Photograph album of residents of Red Bluff, California, approximately 1880s

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Summary

Abstract:
A miniature photograph album of 48 tintype portraits, approximately 1880s, of early residents of Red Bluff, Tehama County, California. Many of the sitters are identified in handwriting on the mount.
Extent:
1 Volume (1 box)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Photograph album of residents of Red Bluff, California, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

A miniature photograph album containing 48 tintype portraits of men, women and children, dating from approximately 1880s. Names are written in pencil under many of the photographs, but there is no other identifying information. Several names are the same as residents listed in a 1886-1887 directory for Red Bluff, the county seat of Tehama County, California, a 19th-century mining area. The leather album was commercially made and has a title leaf printed with the maker's name: "Lovewell's Gem Album, Los Angeles, California."

Biographical / historical:

Research shows that several of the names in the album correspond to names in an 1886-1887 directory for Red Bluff, Tehama County, California. Names and occupations listed in the directory that match names in the album include: Tandy H. Gates (meat market), Chauncey Burgess (farmer, grocer), Frank Smith (bookkeeper), Homer Hicks (bartender), Seth Freeman (cashier, Herbert Kraft bank), Andy Ryan (carpenter), Nellie Lewis, and Judson Warren Loomis, son of A. J. Loomis, a prominent pioneer of Red Bluff. The surnames of several women and children sitters are also listed in the directory: Mayhew, Burgess, Finch, and Bradley. Source: McKenney's Pacific Coast Directory for... (Red Bluff section), Volume 1886-87, San Francisco: L.M. McKenney & Co.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Dawson's Bookshop, May 1973.
Processing information:

Processed by Huntington Library staff, circa late-20th century. In 2020, Suzanne Oatey created a finding aid derived from a collection file.

Physical facet:
48 gem photographs (tintypes) in 1 album
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Photograph album of residents of Red Bluff, California, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2129
reference@huntington.org
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