William H. Pilliner family photograph albums photCL 202
Suzanne Oatey
The Huntington Library
March 2021
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library Photo Archives
Title: William H. Pilliner family photograph albums
Creator:
Pilliner, William H., 1826-1902
Identifier/Call Number: photCL 202
Physical Description:
2.34 Linear Feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1870s-1902
Abstract: Two photograph albums containing
late-19th century portraits by William H. Pilliner, an early photographer in the Western
United States.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
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necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. William H. Pilliner family photograph albums, The Huntington
Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Nada S. Roherbeck, granddaughter of William H. Pilliner, 1973.
William H. Pilliner (1826-1902) was born in the Dutch East Indies. He went to San Francisco
as a youth, eventually learned photography and in 1858 had his first gallery in Red Bluff,
California. In 1863, he married Eliza Jane McGuire, born about 1843, who came to California
from Missouri in 1850. For the next several decades they and their children lived
intermittently in California, Nevada, Montana, and Idaho, where Pilliner operated various
photography studios. His son Frederick John Pilliner also became a photographer, and father
and son operated a gallery together for a brief time in Silver City, Idaho in 1891.
Two photograph albums of Pilliner family and other portraits, chiefly taken by William H.
Pilliner, an early photographer in the American West. Subjects include Pilliner, his wife
Eliza Jane (McGuire) Pilliner, members of the Pilliner and McGuire families, and associates.
One album contains cartes-de-visite and tintypes, the other is larger, containing mostly
cabinet card photographs. The images date from approximately 1870s to 1902, and some are
inscribed. The collection also includes a typescript by Cornelia Elizabeth McGuire (Eliza
Jane's sister) of the McGuire family geneology from 1700 to the mid-1900s, and a typescript
of W. H. Pilliner's biography. One photograph depicts G. W. Jenkins and I. N. McGuire, the
proprietors of the
Santa Maria Times, superimposed over a photograph of the
newspaper. Some imprints on the images say "W. H. Pilliner, Pioneer Artist" and studio
locations include Reno and Idaho Falls. There are also a few photographs by Piggott &
Shaw of Santa Rosa, California.
Processed by Huntington Library staff, circa late-20th century. In 2020, Suzanne Oatey
created a finding aid derived from a collection file.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Bindings are broken and covers are detached.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Children -- Portraits
Women -- Portraits
Cartes-de-visite (card photographs)
Tintypes (prints)
Photographs
Photograph albums
Family papers
Portraits
Pilliner, William H, 1826-1902
McGuire, Eliza Jane, 1843?-1916
Box 1
Carte-de-visite album
Box 2
Cabinet card album