John Plumbe Jr. (occasionally Plumb; July 13, 1809 – May 29, 1857) was a Welsh-born American entrepreneurial photographer, gallerist, publisher, and an early advocate of an American

transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...

in the mid-19th century. He established a franchise of photography studios in the 1840s in the U.S., with additional branches in Paris and Liverpool. He created a lithographic process for reproducing photographic images, called the "plumbeotype."

Biography

Plumbe was born in Castle Caereinion,

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

, Wales in 1809, to John Plumbe and Frances Margaretta Atherton. The family moved to Philipsburg, Pennsylvania in 1821, and later to

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

Vision for a transcontinental railroad

He began his career as a civil engineer. "He studied civil engineering while still in his late teens and by 1829 was surveying sites for future railroad routes in the southern and eastern portions of the country. About 1836 he relocated to the

Wisconsin territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

, where he became and advocate for a trans-contintental railroad." Plumbe reasoned that a transcontintental railroad "would hasten the formation of dense settlements throughout the whole extent of the road, advance the sales of the public lands, afford increased facilities to the agricultural, commercial and mining interests of the country...and enable the government to transport troops and munitions of war." Throughout his life Plumbe would continue to press for the railroad, petitioning Congress and presenting his ideas in various newspapers and other publications.

Daguerreotype galleries, 1840-1847

Plumbe "took up photography in 1840 after seeing the work of an itinerant

daguerreotypist Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre ...

in Washington, D.C."Getty Museum
John Plumbe Jr.
Retrieved 2011-04-19—probably the work of John G. Stevenson. In a short period of time, Plumbe established a string of daguerreotype studios and galleries, all bearing his name. Visitors to the galleries could view photographic works, receive training, or pay to have their portrait taken. Images produced in the Plumbe studios were credited to "Plumbe," although the work was made by others, including his brother Richard Plumbe. "Each of his galleries was staffed by a host of operators, colorists, and artisans, and many notable daguerreotypists received their training or honed their skills in Plumbe's galleries, including Richard Carr, Marsena Cannon, Charles E. Johnson, Jacob Shew, Myron Shew, and William Shew." Others who learnt photographic arts through the Plumbe franchise included Ezra Chase,

Samuel Masury Samuel Masury (ca. 1818–1874) was a photographer in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts. He trained with photographer John Plumbe around 1842. In 1853-1855 he partnered with G.M. Silsbee as "Masury & Silsbee", daguerreotypists, on Washington ...

, C.S. Middlebrook, and Gabriel Harrison. In the 1840s in the United States there were Plumbe franchises in: * Arkansas—Plumbe's Daguerrian Gallery * Galena, Illinois * Dubuque, Iowa * Kentucky: ** Harrodsburg Springs, Kentucky ** Louisville, Kentucky * New Orleans, Louisiana * Portland, Maine * Maryland: ** Baltimore, Maryland—Plumbe Daguerrian Gallery, North St.; Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery, Baltimore St.Morning News (New London, CT). July 8, 1846. ** Frederick, Maryland * Massachusetts: ** Boston, Mass. -- United States Photographic Institute (1841); Plumbe Daguerrian Gallery, Court St.; Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery, Hanover St.; Plumbe's Daguerrean Rooms, Court Street (1849–1850); Plumbe's Daguerrian Gallery, Washington Street (1850–1851). ** Salem, Massachusetts * St. Louis, Missouri * Exeter, New Hampshire * New York: ** Albany, New York—Plumbe Daguerrian GalleryThe Sun (Baltimore). Nov. 29, 1843. ** New York, New York—Plumbe Daguerrian Gallery, Broadway; Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery, Broadway ** Saratoga Springs, New York—Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery, Broadway * Cincinnati, Ohio * Pennsylvania: ** Harrisburg, Pennsylvania ** Philadelphia, PA—Plumbe Daguerrian Gallery, Chestnut St.;Newport Mercury. Jan. 1, 1844. Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery, Chestnut St. * Newport, Rhode Island—Plumbe Daguerrian Gallery, Thames St. * Virginia: ** Alexandria, Virginia ** Petersburg, Virginia * Washington, DC—Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery, Pennsylvania Ave., Main St., Walnut St. Abroad, he opened branches in: * Liverpool, England—Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery, Church St. * St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada * Paris, France—Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery, Vieille Rue du Temple By 1847-1848 Plumbe sold his part of the galleries he'd established. "He sold his New York gallery to William H. Butler, his head man there, in 1847, and the other galleries soon changed ownership, though the name "Plumbe's Daguerrean Gallery" was retained as late as 1852 in Boston (John P. Nichols, proprietor), and 1850 in Washington (Blanchard P. Paige, proprietor)."

Exhibitions

Plumbe entered his photographic work in several exhibitions, including: * Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, Quincy Hall, Boston, 1844. Plumbe exhibited "35 daguerreotypes, in frames. Peculiarly pleasing, and natural in expression. Silver medal." * Fair of the American Institute, NY (1845)

Publishing

In 1846 he founded the National Publishing Company which produced the weekly ''Popular Magazine'' (Augustine J.H. Duganne, editor) and other works.

California and Iowa, 1849-1857

Plumbe lived in California from 1849 to 1854. In 1854 returned to Dubuque, Iowa. He may have worked for photographer

Mathew Brady Mathew B. Brady ( – January 15, 1896) was one of the earliest photographers in American history. Best known for his scenes of the Civil War, he studied under inventor Samuel Morse, who pioneered the daguerreotype technique in America. Brad ...

, c. 1855-1857. He died in Iowa in 1857, at age 48.

Legacy

Examples of Plumbe's work are in the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress) ...

Gallery

;Works by John Plumbe: Image:Man ca1842 byJohnPlumbe Getty.jpg, Man reading, c. 1842 Image:DanielDickinson ca1840s byJohnPlumbe LOC.png, Daniel Dickinson, 1840s Image:GeorgeBancroft ca1844 byJohnPlumbe Smithsonian.jpg,

George Bancroft George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and internati ...

, c. 1844 Image:Capitol1846.jpg,

U.S. Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill at ...

, by Plumbe, 1846 Image:White House 1846.jpg,

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

, by Plumbe, 1846 Image:JamesBankhead ca1846 byJohnPlumbe DaguerreianSociety.png, Col. James Bankhead, 2nd U. S. Artillery. c. 1846. by J. Plumbe Image:1847 Plumbeian KrainikGallery.png, ''The Plumbeian,'' 1847 Image:Woman children byJohnPlumbe DaguerreianSociety.png, Woman and children, 19th century Image:Irving-Washington-LOC.jpg,

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

. Copy daguerreotype by Mathew Brady, reverse of original by John Plumbe.

References

External links

* WorldCat
Plumbe, John 1809-1857

Plumbe daguerreotype camera, c. 1845.
Flickr
Col. W.W. Seaton, Mayor of Washington : plumbeotype from life
Flickr
Boy with Toy Horn by Plumbe * {{DEFAULTSORT:Plumbe, John American portrait photographers 1809 births 1857 deaths 19th-century American photographers