On January 1, 1925, a group of well-dressed women in hats and long fur coats assembled at Kenmore to hand over the final $1,000 payment and gain full possession of the house and land. This meeting was the culmination of thirty-two months of persistent work and determination by the ladies of The Kenmore Association to save the historic property from destruction.
The incredible work in saving Kenmore was beginning for the ladies. Undoubtedly, a house as large and old as Kenmore would require a substantial amount of money for restoration and upkeep. Until the sale to the Kenmore Association, the house had been a residence for several different families, each leaving a unique imprint on the building. Unfortunately, these alterations needed to be reversed to restore Kenmore to its original state when Fielding and Betty Lewis first inhabited the house around 1775.
Kenmore exterior (west facade) before restoration, c. 1920sKenmore Dining Room during the Howard residency, c. 1890sKenmore Hall before restoration in 1929. Notice the plaster work on the ceiling. The ladies of the Association removed this because it was not original but the work of William Key Howard, Jr.
By 1930, the Kenmore Association had made significant progress in restoring Kenmore. Major projects included removing the modern attached kitchen, updating wiring and plumbing, and restoring windows, brickwork, and ornamental plasterwork, all completed for $19,372.57. (Mesick, 1992) This figure did not include the ongoing refurnishing of the house, highlighting the scale of the task.
Building report on Kenmore talking about restoration work, May 1930Letter from Mrs. Vivian (Emily) White Fleming, asking for donations to the Kenmore appeal, September 29, 1930
How was the Kenmore Association able to finance this costly restoration and refurnishing? These ladies knew how to raise money. In 1927, they established a restoration fund and began soliciting contributions.
We previously discussed the amazing partnership between Mrs. Smith secured with the Dromedary Cake Mix Company and their boxed gingerbread. The arrangement allowed Dromedary to produce gingerbread mixes based on Mary Washington’s recipe. In exchange, the Kenmore Association got all the gingerbread they could serve to visitors. The company also donated mixes to be sold by the Association and various chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) for 25 cents a box. The Association got half the money realized from these sales minus the shipping costs.
An 1940s-era advertisement for Dromedary gingerbread mix “made from the 200-year-old Recipe of George Washington’s Mother.”Mrs. Fleming and other having gingerbread, c. 1940s
To help the various DAR chapters across the U.S. sell gingerbread, the Kenmore Association developed a visual program using the Bauch & Lomb Balopticon and trays of glass slides. Mrs. Smith worked with Mrs. Louise du Pont Crowninshield to select various photographers to assist in the project, including the well-known E.B. Thompson of Washington, D.C. This was no inexpensive program to develop with balopticons running around $77 a piece and slides costing $1 to $3 per slide of which we have over three hundred.
Bausch & Lomb Balopticon AdBox of glass slides created by the Kenmore Association, c. 1938
This program featured black-and-white and colored glass slides documenting the restoration and refurnishing of Kenmore and its gardens. Its goal was twofold. First, it showed the groups the product of their previous fundraising efforts, and second, it gave them an understanding of the house, property, and its goals for the future. Groups from all over the country wrote to Mrs. Smith requesting that she send out the program, which consisted of the balopticon and a set of glass slides for their meetings. Sometimes, Mrs. Smith would even join the program herself, presenting and answering questions about upcoming projects.
These glass slide presentations were eventually updated into paper guidebooks, films, and postcards featuring up-to-date Kenmore images. The slides were packed away in the closet for the last eighty-plus years, and now offer us a great source of documentation for the early years of The Kenmore Association and the restoration of Kenmore.
One of my favorite historical objects in the collection are photographs. Not particularly for artistic reasons, but as a documentation of a moment, a time, a person, a world that no longer exists. During the Victorian era (1837-1901), there were extraordinary developments in the field of photography. In a span of forty years, photographs went from complicated metal plates, harsh chemicals, and long exposure times to inexpensive images on cardboard that could be taken, processed, and given to the sitter in minutes.
We have many pictures in our collection, and we can trace the development of photography through images of Lewis family descendants.
A Pleasant View of Burgundy
The widely accepted creator of photography as we know it was French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. He produced the first surviving photograph around 1826 showing the scene from his window in Burgundy. After Niepce’s death, his former associate, Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, continued improving Niepce’s photographic process, introducing the “daguerreotype” in 1839. (The University of Texas Austin, 2024) To create an early daguerreotype, a polished silver-plated copper sheet was treated with iodine vapor to make it light-sensitive. After exposure, the plate would be developed with mercury vapor and fixed with sodium chloride. This was a tedious and complex process that required the subject to remain entirely still for three to fifteen minutes. (Stewart, 2018) (The Library of Congress, 2024) (Department of Photographs, 2004) The process was amended and, by the 1850s, used large glass-plate negatives, allowing for a crisper picture and a much shorter exposure time. (Department of Photographs, 2004)
We have three daguerreotypes in the collection dating circa 1850s. They are all portraits housed in elaborate leather cases with gilt-metal frames. The larger photograph is called a sixth-plate daguerreotype portrait of John Taliaferro Lewis (1785-1862), who was the grandson of Charles Lewis, Fielding Lewis’s brother. John was a Methodist minister and lived at “Stepney” near Manassas. Through his wife, Francis Tasker Ball, he became the owner of “Portici,” also near Manassas. The two smaller ninth-plate daguerreotypes are both portraits of Ellen Lewis Nye (1834-1886), the granddaughter of Howell Lewis, the ninth son of Fielding and Betty. She married Anselm Tupper Nye, and they resided in Ohio, where they were both buried.
Daguerreotype of John Taliaferro Lewis, 1840-1862Specular light image of daguerreotype of John Taliaferro Lewis, c. 1840-1862Back of daguerreotype of John Taliaferro Lewis, c. 1840-1862 Normal light image of daguerreotype of Ellen Lewis Nye, c.1859Specular light image of daguerreotype of Ellen Lewis Nye in velvet lined case, c. 1859Leather case for daguerreotype of Ellen Lewis Nye, c.1859Daguerreotype of Ellen Lewis Nye, 1855-1860Specular light image of daguerreotype of Ellen Lewis Nye in velvet lined case, 1855-1860Leather case of daguerreotype of Ellen Lewis Nye, 1855-1860
Images for Loved Ones
The daguerreotype was soon replaced in popularity by the ambrotype and tintype, which were both cheaper and easier to develop. (Harding, 2013).
An ambrotype is comprised of an underexposed glass negative placed against a dark background. The dark backing material creates a positive image. They were sold in either cases or ornate frames to provide an attractive product and to protect the negative with a cover glass and brass mat. (Library of Congress, 2024)
We have three ambrotypes in the collection: a landscape and two portraits. The landscape dates to circa 1855 and shows a group of people gathered around Washington’s tomb at Mount Vernon. Two of the figures were Thomas Coatsworth (1821-1887) and his wife Electra Weller Coatsworth (1832-1869). It is housed in an embossed leather case.
Ambrotype of a group of individuals outside George Washington’s Tomb, c. 1855-1865Leather case housing ambrotype of a group of individuals outside George Washington’s Tomb, c.1855-1865
One portrait is of John Taliaferro Lewis and is almost identical to his daguerreotype. The other portrait is of Daingerfield Lewis (1785-1862). It dates from the same time and is held in a leather case. Daingerfield Lewis was the son of Captain George Lewis, the fourth son of Fielding and Betty, who served in the Continental Army under his uncle George Washington.
Ambrotype of John Taliaferro Lewis, 1854-1865Ambrotype of John Taliaferro Lewis without dark background, c. 1854-1865Back of ambrotype of John Taliaferro Lewis showing loss of dark background, c. 1854-1865Ambrotype of Daingerfield Lewis, c. 1855Ambrotype of Daingerfield Lewis in case, c. 1855Leather case housing ambrotype of Daingerfield Lewis
Tintypes became especially popular because the photographer could take a picture and develop it within just a few minutes. It was called the new “instant photo.” This “instant photo” could be found at fairs, carnivals, and on the boardwalk, not just professional studios. Due to the tintype price, weight, and unbreakable nature, they became extremely popular during the Civil War because soldiers were able to mail them back to loved ones. (Stewart, 2018)
The three tintypes in the collection are a group of siblings, two brothers, and one sister (there were eight total siblings). George Lewis (1832-1883), Fielding Lewis (1839 – 1863) and Betty Fitzhugh Lewis (1847-1920). Their father was Howell Lewis Jr. (1808-1883), the son of Howell Lewis and grandson of Fielding and Betty. Howell Lewis Jr. was one of the earliest settlers of Henry County, Missouri, and established Lewis Station (now called Lewis, Missouri). There is not much information on the siblings besides the basics. George Lewis, the eldest, was born in West Virginia, died in Nevada, and is buried at the Lewis Station Cemetery. Fielding Lewis was born in Missouri and died young during his service with the Confederate army in Texas. Betty Fitzhugh Lewis was born in Missouri as well; he married Milton D Finks, had at least three children, and is buried in Calhoun cemetery.
Tintype of George Lewis, c. 1865Tintype of Fielding Lewis, c. 1860Tintype of Betty Fitzhugh Lewis, c.1870
Paper, Cardboard, and Formality
By the later part of the nineteenth century, paper photos mounted on cardboard became more popular. Carte-de-visite became quite a fad after carte portraits of Queen Victoria with her husband and children were published. (Harding, 2013). Part of why they became popular is they were cheaper to produce because multiple images (eight) could be taken with the same photographic plate, cut into small portraits, and mounted to heavy cardboard. (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 1998)
Two of our carte-de-visites are portraits of two young ladies around 1860. One is Ellen Lewis Nye, who previously appeared in daguerreotype around the same time. The second is Mary Ellen Lewis Hogan (1834-1874), who was the daughter of Howell Lewis, Jr. and sister to George, Fielding, and Betty Lewis. She was born in West Virginia, married Robert Henderson Hogan, and is buried in Illinois.
Carte-de-visite of Ellen Lewis Nye, c.1859Back of carte-de-visite of Ellen Lewis NyeCarte-de-visite of Mary Ellen Lewis Hogan, c. 1865
The carte-de-visite was gradually superseded by the cabinet card, which remained popular until the introduction of the Kodak Box Brownie camera in 1900. (City Gallery, 2005) The cabinet card marked a transition from more formal portraiture to amusing, personal, and even candid images. They were taken in studios that were equipped with lights, props, and sometimes even hair and makeup. The average price was around $1.50 for a dozen cards, which is around $45 today. (Salvesen, 2021)
Our cabinet cards date from 1850 to 1897 and are portraits of three females who, like all the others, are descendants of the Lewis family. The oldest is of Francis Fielding Lewis Gwathmey (1808-1888), and it was taken around 1850, putting her in her early forties. Her father was Howell Lewis, son of Fielding and Betty and sister to Howell Lewis Jr. Francis married Rev. John “Parson” Blair and had twelve children, of which only three outlived her. She is buried in Richmond, Virginia.
Cabinet card of Frances Lewis Gwathmey. c.1850Back of cabinet card of Frances Lewis Gwathmey
We have another picture of Ellen Lewis Nye, who has previously been represented in daguerreotype and carte-de-visite. The card was taken in 1885, shortly before her death. The last one is Virginia Tayloe Lewis (1842-1916), taken during the Christmas season of 1897. She was born in Washington, D.C., at The Octagon House. She was the daughter of Captain Henry Howell Lewis and great-granddaughter to Fielding and Betty.
Cabinet Card of Ellen Lewis Nye, c. 1885Back of cabinet Card of Ellen Lewis Nye, c.1885Cabinet Card of Virginia Tayloe Lewis, Christmas 1897Back of cabinet card of Virginia Tayloe Lewis, Christmas 1897
Money and the Magic Lantern
This is a brief history of photography seen through the descendants of the Lewis family. But make no mistake, these are not the only important pictures in our collection. There are still trays of glass slides that belong to a curious device called the “lanterna magica,” which became an invaluable tool that, along with gingerbread, helped restore Kenmore.
Magic lantern glass slide of Kenmore before the restoration
Department of Photographs. (2004, October). The Daguerreian Era and Early American Photography on Paper, 1839–60. Retrieved from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/adag/hd_adag.htm
Stewart, J. (2018, December 31). Tintype Photography: The Vintage Photo Technique That’s Making a Comeback. Retrieved from My Modern Met: https://mymodernmet.com/tintype-photography/
Lives & Legacies 