File - - Osborne J. Pierce photos [Album]

"Old Homestead" of Pierce Family. Albion Maine. Barn built 1842. House built 1843. 1859 - [G----] Residence of D.F. Guptill, Winslow Me. [Monument to General Ulysses S. Grant in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois] [Monument to General Ulysses S. Grant in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois] [Statue of Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois] [Statue of Robert Cavalier de la Salle in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois] [View of buildings down street] [View of classical-style buildings] [View of edge of lagoon at Lincoln Park, Chicago Illinois] [View of edge of lagoon at Lincoln Park, Chicago Illinois] [View of field and trees near Bethel Maine] [View of field in Bethel, Maine] [View of homes by ocean, possibly in Nantasket Beach, Hull, Massachusetts] [View of house with four boys in foreground] [View of lagoon and small building at Lincoln Park, Chicago Illinois] [View of lagoon at Lincoln Park, Chicago Illinois] [View of lagoon at Lincoln Park, Chicago Illinois] [View of lagoon at Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois with monument to General Ulysses S. Grant in b... [View of large stone building] [View of monument to General Ulysses S. Grant in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois] [View of mountains with large field in foreground] [View of pond with houses in the background] [View of river and bridge] [View of river under bridge] [View of small building with buggy in front] [View of steamboats on the ocean, possibly off the coast of Kennebunkport, Maine.] [White Mountains from Gorham N[ew] H[ampshire - with field and telegraph pole in foreground] American Falls, Niagara, from Canada American Falls. From Goat Island Atlantic House, Nantasket Mass[achusetts] Bethel Maine [large field with a river] Franklin Park. S. Roxbury Mass[achussetts - view of grass and trees and a portion of a large buil... From Tracy Water Tower Harrison Maine [- view of trees and grass with water in the distance] Kennebunkport M[ain]e [- several houses in a large field] Kennebunkport M[ain]e [- view of houses from across a large field] Mount Abraham, Bryants Pond M[ain]e from Bethel Mountains in Gilead M[ain]e from Gorham N[ew] H[ampshire] Mrs. Sloan and her garden and [?] side of 44 Hamilton Avenue Nantasket Beach Nantasket Beach, Mass[achusetts] Near W. Bethel Maine [- view of a large field with mountains in the background] Niagara, below the Falls from Canada [showing the Niagara River and buildings above the falls]. Pierce Homestead Albion Maine. View from the North Residence of Miss Salome Twitchell Sea Coast, Kennebunkport, M[ain]e The Old Ledge in the East Field of the Pierce Farm, Albion M[ain]e Tracy Ill[inois - view of portion of a house and its grounds] Trinity Church Boston White Mountains from Gorham N[ew] H[ampshire - with farm in forground]

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Osborne J. Pierce photos [Album]

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  • Photograph

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AM1477-2-S13--

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50 photographs : cyanotype and silver gelatin prints

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Biographical history

Osborne J. Pierce was born in Albion, Maine on March 8, 1839. He spent most of his life in Albion up until 1856, when he took some odd jobs in La Porte City, Iowa and Mankato and St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1858 he returned to Maine, where he taught school in Winslow and Albion. In 1860, Pierce left for Boston, Massachusetts, where he set up a sign painting business. After the outbreak of the American Civil War Pierce went to Albion to volunteer for service; he was appointed a recruiting officer in 1862. He was organized into the 24th Main Regiment, Company G on September 17th. In January 1863, he was appointed 6th Corporal of Company G, and in April he was promoted to Sergeant Major of the regiment. On December 30, 1863, after a brief break in service, Pierce entered U.S. Service as a 1st Sergeant, and he held this position until the close of the war. At the end of 1865, Pierce purchased a publishing business in Boston, moving it to Waterville in May 1866. On April 24, 1866, Pierce married Caroline Little Twitchell (b. February 24, 1847?, d. 1936) of Bethel, Maine. The couple had two children, Annie Louise (b. June 9, 1867, d. December 21, 1928) and Winifred Mabel (b. August 15, 1872, d. April 2, 1919). Annie Louise married Louis Denison (L.D.) Taylor on May 26, 1892. Together they had two sons, Theodore Pierce Taylor and Kenneth Osborne Taylor.

The Pierces lived in Waterville until May 1868, during which time Pierce added photographic portraiture and stereoscopic views of scenery to his business. In 1866, Pierce had taken courses in architecture in Worcester and taught drawing at the School of Mechanics. Upon moving to Worcester Massachusetts in June 1868, Pierce became engaged in architecture, first with the office of E. Boyden & Son in July 1868, then as a partner with A.P. Cutting Architects in May 1969, followed by a short partnership with E.L. Angell. In May 1872, Pierce left for Northampton, where he worked for Mr. W.F. Pratt, Architect, until March 31, 1873. Pierce then fell under the employ of Bradlee and Winslow Architects of Boston between April 1873 and April 1874. During this time he was appointed a Teacher of Drawing in Chelsea Free Evening Drawing School and the Drawing School for Public School Teachers. In September 1874, Pierce was hired by the City of Chicago to introduce the Walter Smith System of Drawing into the public school system. Upon completion of the contract in July 1875, he was hired as the Superintendent of Drawing for the City of Chicago Department of Public Instruction. After the completion of the contract in July 1976, Pierce taught art privately at Bryants Business College and the Chicago Academy of Design; he also designed furniture and decorative pieces and engaged in various commercial enterprises.

Between 1878-and 1880, Pierce worked as a draftsman and superintendent for several Chicago Architects. From 1879 to 1881, he worked for E.S. [Jamison] Architects and then for two or three other architects until June 1882 when he opened his own office at 155 La Salle Street, which he maintained until at least 1889. Types of buildings that Pierce designed include a school, warehouse, store, bank, houses, library room, office, and a livery stable. Pierce practiced in Chicago until 1894 and then lived in Oak Park, Illinois from 1895-1897. Moving back to Chicago in 1899, he worked for Frost & Granger as Superintendent of Construction and, in 1901, he became a Superintendent for Patton & Miller and then S.S. Beeman. Between January and October 1902, Pierce worked for Grace & [Lloyde] of Chicago and New York as the Inspector of Granite for the LaSalle Street Terminal Union Station this involved work in Hardwick and Northfield, Vermont. Osborne and Caroline Pierce moved to Redlands, California in November 1902. Pierce opened an architectural office there in January 1903. In October 1904, the family moved to Los Angeles so that Pierce could pursue a job as a draftsman. In 1906, Annie, Theodore and Kenneth Taylor joined the Pierces in Los Angeles. While living in Los Angeles, Pierce was a member of the South Hollywood Improvement Association. He died on January 11, 1912.

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Scope and content

File consists of an album of forty-eight cyanotype and two silver gelatin scenic photographs taken by Osborne J. Pierce in Albion, Harrison, Gilead, Bethel, Winslow, and Kennebunkport, Maine; Gorham, New Hampshire; Nantasket Beach, Roxbury, and Boston, Massachussetts; Niagara Falls; and Lincoln Park in Chicago, Illinois. Includes photographs of the Pierce family homestead in Albion, Maine.

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Paper on to which cyanotypes are adhered is very acidic and brittle. Pages have come detached from the album

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Cyanotype photographs are adhered to paper which is very brittle and acidic. Silver gelatin prints, CVA 1477-CVA 1477-559.49 and CVA 1477-559.50, were filed loosely in the album and have been stored separately from the album for preservation reasons

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  • Box: 198-B-04