civil engineer
What was John Plumbe 's occupation in early 1830s?
John Plumbe John Plumbe Jr . ( occasionally Plumb ; July 13 , 1809 – May 29 , 1857 ) was a Welsh-born American entrepreneurial photographer , gallerist , publisher , and an early advocate of an American transcontinental railroad in the mid-19th century . He established a franchise of photography studios in the 1840s in the U.S. , with additional branches in Paris and Liverpool . He created a lithographic process for reproducing photographic images , called the plumbeotype . Biography . Plumbe was born in Castle Caereinion , Powys , Wales in 1809 , to John Plumbe and Frances Margaretta Atherton . The family moved to Philipsburg , Pennsylvania in 1821 , and later to Dubuque , Iowa . Vision for a transcontinental railroad . He began his career as a civil engineer . He studied civil engineering while still in his late teens and by 1829 was surveying sites for future railroad routes in the southern and eastern portions of the country . About 1836 he relocated to the Wisconsin territory , where he became and advocate for a trans-contintental railroad . Plumbe reasoned that a transcontintental railroad would hasten the formation of dense settlements throughout the whole extent of the road , advance the sales of the public lands , afford increased facilities to the agricultural , commercial and mining interests of the country...and enable the government to transport troops and munitions of war . Throughout his life Plumbe would continue to press for the railroad , petitioning Congress and presenting his ideas in various newspapers and other publications . Daguerreotype galleries , 1840-1847 . Plumbe took up photography in 1840 after seeing the work of an itinerant daguerreotypist in Washington , D.C.—probably the work of John G . Stevenson . In a short period of time , Plumbe established a string of daguerreotype studios and galleries , all bearing his name . Visitors to the galleries could view photographic works , receive training , or pay to have their portrait taken . Images produced in the Plumbe studios were credited to Plumbe , although the work was made by others , including his brother Richard Plumbe . Each of his galleries was staffed by a host of operators , colorists , and artisans , and many notable daguerreotypists received their training or honed their skills in Plumbes galleries , including Richard Carr , Marsena Cannon , Charles E . Johnson , Jacob Shew , Myron Shew , and William Shew . Others who learnt photographic arts through the Plumbe franchise included Ezra Chase , Samuel Masury , C.S . Middlebrook , and Gabriel Harrison . In the 1840s in the United States there were Plumbe franchises in : - Arkansas—Plumbes Daguerrian Gallery - Galena , Illinois - Dubuque , Iowa - Kentucky : - Harrodsburg Springs , Kentucky - Louisville , Kentucky - New Orleans , Louisiana - Portland , Maine - Maryland : - Baltimore , Maryland—Plumbe Daguerrian Gallery , North St. ; Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery , Baltimore St . - Frederick , Maryland - Massachusetts : - Boston , Mass . -- United States Photographic Institute ( 1841 ) ; Plumbe Daguerrian Gallery , Court St. ; Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery , Hanover St. ; Plumbes Daguerrean Rooms , Court Street ( 1849–1850 ) ; Plumbes Daguerrian Gallery , Washington Street ( 1850–1851 ) . - Salem , Massachusetts - St . Louis , Missouri - Exeter , New Hampshire - New York : - Albany , New York—Plumbe Daguerrian Gallery - New York , New York—Plumbe Daguerrian Gallery , Broadway ; Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery , Broadway - Saratoga Springs , New York—Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery , Broadway - Cincinnati , Ohio - Pennsylvania : - Harrisburg , Pennsylvania - Philadelphia , PA—Plumbe Daguerrian Gallery , Chestnut St. ; Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery , Chestnut St . - Newport , Rhode Island—Plumbe Daguerrian Gallery , Thames St . - Virginia : - Alexandria , Virginia - Petersburg , Virginia - Washington , DC—Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery , Pennsylvania Ave. , Main St. , Walnut St . Abroad , he opened branches in : - Liverpool , England—Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery , Church St . - St . Catharines , Ontario , Canada - Paris , France—Plumbe National Daguerrian Gallery , Vieille Rue du Temple By 1847-1848 Plumbe sold his part of the galleries hed established . He sold his New York gallery to William H . Butler , his head man there , in 1847 , and the other galleries soon changed ownership , though the name Plumbes Daguerrean Gallery was retained as late as 1852 in Boston ( John P . Nichols , proprietor ) , and 1850 in Washington ( Blanchard P . Paige , proprietor ) . Exhibitions . Plumbe entered his photographic work in several exhibitions , including : - Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association , Quincy Hall , Boston , 1844 . Plumbe exhibited 35 daguerreotypes , in frames . Peculiarly pleasing , and natural in expression . Silver medal . - Fair of the American Institute , NY ( 1845 ) Publishing . In 1846 he founded the National Publishing Company which produced the weekly Popular Magazine ( Augustine J.H . Duganne , editor ) and other works . California and Iowa , 1849-1857 . Plumbe lived in California from 1849 to 1854 . In 1854 returned to Dubuque , Iowa . He may have worked for photographer Mathew Brady , c . 1855-1857 . He died in Iowa in 1857 , at age 48 . Legacy . Examples of Plumbes work are in the New York Public Library . Gallery . - Works by John Plumbe : Further reading . Publications by Plumbe . - Sketches of Iowa and Wisconsin : embodying the experience of a residence of three years in those territories . St . Louis : Chambers , Harris & Knapp , 1839 . - Instructions for .. . Plumbes patent improved Daguerreotype apparatus . Boston . 1841 . - Popular Magazine . National Publishing Co. , 1846-1847 . - The National Plumbeotype Gallery , c . 1846-1847 . - Plumbes Project of a Railroad to the Pacific . The Emancipator ( Boston ) . 09-01-1847 . - The Plumbeian . 1847 . - A faithful translation of the papers respecting the grant made by Governor Alvarado to Mr . J.A . Sutter . Sacramento , CA : 1850 . - Plumbes Memorial Pacific Railroad . 1850 . - Memorial Against Mr . Asa Whitneys Railroad Scheme . 1851 . Works about Plumbe . - Robert Taft . John Plumbe , Americas First Nationally Known Photographer . American Photography 30 . January 1936 . - Alan Fern , John Plumbe and the Plumbeotype , Philadelphia Printmaking . American Prints Before 1860 , Robert F . Looney , ed . ( West Chester , Penn. : Tinicum Press , 1976 ) . - Library Company of Philadelphia . Annual Report . 1992 . External links . - WorldCat . Plumbe , John 1809-1857 - George Eastman House . Plumbe daguerreotype camera , c . 1845 . - Flickr . Col . W.W . Seaton , Mayor of Washington : plumbeotype from life - Flickr . Boy with Toy Horn by Plumbe