Fred Hartsook (26 October 1876 – 30 September 1930) was an American
photographer
A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs.
Duties and types of photographers
As in other ...
and owner of a
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
studio chain described as "the largest photographic business in the world" at the time,
[McGroarty, p. 760.] who counted
Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...
,
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
,
Mary Pickford
Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...
, and sitting President
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
among his celebrity clients. He later became the owner of the Hartsook Inn, a resort in
Humboldt County, and two ranches in Southern California on which he reared prized
Holstein cattle
Holstein Friesians (often shortened to Holsteins in North America, while the term Friesians is often used in the UK and Ireland) are a breed of dairy cattle that originated in the Dutch provinces of North Holland and Friesland, and Schleswig-Hols ...
. Hartsook was married to Bess Hesby, queen of the
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
Pan-Pacific Exposition of 1915.
Early life and career as photographer
Fred Hartsook was born on 26 October 1876 in
Marion, Indiana to John Hartsook and Abbie, née Gorham. He was born into a family of photographers and studio owners, his father and two uncles were all successful in the business and his grandfather had been the first photographer to open a studio in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. According to a 1921 profile by
John S. McGroarty, "the first Hartsooks
ook
Ook, OoK or OOK may refer to:
* Ook Chung (born 1963), Korean-Canadian writer from Quebec
* On-off keying, in radio technology
* Toksook Bay Airport (IATA code OOK), in Alaska
* Ook!, an esoteric programming language based on Brainfuck
* Ook, th ...
up the profession when it was in the infancy of development with the old
daguerrotype
Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photography, photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process.
Invented by Loui ...
and the first
wet plate
The collodion process is an early photographic process. The collodion process, mostly synonymous with the "collodion wet plate process", requires the photographic material to be coated, sensitized, exposed, and developed within the span of about ...
processes."
After graduating from high school at age sixteen Hartsook was apprenticed by his uncle as a
civil engineer, but spent most of his time in his father's studio. He moved to Salt Lake City, Utah and married Florence Newcomb, 12 September 1901. Flossie came from a family of photographers. She operated her own studio in Vernal, Utah in 1906. Flossie served as Fred's assistant for their traveling photographic studio throughout the Utah territory. They had one daughter; Frances born 25 June 1902. Fred and family then set out to establish themselves in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, arriving sometime after 1906.
Initially, Hartsook operated as an "itinerant shutterbug,
anderingall over the state, his team of
mules pulling a homemade
darkroom."
[KPCC.] Later he opened two studios, in
Santa Ana and
Santa Barbara, but eventually closed them in order to open a studio on 636
South Broadway in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
.
Hartsook's success as a photographer and studio owner allowed him to expand into other cities along the Pacific Coast, including
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
and
Oakland. In 1921, McGroarty gives the number of studios as 20 and describes it as the "largest photographic business in the world".
Bill Robertson, director of the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services, cited by
KPCC in 2009, mentions 30 studios.
Even if the bulk of the business came from everyday studio portraiture, Hartsook gained prominence through his celebrity clients, which included
silent era Hollywood actors such as
Mary Pickford
Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...
,
Lillian Gish, and
Carlyle Blackwell
Carlyle Blackwell (January 20, 1884 – June 17, 1955) was an American silent film actor, director and producer.
Early years
Blackwell was born in Troy, Pennsylvania. He studied at Cornell University before J. Stewart Blackton discovered him an ...
, other celebrities such as pilot
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
, entrepreneur
Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...
, and opera singer
Geraldine Farrar
Alice Geraldine Farrar (February 28, 1882 – March 11, 1967) was an American lyric soprano who could also sing dramatic roles. She was noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." She had a large following a ...
, and politicians like
House leaders
Champ Clark
James Beauchamp Clark (March 7, 1850March 2, 1921) was an American politician and attorney who represented Missouri in the United States House of Representatives and served as Speaker of the House from 1911 to 1919.
Born in Kentucky, he establis ...
and
Joseph Gurney Cannon
Joseph Gurney Cannon (May 7, 1836 – November 12, 1926) was an American politician from Illinois and leader of the Republican Party. Cannon served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1903 to 1911, and many consid ...
.
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
Prints & Photographs Division
online repository
accessed 14 July 2009. McGroarty describes a 40-minute sitting with President
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
in September 1919 as "the first formal sitting since Mr. Wilson became president."
Also in 1919, Fred Hartsook married Bess Hesby, who in 1915 was "Miss Liberty" at the
Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. They honeymooned in a cabin six miles (10 km) south of
Garberville in the
redwood forest
''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...
of
Humboldt County, California.
Later life as rancher and resort owner
The success of his photographic business allowed Fred Hartsook to acquire three properties in California and take up life as a rancher and resort owner. In addition to 3,000 acres (12.1 km
2) of pastureland at the mouth of
Red Rock Canyon in
Kern County
Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield.
Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county sp ...
, Hartsook also owned a 41-acre (0.16 km
2) "country home and ranch"
[McGroarty, p. 761.] in Lankershim (now
North Hollywood
North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...
), where he raised prize-winning
purebred
Purebreds are " cultivated varieties" of an animal species achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be "pedigreed". Purebreds breed true-to-type which means the ...
Holstein cattle
Holstein Friesians (often shortened to Holsteins in North America, while the term Friesians is often used in the UK and Ireland) are a breed of dairy cattle that originated in the Dutch provinces of North Holland and Friesland, and Schleswig-Hols ...
as well as
Toggenburg milk goats and "big type Poland China
hogs".
['']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'': "Farm and Tractor Sweepstakes Again Goes to Hartsook Herd", 13 August 1922; accessed 14 July 2009. McGroarty notes that Hartsook's training as a civil engineer helped him develop his properties. Also in keeping with his past as mule driver, "it
asnot uncommon for Mr. Hartsook to pose some of the world's noted people one day and be driving a big mule team on his ranch the next."
In the early 1920s the Hartsooks also purchased their honeymoon cabin and extended it to a resort comprising 37 acres (0.15 km
2) of pristine redwood forests, the Hartsook Inn.
In 1926 the resort received its own post office and Hartsook, California became an official postal designation.
["Postal authorities established Hartsook post office 6.5 miles south of Garberville in 1926 and moved it 0.5-mile north in 1938, when they changed the name to Richardson Grove; the name 'Hartsook' was for a resort operator." – David L. Durham: California's Geographic Names; p. 64. Quill Driver Books, 1998. ] At that time the resort was a major attraction for Hollywood celebrities and counted Mary Pickford and
Bing Crosby among its guests.
In August 1927 the Hartsook Inn burned down in a forest fire,
['']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'': "Hartsook Inn Razed by Flames", 10 August 1927; accessed 14 July 2009. but was rebuilt and reopened shortly thereafter. In Spring 1928, Hartsook's photographic business went into receivership and was sold in an auction in January 1929.
['']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'': "Notice of the bankrupt auction sale of the Fred Hartsook, Inc.", 20 January 1929; accessed 14 July 2009. On 30 September 1930, Fred Hartsook died of a heart attack in
Burbank, California, shortly before his 54th birthday.
['']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'': "Hartsook's Last Rites Conducted", p. A3, 5 October 1930; accessed 14 July 2009.['']Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'': Fred Hartsook obituary, 8 October 1930.['']The Van Nuys News
Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.
History
In 1909, t ...
'': "Death Summons Fred Hartsook", p. 1, 3 October 1930. Bess Hartsook outlived her husband by forty-six years and operated the Hartsook Inn until 1938, when it first went into receivership and then burned down again, this time due to a kitchen fire. Fred and Bess Hartsook had three children: Helen, Frederick, and Delyte. Fred Hartsook also had a daughter, Francis, from a previous marriage.
Beyond the short-lived postal designation, the Hartsook name is memorialized in a street in the
San Fernando Valley, running along the former Lankershim property. In close proximity is Hesby Street, named after Bess Hesby Hartsook.
In Humboldt County, Hartsook Creek,
a tributary of the
South Fork Eel River
The South Fork Eel River is the largest tributary of the Eel River in north-central California in the United States. The river flows north from Laytonville to Dyerville/Founders' Grove where it joins the Eel River. The South Fork drains a long ...
, and a redwood tree called "the Hartsook Giant" remind visitors of the family name.
['']North Coast Journal
The ''North Coast Journal'' ("The Journal") is an alternative weekly newspaper serving Humboldt County, California. ''The Journal'' is published in Eureka, California and includes coverage of the arts, news, personages, and politics of the regi ...
'': "Hartsook Giant May Tumble", Vol. IX, Issue 1, January 1998
online version
accessed 14 July 2009. The Hartsook Inn was rebuilt and survived under a succession of owners (and another fire in 1973) until the 1990s, when the last operator sold the property to the
Save the Redwoods League
Save the Redwoods League is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and restore coast redwood (''Sequoia sempervirens'') and giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees through the preemptive purchase of development rights ...
after threatening to log the Giant to stave off bankruptcy.
['']North Coast Journal
The ''North Coast Journal'' ("The Journal") is an alternative weekly newspaper serving Humboldt County, California. ''The Journal'' is published in Eureka, California and includes coverage of the arts, news, personages, and politics of the regi ...
'': "Hartsook Giant Saved", Vol. IX, Issue 9, 3 September 1998
online version
accessed 14 July 2009.
Gallery
Photographs copyrighted by Hartsook Photo, S.F.–L.A. (San Francisco & Los Angeles).
File:Carlyle Blackwell by Hartsook Studio cph3b05772u.jpg, Carlyle Blackwell
Carlyle Blackwell (January 20, 1884 – June 17, 1955) was an American silent film actor, director and producer.
Early years
Blackwell was born in Troy, Pennsylvania. He studied at Cornell University before J. Stewart Blackton discovered him an ...
, 1915
File:ChampClark.jpg, Champ Clark
James Beauchamp Clark (March 7, 1850March 2, 1921) was an American politician and attorney who represented Missouri in the United States House of Representatives and served as Speaker of the House from 1911 to 1919.
Born in Kentucky, he establis ...
, 1915
File:Geraldine Farrar3.jpg, Geraldine Farrar
Alice Geraldine Farrar (February 28, 1882 – March 11, 1967) was an American lyric soprano who could also sing dramatic roles. She was noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." She had a large following a ...
, 1915
File:Lillian_Gish_1.jpg, Lillian Gish, 1915
File:Blanche Sweet by Hartsook, 1915 (LOC cph.3b05769).jpg, Blanche Sweet
Sarah Blanche Sweet (June 18, 1896 – September 6, 1986) was an American silent film actress who began her career in the earliest days of the Hollywood motion picture film industry.
Early life
Born Sarah Blanche Sweet (though her first nam ...
, 1915
File:Mack Sennett 1916.jpg, Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American film actor, director, and producer, and studio head, known as the 'King of Comedy'.
Born in Danville, Quebec, in 1880, he started in films in the ...
, 1916
Charlotte Burton 1916.jpg, Charlotte Burton
Charlotte E. Burton (May 30, 1881 – March 28, 1942) was an American silent film actress.
Career
Born in San Francisco, Burton was signed by the American Film Manufacturing Company in 1912 where she worked for several years. She join ...
, 1916
File:Mary Pickford-Hartsook.jpg, Mary Pickford
Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...
, 1918
File:Henry ford 1919.jpg, Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...
, 1919
File:Charles Lindbergh by Fred Hartsook (LOC cph.3a15443).jpg, Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
, 1927
Notes
References
*
John Steven McGroarty: Los Angeles from the Mountains to the Sea, vol. 3, pp. 760–761; American Historical Society, 1921
Google Books versionaccessed 14 July 2009.
*
KPCC: "Street Stories: Hartsook Street/Hesby Street," broadcast 18 January 2009
online transcriptaccessed 14 July 2009.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartsook, Fred
Ranchers from California
1876 births
1930 deaths
People from Marion, Indiana
Photographers from California
Photographers from Indiana
20th-century American photographers