Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

Views of Early St. Louis contains 27 photographs of scenes from St. Louis, Missouri, between 1840 and 1895 that were assembled by German American photographer Emil Boehl during the late-1890s, including several photographic reproductions of various works by other artists such as Daguerrean photographer Thomas M. Easterly.

Views of Early St. Louis contains 27 photographs of scenes from St. Louis, Missouri, between 1840 and 1895 that were assembled by German American photographer Emil Boehl during the late-1890s, including several photographic reproductions of various works by other artists such as Daguerrean photographer Thomas M. Easterly.

The album (35 x 45 cm) has red leather covers with “Views of Early St. Louis” stamped in gold on the front. Of the 27 photographs included in this album, 15 are pasted-in while 12 were printed directly onto the album pages. Images vary in size, with some taking up nearly an entire album page.

The following list represents the album’s contents in order of appearance and includes image titles (with supplied titles appearing in brackets), additional captions, various forms of Emil Boehl’s photographer credits, image descriptions, and original sources for images known to have been photographically reproduced by Boehl:

• Street scene looking south down 4th Street from Washington Avenue in 1840. People can be seen on horseback and mingling outside of residences. Several buildings are depicted, including steepled churches and the Old Courthouse. Photographic reproduction of a watercolor by commercial artist Albert Byron Greene in 1889. Writing present in the bottom right-hand corner of the original watercolor reads: “Made for Mrs. McKee Mar. 89. A. B. Greene.”

• View of Chouteau Pond in 1850. “Back of Chouteau Mansion on Clark Ave bet. 11th & 12 sts” inscribed on back of page. Photographic reproduction of original daguerreotype by Thomas M. Easterly, ca. 1850.

• View of numerous steamboats docked at St. Louis Levee. Photographic reproduction of original daguerreotype by Thomas M. Easterly, ca. 1852/53.

• View of the Old Spanish Fort (later Roy’s Mill, Riverfront). The steamer Wyoming can be seen near the riverbank. Photographic reproduction of original daguerreotype by Thomas M. Easterly, ca. 1850.

• View of the house of Pierre Chouteau on Main Street beside the Durkee & Bullock Banking House (possibly ca. 1865)

• View of the Planter’s House Hotel on 4th Street in 1865.

• View of Christ Church, demolished in 1860. Photographic reproduction of original lithograph by J. C. Wild published in 1840.

• View of Christ Church, demolished in 1860. Photographic reproduction of original lithograph by J. C. Wild published in 1840.

• View of the Old Cathedral (also known as the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France) located on Walnut Street between 2nd and 3rd Streets. “2nd & Walnut” inscribed on back of page.

• View of the Pierre Chouteau Mansion on Clark Avenue between 11th and 12 Streets. “Bet 11th & 12th on Clark Ave” inscribed on back of page.

• View of the first public high school in St. Louis located at the corner of 15th and Olive Streets. Large crowd of people gathered in foreground. “15th & Olive” inscribed on back of page.

• View of the old jailhouse located at the corner of 6th and Chestnut Streets. Illustrated clouds added through negative retouching. “Later Lynch’s Slave yard” inscribed on back of page.

• View of the house of James H. Lucas located at the southwest corner of 9th and Olive Streets. Image appears to be a photographic reproduction of another photograph. Partially cutoff writing present in the bottom left-hand corner of the original photograph reads: “…[B? or S?] [?] Lucas 1898.”

• Street scene looking north up 4th Street from Olive Street showing numerous pedestrians, buildings, and a trolley car.

• View of a residence on Olive Street between 6th and 7th Streets. Image appears to be a photographic reproduction of another photograph.

• Street scene looking south down Broadway from Olive Street showing numerous buildings and wagons.

• View of Centre Market building located at 7th and Poplar Streets.

• Lacking title. Possibly view of Fair Grounds Race Track, ca. 1876.

• View of St. Louis Medical College building (also known as Pope’s College) at 7th and Clark Avenue in 1876. Image appears to be a photographic reproduction of another photograph.

• View of the St. Louis Mercantile Library building. Image appears to be a photographic reproduction of another photograph.

• Bird’s-eye view of downtown St. Louis. Numerous buildings visible, including the old St. Louis Post Office (Custom House). One building near the foreground is marked with an “x” while an inscription on the roof of the building reads: “Broadway”; an additional inscription in the upper left-hand corner reads “x EHL. Born 1839.”

• View of the Grand Republic steamer.

• Street scene looking south down 12th Street from Washington Avenue showing horse-drawn carriages, numerous buildings, and a large crowd in the background gathered around the Statue of Liberty Replica at 12th and Pine Streets.

• View of Pope’s Theater with a group of people standing outside. “9th & Olive” inscribed on back of page.

• “Wash. Ave bet.” inscribed and crossed out on back of page; “68?” inscribed on back of page

• View of the St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall seen from the corner of Olive and 14th Streets

• View of The Elephant Rocks in the Saint Francois Mountains (now Elephant Rocks State Park). Graffiti can be seen etched into the rocks, while an unidentified man (possibly Emil Boehl) stands at center.

The Edwin F. Belden friendship album contains autographs (sometimes accompanied by poems or other inscriptions), newspaper clippings, and biographical notes by and related to New York politicians, Civil War soldiers, and other individuals. Photographs are also included.

The Edwin F. Belden friendship album (25cm x 18cm, 141 pages) contains autographs (sometimes accompanied by poems or other inscriptions), newspaper clippings, and biographical notes by and related to New York politicians, Civil War soldiers, and other individuals. Included are 112 salted paper and 3 albumen photographic portraits. The album has a hard cover with Belden's name and a decorative border stamped in gold on the front. Plates on the inside of the front and back covers feature a patriotic eagle and banner with the slogan "The Federal Union it must be preserved" and of a building used as "Republican Head Quarters" in 1860.

The first 37 pages contain signatures from members of the New York State Assembly, where Belden was a messenger in the early 1850s. Some politicians accompanied their signatures with brief personal message for Belden, often including well wishes and advice. Many signers recorded the name of the district they represented, and most dated their contributions April 16, and 17, 1851. This section of the album is followed by other autographs that Belden solicited in the mid-1850s, as well as an endorsement from his employers Lemuel Jenkins and C. Ten Broeck (November 22, 1852, p. 41).

The remaining contents, dated 1860-1866, are comprised of small photographic portraits, brief biographical notes, inscriptions, autographs, and newspaper clippings related to a variety of individuals, including many men who served in the Civil War. One page of individual full-length portraits represents members of the Albany Zouave Cadets with military equipment and musical instruments. Belden labeled most of the photographs and often included notes about the subjects' dates of death. Several entries include copied correspondence, inscriptions and autographs, and obituaries or other news articles. Contributors included former New York Governors Washington Hunt and John A. King; General William Tecumseh Sherman; and Samuel Streeter, a former delegate representing Albany at The Colored Men's Convention of 1840 (also pictured, October 30, 1860, p. 63). A letter from William F. Russell, a former member of the state legislature, is laid into the volume after the autographs (April 19, 1886).

Union College graduate Samuel A. Fitch owned this photograph album, which contains portraits of faculty members and fellow students in the Class of 1860, as well as views of campus buildings and grounds.

This class book (34cm x 27cm) belonged to Samuel A. Fitch, who earned a bachelor's degree from Union College in 1860. The volume's cover, bound in a coarse cloth, has a plate with the title "Sam. A. Fitch. 60. Union College" stamped in gold. Each of the 42 pages has an oval coated salted paper print portrait of a faculty member (11 items) or student (31 items), including Union College President Eliphalet Nott, Professor Laurens Perseus Hickok, and student (and future United States ambassador to the Netherlands) Samuel Richard Thayer. With the sole exception of Nott, each man pictured provided an autograph signature; some also wrote brief messages. Professors' photographs often include subjects taught, degree, and the university or school from which he graduated. Students' photographs often include a note about a student's hometown and his career. The remaining ten coated salted paper print photographs (most around 14.5cm x 20cm), comprised of a portrait of Nott and nine views of campus buildings and grounds, are mounted onto large pages (27cm x 35cm), housed separately from the album.

These two albums contain photographs of scenery and railroads in Pennsylvania in the 1860s. Workers and buildings are visible in some of the pictures.

These two photograph albums (22cm x 17cm), entitled "Scenery of the Allegheny Mountains" and "Pennsylvania Railroad", are bound in green covers with "Alleghany Mountains Photographic Journal" [sic] stamped in gold on the spines. Volume 1 contains 39 items and Volume 2 contains 47 items, each 12cm x 9cm and mounted directly onto a cardstock page. Volume 1 has a black plate on the front cover with the title "Alleghany Mountains" [sic] and a decorative gold border. A plate pasted into the second volume indicates that photographer was John Moran of 806 Coates Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Many of the photographs show scenic views, railroad right-of-way, railroad tracks, telegraph poles, canals, mills, and small settlements. Several photographs of the sky capture clouds. Several images appear to be of the "Horseshoe Curve" on the Pennsylvania Railroad. A group of pictures of a foundry complex show laborers working with mule-driven railroad carts loading rails onto train cars, and one picture shows a group of boys near a track and a town. Other images of note include a photo of a locomotive at a tunnel portal; an elephant on a rural road, a waterfall; a large gravesite or memorial; and a group of monks outside of an unidentified building, possibly a school.

The Schoff family carte-de-visite album contains carte-de-visite and tintype portraits of men, women, and children taken in cities such as Rochester, New York, and Ypsilanti, Michigan, in the mid- to late 19th century.

The Schoff family carte-de-visite album (15.5cm x 13cm) contains studio portraits of unidentified men, women, and children, comprised of 19 tintypes and 11 cartes-de-visite. Some of the cartes-de-visite originated in Rochester, New York, and Ypsilanti, Michigan, and one tintype portrait of a woman has a caption etched into the back: "I like this picture best of all." A few smaller tintypes have raised paper borders. The album's brown leather cover has a raised geometric design on the front and back, and the title "Album" is printed in gold on the spine; the volume has two metal clasps, one of which retains its original ornamentation.

The Covington family album contains formal studio portraits of members of the Covington family and other individuals taken in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland around the 1860s. The volume also includes two colored lithographs.

The Covington family carte-de-visite album (13cm x 16cm) contains 25 carte-de-visite and 7 tintype photographs of members of the Covington family and other individuals; an empty paper frame is laid into the volume. The formal studio portraits, which show men, women, and children, were taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; Wilmington, Delaware; and other locations around the 1860s. One man is shown with a cigar or similar object in his mouth. Two colored lithographs depict a young girl waking up on "Christmas Morning" and a yellow "Persian Rose." The album's brown leather cover has tooled geometric designs and two metal clasps.

The Emory L. Smith Normal Music Institute autograph album contains autographs and inscriptions from the institute's instructors and students, who signed their names, wrote brief inscriptions, and quoted music.

The Emory L. Smith Normal Music Institute autograph album contains 21 autographs and 2 autographed visiting cards that Smith collected in North Reading, Massachusetts, from August 14, 1861-August 20, 1861. Some of the signers, who included instructors and male and female students, wrote brief personal messages and/or copied bars of music. Small photographic portraits are pasted directly into the volume beside five entries. The red leather cover has a decorative design around the border; the title "Autographs" is part of a gilt design on the front cover that includes a wreath, an autograph book, and a quill.

"Our Generals" is a lithograph album (17 x 13.25 cm) consisting of 24 gray-toned lithograph carte de visite sized portraits of Union Civil War generals sold commercially by Leavitt & Allen of New York in 1862.

"Our Generals" is a lithograph album (17 x 13.25 cm) consisting of 24 gray-toned lithograph portraits of Union Civil War generals sold commercially by Leavitt & Allen of New York in 1862. The initials "A.W." appear in pencil on the inside front cover. There is a pre-printed index of names.

On each page, there is one lithographed carte de visite mounted into pre-cut slots surrounded by red and white decoration. The images themselves are either close ups or full body portraits. The name of the subject is handwritten in pencil under each image.

The album's covers are brown leather embossed with a floral pattern, with two large decorative brass clasps. The two brass closure tabs are stamped with "Our Generals."

The Schuylkill Arsenal photograph album is a 26.5 x 35 cm photograph album with a black leather cover. The album contains 12 18 x 23 cm albumen prints, all of which depict various buildings and streets at Schuylkill Arsenal. Also present in many of the photos are various unidentified individuals, presumably most are Arsenal workers but also women and children.

The Schuylkill Arsenal photograph album is a 26.5 x 35 cm photograph album with a black leather cover. The album contains 12 unattributed 18 x 23 cm albumen prints, all of which depict various buildings and streets at Schuylkill Arsenal. Also present in many of the photos are various unidentified individuals, presumably most are Arsenal workers but there are also women and children. There may have been a 13th photograph within the album at one point, no longer extant; the back of each photograph is numbered sequentially in pencil, skipping number 8.

Nothing within the actual album gives a precise date for the photographs, but three of the photographs (3, 6, and 8) were in possession of a Richard P. Barr (the 1920 Census shows a 58 year old Richard P. Barr living in Philadelphia working as a "foreman" at the "arsenal") and were used in Frank H. Taylor's 1913 publicationPhiladelphia in the Civil War , which states that the photographs date from 1862. According to Taylor's publication, the eighth photograph in the album depicts "Old Bill" the white warhorse used by General George G. Meade. This has not been confirmed, and is certainly not Meade's famous horse Old Baldy.

The last page of the album has four items related to the Trout family of Philadelphia. The demise of Clinton J. Trout (died on December 14, 1909), his wife Mary E. Trout (died on March 1, 1907), and their son Warner F. W. Trout (died on September 21, 1909) is documented. The connection between the Trout family and the Schuylkill Arsenal is unknown.

The Frederick L. Webb carte-de-visite album contains portraits of 12 non-commissioned officers who served in the 10th New York Cavalry Regiment during the Civil War.

The Frederick L. Webb carte-de-visite album (13.5cm x 10cm), entitled "Non-Commissioned Staff, 10th N. Y. Cavalry," contains formal studio portraits of 12 non-commissioned officers who served in the 10th New York Cavalry Regiment during the Civil War. Each man posed in uniform with a sword and two also posed with bugles. The officers are identified as master sergeants, quartermaster sergeants, commissary sergeants, saddler sergeants, chief buglers, a veterinary sergeant, and a hospital steward. The album's title is printed on a small piece of paper pasted into the book before the portraits; the text is framed by a decorative border. The volume's red leather cover has a tooled geometric design, and its small clasp is shaped like a lyre.