Mystery Photos #97 and #98: Howorth Photography

These two cabinet cards presumably feature two different women, although they look a touch similar. The mystery isn’t just who they are, but also what the deal was with Howorth.

A few details the internet provides:

According to the Minnesota Historical Society’s Directory of Photographers, C.W. Howorth operated at 1627 W. Superior St. circa 1891-’92. That location is a parking lot today, across the street from Kia of Duluth.

There is at least one Howorth image elsewhere on the internet …

This photo is from rotter.se and the caption, translated from Swedish to English, reads:

The portrait represents Fredrik Dalsjö born in Fränninge, Skåne 1861-07-10 with family. He was the son of Magnus Petter Dalsjö, born in 1824 and Hanna Fredriksdotter, born in 1821. Together with his siblings Johan and Maria Dalsjö, they emigrated to America. Further fate unknown.

So, perhaps consider the unknown fates of the Dalsjö’s as yet another mystery.

5 Comments

Gina Temple-Rhodes

about 5 years ago



Here's Mr. Charles Wesley Howorth. Nice self portrait!

Started out as a photographer in Edmore, Mich., where he was born, and was only in Duluth for a few years in the late 1800s. Moved to Chicago by 1910 and died there in 1932. 



Here's an early Michigan photo card.

Gina Temple-Rhodes

about 5 years ago

Before we get too excited about Mr. Howorth's artistic abilities, know also that his wife was granted a divorce in 1915 on the grounds of "extreme cruelty" (which was a common cause in that record). Interestingly, his brother was also divorced in 1914 due to "repeated and extreme cruelty." The Michigan records are available online.

Gina Temple-Rhodes

about 5 years ago

Aaand if we want to consider even more 19th century personal drama, it seems that Mr. Howorth's mother and twin sisters died of "consumption" when he was 8.

Matthijs

about 5 years ago

Wow. That's more than I expected to know about Mr. Howorth. It seems like there is an inverse relationship between the amount of time a 19th century photographer spent in Duluth and the amount of information that can be found about their life.

Paul Lundgren

about 5 years ago

Considering that when we delved into another Duluth photographer, Lars Linden, it turned out he "beat and otherwise abused" his wife and child, one must ask whether it was photographers in specific or men in general who were on a rampage at the end of the 19th Century.

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