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Samuel A. Bemis Collection
Collection Description:
A large collection of papers that document the life, interests and activities of Dr. Samuel A. Bemis who lived from around 1793 to 1881. While the papers are centered on one individual, they are important to the State of New Hampshire due to his role as a “Renaissance Yankee.”
Bemis certainly was eclectic in his interests and taste as this unique collection of primary sources documents. He was America’s first photographer and produced the earliest known accurate sketch and photograph of the Old Man of the Mountain. The newly donated papers include detailed records for three-hundred-fifty daguerreotype exposures. His day job was as a dentist in Boston but he also worked in several other trades and crafts as well as businesses. Early in his career he made clocks and watches. Some of his watch papers are in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society and some of his tools are in the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit. The papers include a wide variety of materials including letters, sketches, invoices, receipts and diaries. Subjects include dentistry, art collecting, inventions, fly fishing, fine dining, wine, literature, politics, finance and business, railroad construction, road construction (especially of the Tenth Mountain Turnpike - the road through Crawford Notch, tourism, ice house management techniques, timber thieves, weather, genealogy, fruit farming, quarrying, bird study, Christmas gifts, etc.
Managing Organization:
Conway Public Library >>
Geographical Focus:
Town: Conway
Time Period:
1793-1881
Collection Size:
9 linear feet
