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I had grown up knowing of Everett George Cummings as the relative whose clientele as a photographer included members of his own family and of course, residents from the communities in which he lived. But until I began researching Everett's history, I had no idea of the full scope of his work as a photographer had been left for future generations to learn from and appreciate. In the 18-odd years Everett worked as a photographer in the Pacific Northwest, Everett George "E.G.," Cummings documented not just his own community life, but also the Nez Perce and other indigenous populations included...
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I had grown up knowing of Everett George Cummings as the relative whose clientele as a photographer included members of his own family and of course, residents from the communities in which he lived. But until I began researching Everett's history, I had no idea of the full scope of his work as a photographer had been left for future generations to learn from and appreciate. In the 18-odd years Everett worked as a photographer in the Pacific Northwest, Everett George "E.G.," Cummings documented not just his own community life, but also the Nez Perce and other indigenous populations included in the Plateau Native American cultural group as well. Numerous examples of his work can be found in both the Idaho and Washington State University collections, many of which can be viewed on their respective websites. The Idaho Historical Society has examples and Everett's photographs have been represented in various museum exhibitions, such as the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane, Washington. Historians collect Everett's photographs, and I can imagine that in the process of simply earning a living, he never would have given a thought, to the notion his work would one day gain such significance. But because of his rather expansive role in preserving our past thru the lens of his camera, Everett's legacy is recognized in an important historical context.
Everett's parents George Cummings and Almira Temple had come to Mitchell County, Iowa from Wisconsin around 1853, with their firstborn William. Of their five known children, Everett was the youngest and included his siblings, William, Caroline, Emma, and Mary. His older brother William married in 1878 starting his family and his sisters Caroline "Callie" and Emma married into the Van Camp family when both died in 1883. Emma passed away in January and Caroline died that December following childbirth. His sister Mary married Barnett Howe in 1880 and gave birth to their son Hale in 1883. But after thirty-odd years living in Iowa, Everett's parents now seemed intent on settling in California. A majority of the family packed their belongings and traveled west sometime in 1884 by train, with the 1885 Washington Territorial census showing their new residency in the Pacific Northwest. George's father Josiah (Everett's Grandfather) migrated to Walla Walla by 1870 and died there in 1874, with a number of his children remaining in the area. One can imagine, the pressure George's siblings must have exerted upon him, to stay in Washington instead of traveling on with his family to California as originally planned.
According to one family account, Everett graduated from Hillsdale College in Michigan, earning a degree in accounting and business management in June 1882. But the college archivist indicates "there is no evidence he graduated from Hillsdale but rather, took junior and senior preparatory classes affiliated with the college." It appears his school records, however, were either lost or misplaced with the passage of time, because his Diploma is apparently still in the possession of his family today. But Hillsdale College did mention that Everett received some scholarship support from Iowa resident George W. Nafus. Everett is later mentioned in an 1885 issue of "The Advance", a school publication that states: "E.G. Cummings is a photographer at Mitchell, Iowa", documenting his entry into the profession. There are no photographs from this region attributed to Everett, possibly because he honed his skills as an apprentice with a local studio first, before introducing himself as a fully independent photographer in the Pacific Northwest. After arriving in Wallula, Washington Territory, Everett opened a photography studio on the second floor of a mercantile owned and operated by his father sometime in 1885 and for his first year of operation, used his father's initials, "G. J. Cummings" instead of his own. The 1889 issue of the Wallula business directory "The Gazetter", is currently the earliest known reference of "E.G. Cummings", working as a photographer in the Pacific Northwest. And a newspaper article appearing in the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, by Mrs. J.C. Mull, describes life in Wallula in 1889 when she was a girl, and tells us Everett would take and finish one dozen photos for the sum of $1.50.
On 22 Jul 1886, Everett married Sylvia Emma Lambdin in Wallula, Wahington Territory. The ceremony was conducted in the only church this community of about 800 had at the time, by the Baptist, "Minister of the Word of God", John C. Steele and witnessed by the parents of both parties and various family members. Everett and Sylvie had four children. Daughter Mertie Irene born in 1888, was their only child born in Washington Territory. Their other three children, Ruby June born in 1894, Merl Lambdin in 1895, and Franciel Laurel in 1906, were all born in Lewiston, Idaho. Everett lost his wife in 1914 and outlived two of his four children, when daughter Mertie died in 1927 at the age of 39, followed by his son Merle in 1934 at the age of 38, the year before his own death in 1935 at the age of 74. In addition to his daughters Ruby and Franciel, Everett was survived by eleven grandchildren.
In 1889, Everett moved his photography studio from Wallula, Washington to Athena, Oregon for approximately one year. Then the August 27, 1891, issue of The Lewiston Teller newspaper, indicates Everett and his brother William moved there concurrently, with their purchase of the Fleming Photography Gallery. The paper introduces Everett and William as the "Cummings Brothers" photographers from Athena, Oregon and welcomes both men as new residents of Lewiston. A follow-up ad from the September 10 edition, states the brothers began soliciting patronage of the locals, followed by an advertising blitz lasting several months. Their new gallery was located on Main Street and according to Everett's daughter Franciel, her uncle William had financed the entire move. A short-term business collaboration lasting not much longer than one year would have ended when William became the principal of the Lewiston high school, starting with the 1892 fall term. Everett subsequently moved his studio to a new location on Main Street, across from Vollmer's Bank and just above George Lake's jewelry and watch repair. This second studio location appears in an 1899 photo, showing the Ringling Brothers Circus arriving in Lewiston with presumably, his open window above George Lake's sign. Everett's successful photography studio in Lewiston, enabled him to earn a living solely thru photography, until selling his business to the Burns Brothers from Colfax, Washington in March of 1903. Everett would never again open another photography studio and years later, Franciel asked her father why he gave up photography as a lively hood. His rather tongue-in-cheek reply was because he had been gaining too much weight and needed more physical activity.
Everett developed and maintained his photography business in the Lewiston area, by seeking the patronage of its residents, capturing images of the town and surrounding landscape, her citizens, and photographing local events. Specific examples include photographs of the steamboat Annie Faxon, taken before and after her disastrous boiler explosion on April 14, 1893, his photograph of the Empire Drill Team also in 1893, the Lewiston football team vs. Pullman (now Washington State University) on December 5, 1896, and his 1898 photo of the Lapwai Baseball team. He also traveled to nearby communities such as Cottonwood, with a photography tent and advertised his cabinet photos at a cost of $1.00 per dozen. Although Everett's primary source of income was from non-native residents, he gradually became a photographer the Indigenous population preferred to patronize, out of a field of perhaps a half dozen, working in Lewiston during his years there. Several reasons he may have been favored by the Nimiipuu, (Nez Perce), seems best described by the respect Everett showed their community in part, by learning to speak the Nez Perce language, a Sahaptin dialect well enough to gain their trust and make them feel welcomed into his studio. Everett is also regarded by historians, as the photographer who most reliably captured the Plateau Native American culture in their transition into assimilation, never pressuring his subjects to dress in a manner conforming to racial stereotypes. Instead, Everett provided this clientele the same courtesy he did for any other patron, by respecting their decision to be portrayed as they wished to be seen. As mentioned, Everett did not confine his photography to the studio and often packed his gear into the field to record more images of life on the Lapwai Reservation and also landscape views of the Lewiston/Clarkson Valley, than did his contemporaries. Everett was also involved in Lewiston politics and in 1896, was selected as a Republican delegate representing the Lewiston precinct at their primary convention.
One month after selling his Photography business to the Burns Brothers in 1903, Everett purchased the Grocery and Feed Supply House from W.R. Wyatt in April, which also included the agency for the Standard Oil Co. in Lewiston and that July, sold half his interest in the Grocery part of the business to O. H. Bass out of Missouri. According to the Lewiston Teller newspaper dated 30 Apr 1907, Everett had by then moved his family to Coeur d'Alene, pursuing the development of a mining concern, and the 7 Dec 1907 issue of the Colville Examiner of Washington, confirms Everett and his family, were indeed residents of Coeur d'Alene during this period. In 1908, the family moved to Gardena, Washington, where a new irrigation project had opened and Everett farmed alfalfa, maintained a garden and opened a fruit tree nursery. In 1913, the family packed up and moved to Enterprise, Oregon and bought a farm there. The following year, Everett lost his wife Sylvie and in 1916, his daughter Ruby and son Merl were both married. Everett's oldest daughter Mertie had married in 1908 and with his two middle children now starting their own families, he and Franciel moved to the town of Enterprise, where he worked in a sawmill into 1918. This was also the year Everett moved back to Athena, Oregon, and married Harriett Culp, who died just two years later in 1920. Everett moved to Milton, Oregon, and then to Port Angeles, Washington in about 1923. His youngest daughter Franciel was married in 1926 and Everett married his third wife Lorene Conn in 1931, at the age of 69. While living in Port Angeles, he worked as a watchman at a paper mill for approximately 10 years, until retiring in early 1934. There is conflicting information about Everett's final days, but his death certificate states his last residence was Port Angeles, although he passed away in Enterprise on 25 Oct 1935. Everett enjoyed a years-long association with the Masons and notably, attended an 1896 lodge meeting in Boise, becoming an elected officer as "Grand Sword Bearer". His funeral was conducted at the Booth-Bollman Funeral Home and the Masons were likely involved, in the ceremony. Everett is interred at the Mountain View Cemetery in Walla Walla, Washington beside his first wife Sylvia and I assume his third wife Lorene, then moved back to her hometown in Indiana until her own passing in 1954, where she was laid to rest as Lorene Cummings.
As a final note, the original sale of public lands as recorded by the Bureau of Land Management shows Everett purchased 160 acres in Walla Walla County in Washington, on 2 Sep 1889, and an additional 160 acres in Latah County, Idaho on 11 Jun 1907.
Scott Adell
2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Credits:
Archives West, Orbus Cascade Alliance, Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections.
Idaho Historical Society.
Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, Spokane, Washington.
Library of Congress, Chronicling America, Historic Newspapers, (1785-1925).
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records.
Federal and State Census Reports, (1880-1930).
Excerpts from two interviews with Franciel Kimble (May 1991 & Feb. 1992), conducted by Richard Storch.
Hillsdale College of Michigan archives.
"The Advance", a Hillsdale College of Michigan publication, for students and alumni; (Vol 2, Weds, Nov. 4, 1885, No. 4), Google Books.
"The Gazetter", the Wallula, W.T. business directory of 1889, courtesy of Richard Storch.
"Lewiston, A Pictorial History" by Gene Mueller, published by the Lewiston Chamber of Commerce, 1986.
"Biographies of Western Photographers, A Reference Guide to Photographers Working in the 19th Century American West", 1997 edition by Carl Mautz.
"Early Marriages of Walla Walla County, 1862-1899, Washington Territory and State". Compiled by the Walla Walla Valley Genealogical Society and published by the Society Walla Walla, Washington, 1973.
Story of Wallula in 1889, from The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, by Mrs. J.C. Moll.
All photographs courtesy of; Scott Adell, Richard Storch (from Franciel Kimble's photo album), Sydney Lansing, Tiffany Andriesen, Robert O. Brown, and the WSU digital library collection, (the football photo) with their consent.
My gratitude to Carl Mautz, author of the above-mentioned book for introducing me to his close friend, Historian Richard Storch in December 2017, ([email protected]). With over 30 years devoted to the study of photographers of the Plateau Indians (Interior Pacific Northwest), between 1860-1920, Richard generously contributed his years of research to my family project, making such a detailed accounting of Everett's life and career possible. Thank you, gentlemen, for your help and support. |
