Early PICT: The photographer known as Mrs. J. B. Lewis

First thing today, I want to thank the Manchester Library for hosting my talk at the Whiton Branch last week. Also, a big thank you to everyone who attended the talk! It was a fun evening; I really enjoyed the chance to introduce over 20 women early artisan photographers in Connecticut to a live audience. I will post information about those women on the blog during 2025.

However, before I do that, today I’d like to introduce a photographer who didn’t make it into my talk. To start, let’s review a few facts about Harriet Scudder, who was also known as the photographer “Mrs J.B. Lewis”:

• Harriet Herman was born in Rhode Island in 1840
• Harriet married James B. Lewis in New Jersey in November 1869. James B. Lewis was a photographer who ran studios in New York City in partnership with a series of men over the years, including a photographer named Louis Alman.
• Sometime in the 1870s James and Harriet Lewis go their separate ways. Harriet co-owns different photography studios with variety of photographers. This includes, at one point, running a studio with Louis Alman, her ex-husband’s partner. Her “business” name, as a photographer, is always “Mrs. J.B. Lewis”.
• I882, Mrs. J. B. Lewis opens a studio on her own in Manhattan catering to high-society clients in New York City. She later open a studio in Greenwich, CT during the summer.
• Even after her 1883 marriage to Henry G. Scudder (a man who was NOT a photographer), her photography “brand” continues to be “Mrs. J.B. Lewis”.
• Sometime before 1892, Mrs. J.B. Lewis closes her New York City studio, moving to Greenwich full-time (at that point she is running 2 studios in Greenwich.
• Mrs. Harriet Scudder, well-known to high-society clients in both New York City and Connecticut as the photographer “Mrs. J.B. Lewis”, dies of exhaustion In April 1893 at the age of only 53 in Greenwich, CT.

And now for some more of her story:

Although Mrs. J. B. Lewis spent much of her career in New York City, I’m counting her as an Early PICT because she ultimately opened two studios in Greenwich, CT to cater to her high-society customer-base. It made good business sense to do so, I’m sure, since her rich, high-society clientele in New York City typically summered in Greenwich, CT.

Anyway, Mrs. Lewis opened her first Greenwich studio in the fancy Indian Harbor Hotel in Greenwich in 1884.

(By the way, I’m assuming the following 1884 clip is an oblique reference to Mrs. Lewis and her studio in that hotel):

The following cabinet card by Mrs. J. B. Lewis dates to 1884-1885. On the back of the photo we see that, at that point, she has two studio locations, but one is on Broadway in New York City, and the other one is in the Indian Harbor Hotel Greenwich, CT:

(BTW, here’s a sketch of that Indian Harbor hotel, just to give you a sense of how fancy it was: )

Now, in 1885 there’s a notice in the newspaper that Mrs. Lewis is opening a second studio in Greenwich. By the early 1890s, she closes the Broadway location entirely, focussing instead on her two studios in Greenwich.

The following cabinet card lists both of those Greenwich studios, along with a note that a person named”C. R. Franco” is the manager of the Greenwich studios:

Sadly, as I mentioned at the top of this post, Mrs. Harriet Scudder — aka Mrs. J. B. Lewis — dies in 1893 at the age of only 53. And you might think that’s where the story of Harriet Lewis Scudder ends … but I have an intriguing little postscript to her story.

Let me explain.

Just as I mentioned in an earlier post about Miss Ethel Kinne in 1859, there are sometimes probate records available online for some of the early women photographers.

It was with great interest that we ran across a probate record for Harriet Lewis Scudder from 1893. This probate record includes an inventory of her studio, including descriptions of cameras and camera lenses, studio furniture and even a mention of the painted backdrops used in people’s portraits.

Intriguingly, though, there is no mention of any of the negatives of previous photos taken by the studio. (I mean, studios routinely kept the negatives in order to make money from selling reprints. This provided an additional income stream as the years went by, so it’s surprising that there are no negatives mentioned as something that might add to the value of her estate). 

But I am getting ahead of myself.

Before we talk about the estate value, we need to look at some other mysteries that arise from the probate materials, at least when in comes to the people in Harriet’s life.

For example, about a week after Harriet dies in 1893, a man named “Christopher R. Frank” petitions the court to be the administrator of her estate. Mr. Frank attests in his petition that Mrs. Lewis left no Will [so therefore, he claims, there was no one designated by her to be the adminstrator of her Will]..

You will have no doubt noted, that Mr. Frank’s name sounds remarkably similar to the person named “C. R. Franco,” the Greenwich studios manager listed on the the back of that cabinet card. [Personally, I think it is reasonable to say that they are indeed the same person.]

Anyway, two weeks after Mr. Frank’s petition papers are filed, and thus several weeks after the death of Harriet Lewis Scudder, Henry G. Scudder — the man Harriet married in 1883 — petitions the court to accept a Will that Harriet Lewis had written in 1883. That Will leave sher entire estate to him, including her personal property and her photography business.

Interestingly, one of the two witnesses who signed that 1883 Will was “Christopher R. Franco.” If “Christopher R. Frank” and “Christopher R. Franco” are indeed the same person, this means one of the witnesses to the 1883 Will denies the the existence of any Will being in existence in 1893. Curious, no?

Also, why did it take Henry G. Scudder so many weeks to file his petition after Harriet Scudder died?

Curiouser and curiouser…

Ah well. Despite all the drama, in the end, the court accepts the 1883 Will as valid, which leaves Henry Scudder set to inherit Harriet Lewis Scudder’s entire estate.

Except … the court determines there is actually nothing left to inherit except debts. The court appoints an attorney – not Mr. Frank and not Mr. Scudder – to be the estate administrator. When the dusts settles, the debts total more than the assets, and thus the estate is considered insolvent.

Also, in what seems. [to me] like a brilliant tactical maneuver, Henry Scudder manages to get out of being the administrator of the estate, even though the 1883 Will he was so intent to have the court recognize designated him as the rightful administrator. I assume getting out of being the estate administrator somehow left him off the hook for having to settle the estate debts. Like I said, getting off the hook for being responsible for the debts seems like a brilliant move to me,

In any case, there are still many unsolved mysteries regarding the life of the photographer who did business as “Mrs. J. B. Lewis. E.g.,

• When did Harriet Lewis start doing photograph/? We have no proof – just conjecture – that Harriet may have started by working as a photographer with her first husband, Mr. J.B. Lewis.
• Did J.B. Lewis and Harriet Lewis divorce or did J.B. Lewis die before 1883 when she marries Scudder? Mrs. Lewis claimed to be a widow by 1883,, but Chris had I have seen plenty of so-called “widows” who had actually divorced their husbands.  I will refer you back to the story Lydia A. Hicks, who claimsd to be a widow even when her husband was listed next to her in the Brooklyn city directories.
• Did Harriet and Henry Scudder have a falling out before she died? Is that why he took so long to come forward after her death? Unfortunately, the Greenwich, CT directories prior to 1900 aren’t available online, so it’s harder to research online whether or not the Scudders were still living together in 1893.
• What happen to all the studio negatives and why aren’t they listed in the studio inventory? They could have been worth something. Did C. R. Frank, as the studio manager, hang on to them? They could have been valuable. Hmm. Makes you wonder, eh?

In any case, mysteries aside, Mrs. J. B .Lewis’s accomplishments should still be celebrated as a successsfull photographer in both NYC and Connecticut.