Early era photographers got their start in Hannibal
This unidentified actress portrayed one of Sir Jos. Porter’s cousins in the chorus of “H.M.S. Pinafore” by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, which was performed at Mozart Hall, 407-409 Broadway, Hannibal,2 circa 1878-79. This is a Cabinet Card image, produced at the studio of the Deane Brothers, located on the southwest corner of Main and Broadway. There were four Deane Brothers in Hannibal during the 1870s, and each eventually settled in Texas, where they built individual careers as photographers. Photo courtesy of Joseph Haslwanter.
MARY LOU MONTGOMERY
When the Hannibal cast members for the amateur production of “H.M.S. Pinafore” (featured in this column on Jan. 4, 2025) posed for in-costume portraits in mid-to-late 1878 or early 1879, they were unwittingly taking part in the evolution of the photography industry.
Just a few years into the “Cabinet Card Era” of photography, which began circa 1870 with the advent of wet plate cameras, the four Deane brothers of Hannibal, Mo., were evolving into leaders in their field.
Arriving in town with their parents from Carlinville, Ill., during the early years of the 1870s, the young men, Clarence C. Deane, Martin O. Deane, Granville M. Deane, and C.I. Jervis Deane, each in turn, took up the trade of photographer.
In 1875, Granville M. Deane (the third oldest and perhaps the pluckiest of the sons of Nathaniel and Eliza A. Deane) was an apprentice working with J.A. Letton, in business upstairs over *310-312 Broadway. (Letton came to Hannibal circa 1874.)
In 1877, the Deane brothers’ new art gallery opened over the Picken and Harris’ bakery, at 216 Broadway. The following year, on May 6, 1878, the business advertised in the Hannibal Daily Courier that it was making the best work in Northeast Missouri.
Providing this service was no easy task, the advertisement elaborated:
“I have a special artist to make my backgrounds to suit all complexions and dress.
“I devote my whole time to making photographs, having an assistant for making Ferrotypes or Gems.
“I have the best retouchers I could get from Chicago.
“I use none but the best chemicals, and allow no bad work to go out of my gallery.”
During mid-to-late 1878, one or more of the Deane brothers moved the studio to the southwest corner of Broadway and Main. (Documentation shows that both Granville and Clarence operated out of the Main and Broadway location.)
It was in this location, according to the address printed on the aforementioned Cabinet Cards, that the photo series was taken of the actors in the amateur production of “H.M.S. Pinafore.”
Granville Deane left Hannibal circa 1879, in order to take a job as manager of E.P. Roe’s Gulf City Art Rooms at Galveston.
Charles C. Deane, his wife and a young son remained in Hannibal into the early 1880s.
By October 1881, Granville had relocated from Texas to Kansas City, where, in conjunction with a brother (possibly M.O. Deane) he established Dean Bros., on the third floor of 615 Main Street.
C.C. Deane
Clarence Curtis (C.C.) Deane, who was 98 years old during the summer of 1947, told a Miami News feature writer that his life’s work was photography, a profession he practiced fervently in Missouri, Texas and later in Miami, Florida.
Born in Virginia in 1852, before the state was divided in two, and later educated in Marcupion County, Illinois, C.C. Dean moved to Hannibal, Mo., during the early years of the 1870s, along with his parents and three younger brothers.
His father, Nathaniel E. Dean, was a house-painter, and later a grocer, first settling at the junction of Collier and New London Road, on Hannibal’s west end, and later moving to 110 Market, near what was known as the Wedge.
Nathaniel Deane and his wife, Eliza’s four sons as of the 1870 census:
Clarence C. Deane, born in 1852, was about 18 years old. (died 1948)
Martin O. Deane, born in 1855, was about 15 years old. (died in 1901)
Granville M. Deane, born in 1857, was about 13 years old. (died 1949)
C.I. Jervis Deane, born in 1860, was about 10 years old. (died 1951)
All four sons ultimately took up the trade of photography during the “Cabinet Card” era the industry.
The Cabinet Card, according to Wikipedia: “was a style of photograph that was widely used for photographic portraiture after 1870. It consisted of a thin photograph mounted on a card typically measuring 4 1/4 by 6 1/2 inches.”
The movement of the four brothers can be traced via various newspapers and city directory listings, which include their virtues and foibles.
In 1876 (the year of the nation’s centennial,) Clarence C. Deane of Hannibal was united in marriage to Maggie R. Carswell, born in 1854, at Barry, in Pike County, Ill.
By 1879, (at the time of the production of the “H.M.S. Pinafore”) the Deane brothers were operating their own studio upstairs, on the southwest corner of Broadway and Main. The youngest brother, J.C.S. Deane, was working as an apprentice at the studio.
That same year, Granville Deane, then about 22, moved to Galveston, Texas, where, by September 1879, he was working as manager of E.P. Roe’s Gulf City Art Room.
He soon left Galveston, however, and returned Missouri, where, circa the fall of 1879, he opened a photo studio in conjunction with one of his brothers (possibly Martin O. Deane) under their family’s surname: Deane Bros., 615 Main, third floor. The following year he expanded the business to the entire three-story building, and (presumably Granville) told the Kansas City Journal for its Oct. 8, 1881 edition:
“I have lately added an imported 3-A Dallmeyer Lense, known to be the finest in the world and the only one in Kansas City, with which I produce that exquisitely fine, soft, fleshy appearance which has been so much admired in my later photographs. I have now over 1,000 different positions on exhibition at my Studio, from which my patrons can choose.”
During that same era, youngest brother, C.I. Jervis Deane, after completing his apprenticeship in his brother’s Hannibal shop, made a trip to Europe, traveling through England, Scotland and Wales, for the purpose of studying the different styles of photographic work. (Source: “History of McLennan Falls,” accessed via The Portal to Texas History.) After returning to the United States, C.I. Jervis Dean ultimately opened a studio in Waco, Texas.
Clarence C. Deane continued to operate his Hannibal studio into the early 1880s. He, his wife and their young son made their home at 201 Broadway, in the same multi-story frame building as the photo studio. Two doors to the west, at 205 Broadway, lived Deane’s parents, N.E. and E.A., who operated a sewing machine company in that building.
Granville, who advertised frequently in Kansas City newspapers, boasting of his business success, quite unexpectedly left Kansas City.
On May 31, 1882, The Kansas City Journal announced: “(G.M.) Deane, the Photographer, Suddenly Leaves the City and a Number of Creditors.”
“It was learned that the departure had been made early yesterday morning, and that it was a case of premeditated flight, as an assistant states that for two or three days past Deane has been shipping his fixtures, piano, etc., to points in Texas and elsewhere.”
In July 1882, Nathaniel E. Dean, father of the four young photographers, died in Hannibal. Records show that he was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery.
Granville’s three brothers ultimately followed Granville’s lead, leaving Missouri behind, and each settling on his own accord in Texas.
For more information on “The Brothers Deane,” go to: https://cabinetcardphotographers.blogspot.com/2017/09/deane-brothers.html
Deane’s Photo Parlor, 216 Broadway, advertised in the Hannibal Daily Courier on May 6, 1878. newspapers.com
Deane’s Photo Parlors advertised in the Dec. 8, 1877, edition of the Hannibal Herald newspaper. newspapers.com
‘The Famous Dean’ was published in the Kansas City Journal, Oct. 23, 1881. newspapers.com
Mary Lou Montgomery retired as editor of the Hannibal (Mo.) Courier-Post in 2014. She researches and writes narrative-style stories about the people who served as building blocks for this region’s foundation. Books available on Amazon.com by this author include but are not limited to: "The Notorious Madam Shaw," "Pioneers in Medicine from Northeast Missouri,” “Hannibal’s ‘West End,’” “Oakwood: West of Hannibal,” and “St. Mary’s Avenue District.” Montgomery can be reached at Montgomery.editor@yahoo.com Her collective works can be found at www.maryloumontgomery.com
