Archives West Finding Aid

Frank Canaris

Frank Henry Canaris was born in Prussia on February 4, 1854, and came to the United States with his family when he was one year old. As a young man, he spent two years in San Salvador, El Salvador, where he started a sugar plantation. He left soon after a major earthquake in 1873. In May, 1881, Canaris and his first wife, Catherine, moved to Long Beach, Washington, where he built the Harvest Home hotel, and in 1896 he built the Crystal Bathhouse. He also ran a curio and postcard store for 30 years where he sold photographic views of the beach. Canaris was the fourth postmaster at Long Beach, establishing the first money order system there, and he also served as justice of the peace, constable, and school director. Canaris was married three times. He married Catherine circa 1880, divorcing sometime in the 1890s. His second wife, Christina Canaris, died in 1923. He married his third wife, Martha Bauer Canaris, in 1925. Frank Canaris died in Long Beach at age 83 in August 1937.

Catherine Canaris

Catherine Canaris was born in Minnesota around 1859. By 1880 she was married to Frank Canaris and living in the Nehalem Valley of Columbia County, Oregon. She moved with him to Long Beach, Washington, but by 1897 she was listed individually in Portland city directories. Catherine was a photographer in Portland from the mid-1890s until about 1904, working primarily from her residence. During part of that time, from about 1899 to 1901, she worked for photographer William Sandeen. Later she became a Christian Science teacher and continued to live in the Portland area until her death in 1938 at age 79.

John & Lulu Tollman

John Wesley Tollman and his wife, Lulu, were traveling photographers who spent most of the 1890s working in towns in Washington, Oregon, and California. They often worked in short-term partnerships with other husband-and-wife photography teams. John had previously worked as a photographer in Omaha, Nebraska. He moved west in 1887 and worked briefly in Washington localities, including Olympia, Aberdeen, and South Bend. By 1891 he had settled in Long Beach, Washington. Over the years, the couple apparently split their time between northern California and Washington. By 1899 they were living in Portland, Oregon, and operating the Tollman Studio. John’s brother, Thomas W. Tollman, also a photographer, took over the studio after 1900.

From 1900-1902 John worked as a clerk at SG Skidmore & Company, a druggist and photo supply business, and Lulu worked as a retoucher and clerk at Woodard, Clarke & Co, also a druggist and photo supply business. By around 1903 the Tollmans lived in Vancouver, Washington, where John was listed as a photographer in the city directories. By 1907 Lulu was quite active in the Photographers Association of the Pacific Northwest, serving as an elected officer, attending conventions, and winning photography awards. She also wrote an article on darkroom arrangement in 1903. The couple moved to Eugene, Oregon, in 1907 and operated the Tollman Studio in Eugene until their divorce in 1909. They may already have been leading separate lives by 1908, as John is listed as a photographer in Boise, Idaho, city directories in 1908. Lulu remarried in 1909 and became Mrs. Lulu Ehrhardt. She ran the Tollman Studio with partner Catherine McHardy from 1909-1911. In late 1911 the business was sold to J.B. Anderson, who continued to run it as the Tollman Studio until 1917. Lulu moved to Vancouver, Washington, in 1911 and lived there until at least 1917.