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W. C. Pitner and His Gallery....OLDEST PHOTOGRAPHER IN ILLINOIS..#*PERHAPS the oldest photographer in Illinois is W C Pitner, 841 West Wood stieet In a tavr more months he •will have completed a hlt;ilf renturv a6! a phetogr lpher a rec-o d ho Is anxious to reachONCE KILIJNG When he started in this business in3 r, there wa* an impression that tenwas as 1 mff a'* a nun could last as a photographer Tin might stick to the business th-it long then pet out ofit and Hi fi a few run re vest's at some lt;ther kmd nf work tut if he undertook to xtay longer than the ten years in photographv h** vs as sure to fill an € tl graveThe photograph men all of thrm belli v*d that In lvor. In t iCt they did j.nt drop that notion until much later The trouble w ip th*re wph poisons inthe ik u^ed Tiv j hotofcaaphersp ii got in deadlv work after toiljoir* ^ m?»o had to be rueful in thabusiness not to get jolson^d in a shorter time: in VET AROUND SOME , w c Pitner began the photograph buxines1* in Jacksonville in this state In.From th°re h* n *nt to Hanrilb tl Mo then to hnbvMlle Mo then toEdina Mo then back to Illinois, go ing to RushviHe While in the latter town the civil war brke out and Mr Pitner went to that staving two years and nine months to ihe close of the war After th' war he came to Decatur and hts hied herr ever since He was born in Tennessee in 1*28 and moved to Morgan countv in thi3 stata svhen he was * vears old He came toDecatur Jan 1 3RS6When he came to Decatur he went Into the business with E A Barnwell, Jn a gallery over Race a clothing store cn North Water street He bought out Barnwell in 1867 and then began to move his gallery First he went to the east aide of Central park, over Sam McRobert's grocery store He moved his gallery to West Wood street about four years agoA BUSINESS MASCOT A cut of the gallery used by Mr Pit-ner I* he*e shown There is a building that should go on the pension list of the Chamber of Commerce, It has played a big part in building up the town. Mr Pitner used to say that wherever he set up his gallery a business block was sure to follow.The building was bought about twenty-five years ago from Mr Ruthrauff,who had R on a ftbcmt thres m5le9northeast of town Mr Pitner paid inf) for it and put It on wheels FirstSUESW C. MTNER AND HIS GALLERY ERECTED AT 841 W. WOOD STthe subjects and he wishes that some developing picturesof the Grand Army men would go out to the gallery and help him name them It Is suggested that tha.1 frame of twenty pictures might be a good thing to hang In Grand Army liall especially as It shows the men a short time after the warLOST LINCOLN NEGATIVEIn Mr Pitner a collection there wa* once a negative of Abraham Lincoln taken by Mr Barnwell This was pri2ed more than anything else In the gallery, but It got away and is lost Tht negative was made before Lincoln was president It vraa lent to another photographer in Decatur and he never could tell what became of it it was a rather easy way to lose a valuable pleeft of property.AT BOTTOM OF THE ART The earliest product of the photographic art was the daguerreotype, the first one being made in 1BS5. That style of picture was all there was when Mr Pitner began to Jearn tha businessHo made daguerreotypes under the direction of T. L Rivera at Jackson. -and those whi were not particulai In the use of words came to speak of the^e as spirits’ It was but a short step from tbit word to thoughts of the uncanny He recalls a very old Hdv who was 1 nought in to have a picture taken Her friends were with her but It was noted bv Mr Pltnei tint she felt uncomfortable and was fidgei^ After a time she was got to qit and at the end lt;f a miniitt «? exposure she was told it w 'i43 ill mei She exclaimed ■ttell 1 did n:t ^ee the smoke Some nne had told hoi about shooting her for her picture and the good old worn lt;111 ww in dl^tiess all the time She was i Id to I lt;k pleasant of course(Continued on Page Twelve)LotsHoCHENiPufstchI he \ra and moi IjIransfei s Same wee Mortgage-Same wee Faim trui Same woe ( I tv ti m Same v, ftTrnnsfc sSiiue tim-Moitgtge Sci,mc tim City tran-Same tim b urn tra Same tlin*********11 an^fer^ Ti ansfeic-Mortgage Prev lous \ JII tgc ti Avlt;lage \v ei age 1 Average HI Of tho* it propland Nr pi npertv$ 4m vr|4 por ?cinrl $1*1 S *hAL1 A g^'Oi list wee' wrek V agents w pot ts thtsnowing able to ckMVWlt;A ******HIRE IS A BABY THjSOMEBOD f
Newspaper Details
Decatur Daily Review
Decatur, Illinois, US
Sun, Aug 28, 1904
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Patty M.
IL, USA 22 Dec 2019
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Decatur Daily Review
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