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daguerreotype likenesses, in order to keep up the soul of
our undertaking, by supporting our body.” John Plumbe,
Jr., The Plumbeian, January 6, 1847.John Plumbe Jr., a man of extraordinary ability and vi-
sion, was the pre-eminent promoter of photography in
America during the 19th century and the fi rst effective
advocate for a United States transcontinental railroad.
Plumbe was born at Castle Caereinion, Welshpool,
North Wales, on July 13, 1809. His family was English
and when John was twelve they immigrated to the
United States. Trained as a civil engineer, he was quick
to comprehend the importance of railroads to national
development and passionately presented his idea for a
Pacifi c railroad to Congress in 1838, a decade before
others seriously considered the matter.
Plumbe fi rst became aware of the wondrous daguerre-
otype process while in Boston during the Spring of 1840
where he probably received instruction from Daguerre’s
agent, François Gouraud. Turning to photography to
fi nance his railroad ambitions, Plumbe helped to shape
a developing industry. With unbounded optimism and
tireless vigor Plumbe immersed himself in the new art
and science to become America’s fi rst nationally known
photographer. He attained this distinction by winning the
highest honors in photographic competitions at scientifi c
and industrial fairs. Plumbe was the fi rst to introduce a
franchised photographic business, establishing within
six years a chain of twenty-six galleries in the United
States with outlets in Paris and Liverpool, most of which
were accessible by railroads. He advertised his business
extensively in the leading American newspapers and
furthered his reputation through brand name recognition,
requiring all photographs from his numerous galleries
to prominently bear the Plumbe name.
Beginning in Boston in 1840, Plumbe established
the United States Photographic Institute and opened
branch galleries or “photographic depots” as the railroad
advocate called them. In addition to taking photographic
portraits, Plumbe manufactured and imported cameras
and offered complete daguerreotype outfi ts. He taught
the fi rst generation of American photographers including
Gabriel Harrison, William Shew, and Samuel Masury.
Plumbe’s 1841 daguerreotype manual is the earliest
published American photographic work. Pursuing an
interest in color photography, Plumbe purchased from
Daniel Davis Jr. in 1842 the rights to a patented process
to apply color to daguerreotypes by selective electroplat-
ing and he promoted this feature extensively.
By 1843 Plumbe relocated the center of his pho-
tographic operations to New York City where many
noted celebrities of the day frequented his fashionable
Broadway establishment. Plumbe’s New York gallery
was fi lled with the likenesses of famous authors, artists,
musicians, and entertainers, among them Washington
Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, John James Audubon, and
Tom Thumb. Many of these fi ne daguerreotype por-
traits were reproduced as lithographs by print maker
Nathaniel Currier.
Plumbe opened a daguerreian gallery in Washington,
D.C., late in 1844 where he photographed the leading
statesmen of the day. On several occasions Plumbe
received invitations to the White House from President
James K. Polk and secured the fi rst photographs show-
ing the interior of the Executive Mansion, including
the earliest portrait of a United States President with
his Cabinet. In the Spring of 1846, Plumbe produced a
series of architectural daguerreotypes of Washington,
D.C., depicting the United States Capitol, the White
House, the Patent Offi ce and Post Offi ce. These images,
the earliest photographic records of Washington, D.C.,
are now preserved at the Library of Congress.
Toward the end of 1846 Plumbe established the Na-
tional Publishing Company in Philadelphia and issued a
series of decorative sheet music, “The Plumbe Popular
Magazine,” and a portfolio of thirty-four lithographs
entitled “The National Plumbeotype Gallery.” All of
these works were illustrated with “Plumbeotypes,”
namely lithographs made from zinc plates transferred
from Plumbe daguerreotypes. “The National Plumbeo-
type Gallery” is of particular importance as it represents
the fi rst collective collaboration of photography and
print making for portraiture. However, the public did
not favor Plumbe’s ambitious publishing efforts and by
mid-1847 he was forced to suspend all production and
refocus his attention to the photographic business and
his transcontinental railroad advocacy. John Plumbe
suffered severe fi nancial reverses during 1847–1848
due in part to the mismanagement of his vast enter-
prise and the signifi cant increase of competition in the
photographic fi eld. By 1849 all of his fi ne establish-
ments had either been sold to meet the obligations to
his creditors, or had been transferred into the hands of
his operators.
During the Gold Rush of 1849, Plumbe journeyed
to California to determine fi rst hand the feasibility of
a Pacifi c railroad. Encouraged by his survey Plumbe
continued to write, lecture and memorialize Congress
for the construction of the transcontinental railroad.
He returned to his family’s home in Dubuque, Iowa, in
1854 where he opened a U.S. patent agency and a steam
milling operation.
Suffering from physical and mental illness John
Plumbe Jr. ended his eventful life on May 28, 1857.
In 1976 a group of historians erected a monument
at Plumbe’s grave site extolling his contributions to
photography; his genius for promoting photography in
America was second only to that of George Eastman.
Clifford Krainik