E.M. Sammis Photographs, between 1861 and 1866
Table of Contents
Overview of the Collection
- Photographer
- Sammis, E. M.
- Title
- E.M. Sammis Photographs
- Dates
- between 1861 and 1866 (inclusive)18571870
- Quantity
- 1 box, ( 1 box and 1 folder containing 23 photographic prints on cartes-de-visite mounts and 1 oversize photograph)
- Collection Number
- PH0024
- Summary
- Photographs documenting various Seattle structures and residents, including the Territorial University of Washington, Seattle buildings, and portraits of Chief Seattle and the Bagley and Chambers families
- Repository
- University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Entire collection (with the exception of item 2a) can be viewed on the Libraries' Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials Curator is required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.
- Languages
- Collection materials are in English.
Biographical Note
Before coming to Western Washington, E.M. Sammis had a business in Visalia, California, making portrait daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and carte-de-visite photographs. By 1860, he was working in Olympia, and by 1865, he had moved to Seattle. Sammis made photographs not only of local people but also of the city and various events. These images would probably have been popular not just locally, but also in larger cities like San Francisco, where people craved news of more remote locations.
Sammis is most famous for his photograph of Chief Seattle (si?al), made in 1865. Early historian Clarence Bagley, a friend of Sammis, was visiting the photographer in his studio one day when Chief Seattle happened to walk by. Sammis ran out and asked Seattle to come in and be photographed; the chief acquiesced. Bagley assisted Sammis in making a batch of prints, and before long the image was being sold all over the country.
Other Descriptive Information
Featured in the photographs are well-known Seattle residents and structures. Members of the Bagley family were prominent Seattle citizens during the last half of the nineteenth century. Daniel Bagley was a Methodist minister and missionary who was influential in founding Seattle's Territorial University. His son Clarence was best-known for his histories of Seattle and King County.
Seattle's Territorial University opened on November 4, 1861, with one teacher, Asa Shinn Mercer, and a student population of just 30. The campus was located at what is now 4th Avenue and University Street in downtown Seattle. In the university's early years, primary school subjects were taught as well as the college curriculum. In 1895, the campus moved to its University District location on Lake Washington.
Content Description
The collection contains 27 carte-de-visite photographs made by Edward M. Sammis of various residents and localities in Seattle, Washington.
Use of the Collection
Alternative Forms Available
View collection in digital format
Photocopies of the original carte-de-visite photographs are available for viewing.
Restrictions on Use
Restrictions exist on publication, duplication and use. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries, for more information.
Administrative Information
Processing Note
Processed by Shannon Lynch, 2003.
PH Coll 518, consisting of one oversize photograph, was merged with this collection in 2008.
Detailed Description of the Collection
Seattle Localities
- Description: Fourth of July Pavilion, Pioneer Place (Sammis 1)Dates: 1865Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 1
- Description: First Ave. South (Sammis 2)
Other early Seattle photographs copied this photograph and some marked copies with their own negative numbers. Copies exist by George Moore, Theodore Peiser (16) and Asahel Curtis (32137, 28831, and 55243). Copies by Curtis are described below under item 2a.
Dates: 1865Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 2 - Description: "Seattle in 1865"
Subtitled: Looking North on Commercial Street (now 1st Avenue South) from Main Street.
This is a matted 24" x 30" visual guide to early Seattle, probably created by Asahel Curtis. It includes a hand-colored and enlarged print of the Sammis photograph of First Ave. South, copied by Asahel Curtis (negative number 32137). A caption underneath the hand-colored print reads: © 1915 Curtis and Miller. Beneath the hand-colored image, a copy of the Sammis photograph (Curtis 55243) is labeled with numbers that are referenced on the mount in handwritten text to identify the buildings in the photograph.
Dates: 1865Container: Mapcase 266, Item 2a Territorial University of Washington
- Dates: August, 1865Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 3
- Description: View of Territorial University of Washington and president's residence, including group of people (Sammis 3a)Dates: August 1865?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 4
- Dates: 1864Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 5
- Dates: between 1861 and 1866?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 6
- Description: Kellogg's drug store, Yesler Ave. (Sammis 6)Dates: 1865Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 7
- Description: Occidental Hotel (Sammis 7)Dates: 1865?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 8
- Description: Charles Plummer residence (Sammis 8)Dates: between 1861 and 1866?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 9
- Description: Snoqualmie Falls painting (Sammis 9)Dates: 1866?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 10
Seattle Citizens
- Description: Clarence Bagley (Sammis 11)Dates: 1861Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 11
- Description: Clarence Bagley (Sammis 13)Dates: 1865Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 12
- Description: Daniel Bagley (Sammis 14)Dates: between 1861 and 1866?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 13
- Description: Daniel Bagley (Sammis 18)Dates: between 1861 and 1866?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 14
- Description: Andrew Jackson Chambers (Sammis 15)Dates: between 1861 and 1866?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 15
- Description: Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Jackson Chambers (Sammis 16)Dates: between 1861 and 1866?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 16
- Description: Margaret White Chambers (Sammis 17)Dates: between 1861 and 1866?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 17
- Description: Charles Arthur Ward (Sammis 21)Dates: between 1861 and 1866?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 18
- Description: Class of Territorial University (Sammis 10)Dates: between 1861 and 1866?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 19
- Description: Portrait of woman (Sammis 19)Dates: between 1861 and 1866?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 20
- Description: Portrait of woman (Sammis 20)Dates: between 1861 and 1866?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 21
- Description: Portrait of man (Sammis 22)Dates: between 1861 and 1866?Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 22
- Description: Chief SeattleDates: 1865Container: Box PH0024 Box 1, Item 23
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- College buildings--Washington (State)--Seattle--Photographs
- Indians of North America--Washington (State)--Photographs
- Pioneers--Washington (State)--Seattle--Photograph
- Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)
Geographical Names
- Seattle
- Seattle (Wash.)--Photographs
Form or Genre Terms
- Cartes de visite
- Photographs
Other Creators
Personal Names
- Bagley, Clarence, 1843-1932--Photographs
- Bagley, Daniel, 1818-1905--Photographs
- Chambers, Andrew Jackson, 1825-1908--Photographs
- Chambers, Margaret White, d. 1912--Photographs
- Seattle, Chief, 1790-1866--Photographs
Corporate Names
- Territorial University (Wash.)--Photographs
