Byron H. Gurnsey

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Byron H. Gurnsey (born October 23, 1833 in Chautauqua , New York (according to another source in Silver Creek, New York State, on the shores of Lake Erie), † November 19, 1880 in Colorado Springs ) was an American Photographer. He is known for his photographs of Native Americans as well as natural sights and landscapes, including in the Rocky Mountains .

Gurnsey married on December 9, 1858 in Michigan Delilah Ida Simpson, born in 1836 in Pennsylvania , died on November 14, 1920. The couple apparently had six children: Carrie, b. 1860, Schuyler, b. 1864, Susie, b. 1866, Marie, b. 1869 and two other children; their sixth child was born in Colorado in the early 1870s.

In the time of the American Civil War (from 1861 to 1865) Gurnsey was a soldier from October 12, 1861 to June 22, 1866 and apparently took part in his "Northwest Indian Expedition" of 1865 as a private under Major General Alfred Sully . Many of his recordings of Native Americans were created in the process.

Between about 1866 and 1871 Gurnsey ran a photo studio in Sioux City , Iowa, initially on 3rd Street, apparently at least temporarily together with a business partner named William H. Illingworth. In 1871 he had his own studio on Pearl Street, Sioux City, at number 400, between 4th and 5th Street.

In the 1870s Gurnsey created and published his photo series "Scenes on the line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway" (German for example: "Scenes along the railway line of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway Company") with stereoscopic images of sights in the west of the UNITED STATES; probably on behalf of the "Denver & Rio Grande Railway".

In 1872, Gurnsey was working in his Pueblo gallery above the St. James ”and in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Pikes Peak Avenue. His establishment in Pueblo existed until 1875; that year he had a business partner named Eugene Brandt.

Gurnsey died at the age of only 47 and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs , Block 34, Lot 26.

His widow Delilah Ida Simpson sold a large part of Gurnsey's stereoscopic photographs to the Kilburn brothers in Littleton, New Hampshire, who at the time sold what was probably the largest range of stereoscopic recordings. Other photographs by Gurnsey went to the photographer Franklin A. Nims from Colorado Springs, who apparently continued to run Gurnsey's photo studio on behalf of his widow for a while after Gurnsey's death.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Peter E. Palmquist, Thomas R. Kailbourn, "Pioneer Photographers from the Mississippi to the Continental Divide: A Biographical Dictionary, 1839-1865", Stanford University Press, 2005, pp. 293/294 ( restricted preview in the Google Book Search)
  2. ↑ Tim Blevins, Dennis Daily, Sydne Dean, Chris Nicholl, Katie Rudolph, "Film & Photography on the Front Range", Pikes Peak Library District, 2012, 433 pages, p. 83 ( limited preview in Google Book Search)
  3. ↑ a b Ephriam, Byron H. Gurnsey (1833-1880), in: www.American-Tribes.com
  4. ^ Find a Grave, Memorial ID 26448099

swell

  • Peter E. Palmquist, Thomas R. Kailbourn: Pioneer Photographers from the Mississippi to the Continental Divide: A Biographical Dictionary, 1839-1865. Stanford University Press, 2005, pp. 293/294 ( limited preview in Google Book Search)
  • Tim Blevins, Dennis Daily, Sydne Dean, Chris Nicholl, Katie Rudolph: Film & Photography on the Front Range . Pikes Peak Library District, 2012, 433 pages, pp. 83/84, ( limited preview in Google book search)

Web links

Commons : Stereo cards photographed by Byron H. Gurnsey  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Gurnsey, Byron H.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American photographer
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1833
PLACE OF BIRTH Chautauqua , New York
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1880
Place of death Colorado Springs