From Margaret:
One particular pleasure in processing late-nineteenth and early twentieth century family papers is studying the photographs of the subjects. Morris family members, like their peers, sat for professional portraits, exchanged them with one another, and kept them for future generations. We now have the privilege of seeing them throughout their lives.
Elliston Perot Morris (1831-1914), who lived in the Deshler-Morris House with his wife Martha Canby (1836-1919), posed for a studio portrait in 1876. The result showing a confident, relaxed man in his prime:
Elliston Perot Morris, 1876
A professional photographer probably took the wedding picture of his son Marriott with his bride, Jane Rhoads, at the House in 1897 although this image has a somewhat informal air:
Marriott Morris and Jane Rhoads Morris, 1897
Elizabeth, Marriott’s sister, was so taken with her exotic appearance in a peasant costume that she posed for a commercial photographer:
Elizabeth Morris, 1909
Rapid advances in negative and print production made possible snapshots taken by family members themselves. Marriott Canby Morris (1863-1948) is responsible for the majority of the photographic materials in the Independence National Historical Park collection, but his mother, sister, and son Elliston Perot (1899-1980), were also avid amateur photographers. Marriott commemorated his mother Martha’s love of photographing her grandchildren in this vivid blue cyanotype:
Martha Canby Morris, photographing her grandchildren
And in this gelatin silver print:
Martha Canby Morris
Note Martha intently looking at the viewfinder at the top of her camera. Elliston “Junior,” Marriott’s son, photographed his parents, siblings, grandmother, and aunt in 1916 outside the Deshler-Morris House. L to R standing: Marriott Jr., Jane (Rhoads), Elizabeth, Marriott Sr.; seated Martha Canby and young Janet (b. 1907).
The Morris Family, 1916
Marriott (or possibly Elliston) gave a gift to future preservationists when he photographed the back of the House in January 1926:
The Deshler-Morris House, 1926
From Dana:
We certainly are lucky to have these photographs to offer us a glimpse into the lives of the Morris family. As you noted, this would not have been possible without important advances in photographic technology.
According to Dr. Robert Leggat, (www.rleggat.com/photohistory) the art of photography reached an important turning point in 1878, with the invention of the dry-plate process. Like the digital camera in recent years, the dry-plate process revolutionized photography. This new process greatly increased the quality of photographs, eliminated the need for portable darkrooms, and allowed for faster shutter speeds—photographs could now be taken in only a few seconds. Previously, people who were photographed had to sit still and hold their facial expressions for long periods of time, resulting in the distant (and sometimes eerie) facial expressions common in Civil War-era photos. Now, more spontaneous and realistic photographs could be captured. Within just a few years, amateur and professional photographers were springing up around the world.
The Morris family would have had no problem contracting with a professional photographer in Philadelphia around the turn of the century. Photographers frequently advertised their services and even offered discount deals. For example, in March of 1891, a photographer ran the following ad in The Philadelphia Inquirer:
“Photographs! Photographs!
E.S. Dunshee, photographer, 1330 Chestnut Street, opposite U.S. Mint (forty-nine years’ experience) will make his best cabinet photographs for $2 and $3 per dozen, the same style as heretofore $3 and $4—$1 saved on either style. Come see our work and judge accordingly. We guarantee finer work cannot be produced.”
Newspaper searches also show that amateur photography, like that practiced by Marriott C. Morris and his family, was also on the rise. For example, an advertisement placed by Wanamaker’s, a large Philadelphia department store, on Friday, August 29, 1891, noted that:
“There is now so little trouble in making photographs that you can come up with as little as $10 (or as much as $50) and go away a photographer, with a complete outfit. Kodaks, $25 to $50; Hawkeyes, Premiers, and Waterburys for less.”
Family photographs were no longer a luxury available only to the very wealthy. What I love about these images is how they humanize the Morris family. Sometimes figures from so long ago can seem to be a world apart, separated from us somehow. When we view these pictures, we are reminded that despite the differences in clothing, culture, and customs, the Morrises were simply a family—no more and no less.
