Early PICT – Meet Mrs. J.H. Folsom

Oddly enough, one of the first photos Chris and I bought back in 2017 — i.e., back when we started our research project on early women artisan photographers, was a photo by a male photographer:

We bought this photo because we knew from looking in Peter Palmquist’s database that J. H. Folsom’s wife, Mrs. J. H. Folsom, eventually ran the Folsom studio in Danbury. Later in 2017 we found a photo with Mrs. Folsom’s name on the back, and we bought that one as well:

So who was Mrs. J. H. Folsom?

Sarah Elizabeth Folsom, who always did business as “Mrs. J. H. Folsom”, was a quintessential early woman artisan photographer. She married her husband, photographer Joseph H. Folsom, in the late 1860s. (Curiously, there is a record of their marriage in Manhattan in 1867, and another marriage record for them in Danbury, CT in 1869 – I’m not sure what to make of that, maybe marriages in NY weren’t legally recognized in Connecticut?) In any case, Joseph Folsom was already an established photographer, running studios in Carmel, NY and Brewster, NY, in the late 1860s, before he and Sarah wed. Here’s a fun photo from Joseph’s studio in Carmel. Note the hand-tinted belt.

From 1873-1875 there are Folsom studio branches in both Brewster, NY and Danbury, CT, and then by 1876 the Folsom studio is only located in Danbury. 

The Folsom studio thrives for a number of years until 1883 when tragedy strikes. Joseph H. Folsom dies in Sept 1883 at the age of only 43, leaving his wife a widow at only only 40 years old.

According to the estate probate papers for Joseph H. Folsom, at the time of his death had been in the process of opening a branch studio in Waterbury. However, there so many debts and creditors that need to be paid off after Joseph dies that Sarah is forced to get money by selling the Waterbury studio. She keeps the Danbury studio open. After Joseph’s death his brother, E.S. Folsom, who is himself a photographer, comes to Danbury from Katonah, NY, and helps Sarah for a short time. However, E.S. fairly quickly goes back to run his own studio in Katonah, leaving Sarah to run the studio in Danbury on her own.

Now, as long time followers of Photographer, Pistols & Parasols know, there is a popular myth that claims that widows who inherit photography studios don’t run them for very long on their own after their husbands die. Mrs. Folsom is yet another example, though, of why that idea incorrect – i.e. it really is just a myth. You see, Sarah Folsom successfully run the Folsom studio in Danbury for 15 years after her husband dies.

Moreover Sarah Folsom even expands the business during that period, opening a second branch in Danbury in 1888. Here’s the 1888 Danbury city directory showing her 2 studio locations:

Also, the following excerpt comes from a notice about Mrs. Folsom’s new studio; the notice appeared in the the July 20, 1888 edition of Anthony’s Photographic Bulletin.

A FINE GALLERY: – Mrs. J. H. Folsom, Danbury, Conn., has just moved into her fine studio in the Bank building. Everything is new, neat and bright and of the latest improvements.

—July 20, 1888 edition of Anthony’s Photographic Bulletin

In addition to sending out press releases that get picked up in national publications like that one, Mrs. J. H. Folsom is generally pretty savvy about marketing her business. For example, she routinely takes out ads in the Danbury city directory, including the following “bottom lines” ad (that was mentioned in the 1888 directory listing above.)

But that’s wasn’t the only kind of ad Mrs. Folsom used. She also took out ads in Connecticut newspapers. Here’s a sample:

Moreover, in an interesting move, Sarah Folsom took out ads in the Brewster and Carmel, NY newspapers, too. These ads werefor her Danbury, CT studio, even though potential clients from NY would have had a journey of several hours to get to her studio.

Eventually, Sarah Folsom closes up the studio in Danbury in 1897, moving to live in Carmel, NY with her married daughter. Mrs. Folsom opens a Folsom studio in Carmel, NY around that same time, but that doesn’t last too long, and Sarah Folsom retires from photography for good in 1898.

But right up until the end, Mrs. Folsom is still leveraging newspaper ads for her business:

Sarah E. Folsom is never a photographer again before she dies in 1927.

Now, I have started to write about Sarah E. Folsom, aka Mrs. J. H. Folsom, many times over the years, but something always gets in the way. Even this post was delayed. I started writing it earlier this month based on the information I presented about Mrs. Folsom n my talk at the Manchester Public Library back in March. But then last week Chris ran across that 1888 noticed about her new studio. Around the same time I happened to notice that J. H. Folsom’s probate papers from 1883 were now online. So, I decided to re-write the post about Mrs. Folsom to incorporate all the new information, even though it delayed being able to put this post on the blog until today.

Another new piece of information Chris found last week was an 1887 profile of Mrs. Folsom’s studio in Danbury. I’ll include that clipping at the bottom of this post. It’s a little long, but it’s a fun description of the wonders found her studio.

If you don’t feel like reading it right now, I hope you’ll at least agree that Mrs. J. H. Folsom’s story was worth the wait as we celebrate yet another Early PICT today! 

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From the book: 1887 Leading Business Men of Fairfield County: