Edmund Smedley

Edmund Smedley was listed as a photographer in the Chester County Business Directory for 1870-71^[1]. His studio was at 9 West Gay Street. But this is the only mention of Smedley as a photographer. His cartes-de-visite are quite scarce and because of this, it is unlikely that he was in business for long. Smedley is listed as a photographer in the 1871 West Chester tax list, recorded at a tradesman’s rate^[2].

The only surviving examples of his work are cartes-de-visite portraits, there are three in the collection of the Chester County History Center^[3]. Curiously, instead of using pre-printed mounts with his name and advertising information printed on the back, he used blank mounts and hand wrote: “E. Smedley, Photographer, No. 9 West Gay St., West Chester. 6 for $1.”

Edmund Smedley had a varied career during his 75 years of life, working as a tailor, salesman, photographer and sexton.

We first find him recorded in the 1850 United States Census for Concord Township, Delaware County, PA as a 39-year-old tailor living with his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Smedley^[4].

By the time the 1860 census was taken, Edmund now has a family including his 27-year-old wife Henrietta Kerns Smedley and their two children George, age 4 and Mary E., 2 months^[5]. The family was then living in West Chester and Edmund worked as a tailor.

In 1866 he advertised as the sole agent in Chester County for patent gas condensing burners^[6]. It was pitched as burning cleanly and giving brilliant light. These burners did not require chimneys that needed to be constantly cleaned^[7].

In 1879 Edmund had again turned to tailoring after his brief photography career and his family was living at 29 East Miner Street in West Chester according to a county directory^[8]. The 1880 U.S. census recorded Edmund as a 71-year-old tailor living with his wife and three daughters on East Miner Street, West Chester^[9].

The last post that he held was as sexton of the First Baptist Church on High Street during the early 1880s. He was fondly remembered as an efficient caretaker in an article in the Daily Local News published August 25, 1948^[10].

He died on July 18, 1885 and was buried in Green Mount Cemetery^[11]. His wife lived to be 95 years old and was laid to rest next to him in 1928. The couple had four children: George Smedley, Mary Elizabeth Smedley Harris, Anna Jane Smedley and Henrietta Malin Smedley.^[12]

© Pamela Powell, 2020