A 5"x7" glass plate negative, portrait photograph of John Merchant, who homesteaded in Center Township, Butler County Nebraska in 1870. He is wearing a full beard and mustache, his long gray hair parted at the side and tucked behind his ear, sitting at a cloth-covered table, reading a newspaper. He is wearing a 3-piece suit and dark shirt.
Thorpe Opera House Foundation/Boston Studio Project
Local Accession Number
00035720000
Source
Original format: 5"x7" glass plate negative from the Boston Studio Project collection.
Historical Notes
John Merchant was 94 years old when he posed for this photograph taken by Harvey Boston. John was born in Roxbury, New York, April 13, 1807, the son of John Merchant (b.ca. 1770). He married Sarah Louis Reynolds, December 3, 1842, in New York. They had seven children. John traveled west and homesteaded in Center Township, Butler County, Nebraska, in 1870. At least two of his children lived in Butler County, but his wife was never listed on Nebraska census records. John's son, Bion, is listed on the Nebraska 1880 Census, living with his father in Center Township. In the Nebraska 1900 Census John is living in Butler County with his daughter Maggie and her husband Fred Whipple. John died June 1, 1903, in Elgin, Antelope County, Nebraska.
