oregon. He arrived in Petaluma in September of 1875 and set up his photography studio in the rooms formerly occupied by photographer Hugh Anderson. Dowe worked in Petaluma as both a “view” and portrait photographer until he departed the town in March of 1882. (For additional information on this photographer and to view all portraits by him in the collection, click on his name in blue above.)
THE SITTER:
Name: Clara Whitney Spear (When this portrait was taken, the sitter would have been known by her maiden name, Whitney.)
Description: In this portrait Clara appears to be 3 or 4 years old. She stands leaning on the armrest of Dowe’s fringed studio chair. She looks directly and calmly at the camera. She is dressed in a luxurious, heavily embroidered, dark, velvet, coat which fastens up the front with large white buttons latched together with braided soutache fasteners. Around her neck is a large white lace collar and what appears to be a white beaded necklace.
Biographical Note: Clara Whitney was raised in Petaluma. She attended Mills College in Oakland, California and was married in 1893 at the age of 20 to Lewis Eugene Spear. Clara died at the age of 81 in Santa Barbara, California but was buried in Petaluma’s Cypress Lawn Memorial Park.
Family Affiliation: Clara Whitney Spear was the seventh and last child of the prominent Petaluma pioneers Albion Paris Whitney (1825-1884) and Susan Durgin Eastman Whitney (1832-1917). Her father was a California State Senator and wealthy businessman. Her mother managed the family business after his death and was an active participant in the women’s suffrage movement. Her paternal grandmother was Olive Parlin Whitney, and her siblings were Cleora Melissa Whitney Hewlett, Nancy Jane “Jenny” Whitney Morrow, Arthur Leslie Whitney, Leona Merrill Whitney, Marcella “Ella” Whitney Wheaton, and Albion Harvey Whitney. Clara’s husband was Lewis Eugene Spear (1867-1953). He was a California business man who organized the Pacific Steel and Wire Company in San Francisco and later established the Pacific Wire Rope Company in Los Angeles.
Bibliography:
THE PHOTOGRAPH:
Format / Size: carte de visite, approximately 6.25 x 10.5 cm
Medium: albumen photographic print mounted on cardstock
Description, front:
Description, back: Handwritten in print in pencil is: “Clara Whitney”. Below in the center of the card appears Lewis Dowe’s imprint printed on a diagonal.
Date: 1878 or 1879
Condition: This card is soiled on both sides, and the top edge has been trimmed and left with a ragged edge.
Owner: Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 1981-835-09
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.