Early PICT – Mrs. Clara B. Drew – Part 1

Clara Barton Drew, née Tomlinson, was born in 1867. Clara was named after the famous Civil War nurse and founder of the Red Cross, Clara Barton. 

Clara Barton Tomlinson married (William) John Drew in 1889.  BTW, John Drew was never a photographer either before or after his marriage.

There are gaps in the Ansonia, CT city directories in the period in the late 1800s/early 1900s, so it’s hard to pinpoint the exact date Clara Barton Drew started doing photography professionally. But enough directories have survived to indicate that by 1902 she was running her own studio in Ansonia, a studio set up in a building located behind her house. 

Clara Barton Drew continued to run her studio until at least 1924. For the most part, The Drew Studio was a sole proprietorship, run just by Mrs. Clara Barton Drew. However, for less than.a year (circa 1914) Clara takes on a partner, Miss Carrie Hicks, who later runs her own studios elsewhere. When Miss Hicks leaves, Clara B. Drew is back to running the studio on her own.

Interestingly, Clara Barton, was a visitor to Clara Barton Drew’s home and home studio in Ansonia, posing for a variety of photos. Many of these images are now in the collection at the Library of Congress. Here’s one as a sample — there are many that are more conventional portraits, but I like this one of Clara Barton and a horse.

The Derby Historical Society in Ansonia has many interesting photos by Clara Barton Drew in their collection. Many thanks to Kellie S. for sharing them with me! One striking photo is this beautiful portrait of Clara Barton in a hat:

Another fun photo (in both the Library of Congress collection as well as the Derby Historical Society Collection ) is a photo of Clara Barton sitting next to John Drew on the front porch of the Drew home in Ansonia, CT.

For most of her career, Clara Barton Drew ran the Drew Studio in Ansonia, CT by herself. However, circa 1914, and for only about one year, Clara Drew ran the studio with another woman, Carrie B. Hicks. But Miss Hicks quickly goes out on her own in another town, leaving Mrs. Drew running the studio on her own again.

Clara Barton Drew died in 1946 at the age of 79. Her obituary in the Evening Sentinel newspaper says that she ran her photograph studio for 40 years – quite the long career!

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OK, so you’re probably wondering about now, what the heck was the connection between Clara Barton and Clara Barton Drew? 

Glad you asked. What follows is what I’ve been able to piece together so far.

Clara Barton visited Ansonia in September of 1908 – during her visit, she stayed with Clara and John Drew. An article about this visit says that efforts had been made to keep Miss Barton’s visit secret, to give her a much needed rest.

However, once the word of Miss Barton’s being in town gets out, there’s a reception for her at the Drew home. War Veterans flock to the Drew home in Ansonia to pay their respects to the Civil War nurse. An article describes that event; here’s a quick quote: “Despite the fact that her years numbered nearly four score and ten, Miss Barton entertained the veterans with stories and reminiscences of her long and eventful life for over an hour.” (Evening Sentinel, September 22, 1908). 

Now, it’s unclear from the articles if Miss Barton and Mrs. Drew had ever met before. It seems likely to me that they must have since Miss Barton originally decided to come to Ansonia to stay with the Drews in order to get a much needed rest. Also, in June of 1909, there’s a little blurb in the newspaper that Clara B. Drew is off to spend time with Clara Barton at the latter’s summer home. (Norwich Bulletin, June 11, 1909). So, to me it seems that they must have been long-standing friends, and not just mere recent acquaintances.

Chris and I dug into available online records to try to find a family connection or other reason to explain why Clara Barton Tomlinson was named after Clara Barton. But we didn’t find anything, so I guess we are just left to our own devices to wonder why little Clara, born in 1867, was named after Clara Barton.

Anyway, Clara Barton Drew was noteworthy for more than just taking photos of Clara Barton, of course. In tomorrow’s “Part 2” post, we’ll learn more about the life and career of this woman who was a talented early artisan photographer in Ansonia, CT for more than 40 years.