Josephine Benitz
Her Private Photo Collection
The following photos are from the private
collection of Josephine Benitz (née Kolmer), wife of
Wilhelm Benitz. The
one shown here is the earliest we have of her and was likely taken soon after
the first photographer arrived in San Francisco in 1849. Born in 1830, she
would have been nineteen in 1849.
Her collection is quite large and includes the earliest known photos of Fort Ross, taken c. 1866. Most, if not all, the photos have suffered with the years. Many are exceedingly dark, others are covered in stains. To restore each photo takes hours of painstaking and boring work with photo editing software, but it is very rewarding when the picture jumps back to life. We ask for your patience - the occasional copita de tinto helps.
Today the photos are in the care of John C. Benitz, who very kindly allowed us to scan them. He and Ann even put us up (and put up with us) for the days it took us to make our copies.
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Most of the older photos are daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, or tintypes in golden frames and red velvet lined cases. All that were, we scanned in their frames. However, we will not be displaying them in that fashion to reduce the size of the files and therefore time required to download over the web. If you are interested in reading up on early photography, here are some interesting sites: Townsend Galleries (see Historic Image Museum) Daguerreotypes: 19th Century Photography
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Wilhelm Benitz at approx. 40 years of age. Photo most likely taken after 1854 (due to its type). This is the earliest photo we have of him. |
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Michael and Josephine Kolmer (Josephine's parents) Likely taken circa 1855 and is the only photo we have of them. Notice that Caroline (below) is wearing some of the same jewelry. The two photos are of the same style hinting that they were likely taken by the same photographer. |
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William and Caroline Howard (Josephine's sister and husband) Possibly their wedding photo, taken in 1855 or soon after. Sadly, we were only able to rescue Caroline's image; Dutch Bill's face is covered by a cloud of stains.
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Fort Ross: South-East Quadrant of the Yard, c. 1866 The Russian Chapel is back-center and Employee Barracks [converted into a barn] are to its right. The corrales were likely added by Wilhelm. The child in the 3-wheel baby-carriage is probably Josephine's son Herman (aged 2) with either John (5) or Alfred (7) pushing. |
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Fort Ross: North-East Quadrant of the Yard, c. 1866 The Russian Fur Barn is front-left, the Kuskov House is back-right. (We created this panorama by joining two photos. We include them below to give you an idea of their current condition.) |
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Fort Ross: South-West Quadrant of the Yard, c. 1866 The Russian era buildings along the west wall are, left to right: SW corner blockhouse (roof with spire), New-Kitchens, main gate, and Officials Barracks. The corrales and shed along the south wall were most likely added by Wilhelm Benitz. (We created this panorama by joining two photos.) |
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Fort Ross: From the South-West, c. 1866 The full photo is to the right, the fort itself is enlarged below. Most of the buildings date from the Russian era with some modifications. The leftmost 2-storey building was built by Wilhelm as an addition to the Rotchev or Commandant's House (hidden) in which they lived. The orchards can be seen up on the hill beyond.
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Fort Ross: From the North-West, c. 1866 The full photo is to the left, the fort itself is enlarged below. The center 2-storey building was added by Wilhelm to the Commandant's House (roof to its left). Notice a flag is flying from the southwest (right) blockhouse spire. |
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Still more are coming.... many thanks, John.
