Photographer Samuel Broadbent

  

Subject

Unidentified

Photographer

Broadbent & Co.

814 Chestnut St.,

Philadelphia.

Samuel Broadbent was the son of Dr. Samuel Broadbent, a physician and portrait painter who at 49 married the widow Abigail (Harris) Griswold in Hartford, Connecticut.  After the marriage Dr. Broadbent moved onto the Griswold homestead with Abigail and her children. They had two children together;  Samuel born Jan. 12, 1811 and a daughter Rowena born in 1813.

Dr. Broadbent died on April 2, 1828.  His death was attributed to the effects of dropsy and “high living”.   His wife Abigail lived to be 101. There was a lengthy write up, "Westersfield Centenarian 1773 - 1873, Mrs. Abigail Broadbent's 100th Birthday" in the  Hartford Weekly Times.  

By the time his father died, Samuel was already working as an itinerant painter and he'd become a successful portrait and miniature artist by 1840 when Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph, introduced him to the daguerreotype process.  Professor Morse, who had learned the process from Daguerre himself, taught it to American photographers Samuel Broadbent, Albert Southworth, Edward Anthony and Mathew Brady.

Samuel Broadbent was not only a fine portrait artist, he was one of the very first to learn the daguerreotype process in America.

New York Sun 
April 10, 1841

DAGUERREOTYPE PORTRAITS, Taken from 10 o'clock A. M. until dark, at Professor Morse's studio, No. 136 Nassau street, opposite Brick Church, by S. BROADBENT. Professor Morse will generally be in attendance. Cloudy and even stormy weather present no obstacles to a successful result of the process.

On Jun. 14, 1841 Samuel Broadbent (30) married Catherine Cook (26).
I've found mention of 5 children:

• Mary born  May 17, 1845; married Albert Gillespie Buzby on Nov. 8, 1865 and died May 16, 1869, five days after the birth of her daughter and the day before her 24th birthday.

• Samuel W., born 1849;  occupation: photographer.  I think I've found him in the 1900 Census, as a single “artist” living in Pennsylvania.

• Katie C. born circa 1853

• Robert C., 1854 - 1918; occupation: photographer

• George born circa 1860

Samuel worked as an itinerant artist before 1851 and moved around quite frequently.  Knowing where he was, and when, can be helpful when dating his photographs. The dates and addresses I've found are included as a separate list following this blog.

By 1845 when Samuel opened a gallery in Columbia, South Carolina his ad carried the title “colored Daguerreotype portraits.”

In addition to his colored daguerreotypes portraits, Samuel Broadbent was said to have often used a painted landscape backdrop for his daguerreotypes.   An 1853 newspaper advertisement for Broadbent & Co. reads, “Beautiful Landscape, Picturesque or Plain Backgrounds, at the option of the Sitter.”

In the 1860s Broadbent returned to painting while still maintaining a photographic studio with various partners.  In 1864 he painted the portrait of artist, Thomas Sully that was exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1869.

Samuel Broadbent, portrait painter and daguerreian died July 24, 1880 and was buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia.   His sons Samuel W. and Robert C. Broadbent carried on the photography business.

Samuel Broadbent / When & Where:
Below is the list of dates and addresses I've found.

1840 - 41 - New York City, worked in the daguerreotype process for Samuel F. B. Morse

1841 - 42 - Listed as a daguerreian at 136 Nassau Street, New York City.

1843 - 44 - Listed as a daguerreian in Savannah, Georgia.

1845 - Visited Charleston, North Carolina as an itinerant daguerreotypist and operated a gallery at 271 King Street for a couple of months.  In 1845 he was noted as a daguerreian in both Macon and Athens, Georgia; Dec. 1845 - opened a gallery in Columbia, South Carolina.

1846 - 49 -  Listed as “artist” in Hartford, Connecticut.  He was listed without a business address and lived at 93 Main St.

1847 - Daguerreian in Wilmot’s studio in Savannah, and in partnership with Cary.

1848 - Broadbent made stops in Fayetteville and Raleigh, North Carolina to take daguerreotypes.

1849 - Broadbent settled in Wilmington.; 1849 - 50 Broadbent listed as a daguerreian at 211 Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD.; also listed there in partnership as Broadbent & Cary.   From 1849 - 51 Broadbent was also listed as a daguerreian in Wilmington, Delaware, in the Glazier Building, Third and Market Streets.

1851 - Settled in Philadelphia ; listed as a daguerreian at 136 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania., over Barley & Co., There he was listed in business as Broadbent & Co., with Sally G. Hewes.

1852 - 1857 - Listed alone as a daguerreian at 136 Chestnut St., Pennsylvania.

1853 - “Beautiful Landscape, Picturesque or Plain Backgrounds, at the option of the Sitter,” reads an 1853 Broadbent & Co. newspaper advertisement.

1858 - Daguerreian at 428 Chestnut St., Pennsylvania. in business as Broadbent & Co., in partnership with F. A. Wenderoth;  Broadbent & Co. (active 1858-1863)

1859 - 60 - The address changed to 814 Chestnut St. but the partnership continued.

1868 - Partnered with Phillips until 1874, Phillips retained the old name of Broadbent & Phillips at his studio until 1881, a year after Samuel Broadbent’s death.

1870 - Broadbent & Phillips (active 1870-1881)

1878 - Broadbent & Taylor (active 1878-1884)

Sources:

Photographers in The New York Public Library’s Photography Collection

Perceptual Rendering of HDR in Painting and Photography by John J. McCann

CATCHING A SHADOW Daguerreotypes in Philadelphia 1839 - 1860

Craig's Daguerreian Registry

American Portrait Miniatures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Samuel F. B. Morse and the Daguerreotype: Art and Science in American by Sarah Catherine Gillespie

Partners With the Sun: South Carolina Photographers, 1840-1940 By Harvey S. Teal

FamilySearch - Samuel Broadbent

Encyclopedia of American Folk Art edited by Gerard C. Wertkin

American Portrait Miniatures in the Manney Collection by Dale T. Johnson

Connecticut Historical Society