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THE
HISTORIAN’S CORNER
by L. Jane Tracy, Town of
Onondaga Historian
GEORGE N. BARNARD
Civil War Photographer
Buried in Town of Onondaga
It is said that “a picture is worth a
thousand words”. The photos
taken by George N. Barnard were
among the earliest and most
exciting ever seen. George
Barnard was renowned for his
portraits of the Civil War and
of the Great Chicago Fire, but
he is best remembered in the
Town of Onondaga for his photos
of neighborhood youngsters and
groups, taken after his
retirement to Punkin Hollow.
 My interest in George Barnard was first
piqued after I found a copy of a
group picture taken at an outing
in the late 1800’s, with the
caption “Children at Otisco Lake
“. It was such a wonderfully
evocative picture that I
couldn’t forget it – all those
beautiful childhood faces, all
dressed in their best clothes
and their Sunday bonnets. After
several years, I found another
copy of this same photo that had
been in the newspaper when
Jasena Foley, my predecessor as
Historian of the Town of
Onondaga, became intrigued with
the group and set out to find
out who they were.
Mrs. Foley found that in 1898 George
Barnard loaded his camera and
paraphernalia into a horse-drawn
rig outside his Punkin Hollow
home and carried it to Davis
Grove at Otisco Lake when a
group from Gilbert District No.
10 in the Town of Onondaga and
Marble District No. 6 of
Marcellus met there for a picnic
at the end of the school year.
All of the group were identified except one
small member. This little girl
looks to be about 5 or 6 years
old, so would have been born
c.1892 or 3. Maybe someone can
tell us who she is. From left,
back row: Elizabeth Manley, Anna
O’Malley (teacher at Gilbert
School), Myra Bowler, Alice
Marble, Lillian Judge, Lena
Thompson, Lulu Thompson, Murnie
Amidon, “Lil” Kenyon (Marble
district teacher), Louise Amidon,
Louise Field, Jennie Amidon.
Second Row: Ed Manley, Hannah
Bowler, Julius Speich, Elizabeth
Speich, Florence Manley, Merton
Leach, Ralph Fellows,
(unidentified miss), Letta
Thompson, Lois Case, Jennie
Newman, Cynthia Newman. Third
Row: Charles Norris, May Speich,
Cora McNally, Edward Speich,
Lottie Case, Anna Laxton, Nancy
Amidon, Florence Amidon,
Gertrude Amidon, Eva Raymond,
Jennie Case. Front Row (on
ground): Robert McNally, Nellie
Norris, Nettie Amidon, Charles
Ryan, Arlo Case.
George Barnard has been called “one of the
most important and respected
photographers in 19th century
America.” Born in 1820 in
Connecticut, George took up
photography in 1842. We can
follow much of our country’s
history of that era by following
Barnard’s photographs. In 1854
he was in Syracuse and is
credited with the earliest known
images of Clinton Square. In the
1850s he began using the newer
collodian processes and received
a bronze medal from the American
Institute in 1857. In 1860 he
was on the island of Cuba
photographing sugar and
molasses-making for the
stereopticon views, the most
up-to-date visual images of the
day. Next we find Barnard’s
photographs of Lincoln’s
inauguration, taken under the
name of Matthew Brady. Mr. Brady
had become very near-sighted and
now paid others to take the
pictures that bore his name.
Early in the Civil War, Barnard
was at the front using the new
wet plant photography to
photograph the Battle of Bull
Run. From there, he followed
General Sherman on his “March to
the Sea”. (You probably saw many
of Barnard’s photos, credited to
Brady, in the Ken Burns’ TV
documentary on the Civil War.)
After the war, Barnard had a
studio in Chicago where he shot
the ruins of the infamous
Chicago Fire of 1871. Barnard
and his friend, George Eastman,
were made members of the
Rochester Photographic
Association on the same night in
1884 after they introduced dry
plate photography.
In 1893, George and his second wife, Emma
Gilbert, retired to her family’s
farm on Pleasant Valley Road in
the Town of Onondaga. After a
lifetime of documenting the
lives of millions, Barnard
couldn’t give up photography
completely. He set up a small
studio in the old farmhouse and
took pictures of school kids,
family and neighbors. In 1902,
George died and was buried in
the Gilbert family cemetery,
along with his wife.
Their graves were marked only
“Father” and “Mother” and
forgotten by almost everyone.
About 1960, Richard Wright,
president of the Onondaga
Historical Association in
Syracuse, started a research
project into Barnard’s life and
the graves were found. The OHA
placed a new monument on the
grave in 1964. Under a tall
evergreen, with a small American
flag next to the modest block of
granite, it says “George N.
Barnard, 1819-1902. Pioneer in
Photography”.
To further ensure that his grave will not
again be forgotten, a grant was
received from the William G.
Pomeroy Foundation for the
purchase of a historic marker
erected at the Gilbert Cemetery
on Pleasant Valley Road which
reads:
GILBERT CEMETERY
Burial place of many early
settlers, including famed
Civil War photographer,
George N. Barnard.
School picnic at
Davis Grove on
Otisco Lake |
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