George R. Parker
( – )
What Is in a Name?
Did George Parker know when he rented the studio over William Butler’s law office in 1860, that another photographer also named Parker had rented the same location in 1858! Here the newcomer faced the competition of two well established studios in West Chester of Nathan Parker and Eber Woodward.
George Parker was recorded on June 26, 1860 Federal Census in West Chester, PA[1]. He is listed as a 23-year-old ambrotypist living in the boarding house operated by Daniel and Eliza Walton.
There is only one advertisement on file at the Chester County History Center for him in the Village Record on August 14, 1860:
“AMBROTYPES For 25 cents. Geo. R. Parker still continues to take those beautiful AMBROTYPES for TWENTY-FIVE CENTS, and upwards. Gallery opposite the Old Depot over Wm. Butler’s Office, Gay Street, West Chester.”[2]
There is no evidence of George Parker beyond the period between June and August 1860 in West Chester.
© Pamela C. Powell, 2019.
