John Quincy Adams - A Gallery Of Photographs

John Quincy Adams Daguerreotypes

Below are all known photographs of John Quincy Adams. Most of these have been colorized and enhanced. Full resolution downloads are available for non-commercial use in the downloads section.

John Plumbe daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams

Colorized daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams, quarter plate Daguerreotype Image, Taken at the Washington, D.C. Studio of John Plumbe in 1846.¹

Thomas M. Easterly daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams

Colorized and enhanced daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams, photographer Thomas M. Easterly²

Before and after Thomas M. Easterly daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams

Before and after close up view of the Thomas M. Easterly colorized and enhanced daguerreotype²

Colorized daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams. Photographer: unknown³

Up Close view of the Colorized daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams

Close up view of colorized daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams³

Colorized daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams. Photographer: John Plumbe⁴

Up close view of the John Plumbe John Quincy Adams Daguerreotypes

Before and after close up view of the John Plumbe colorized and enhanced daguerreotype⁴

Meade Brothers daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams

Before and after daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams by Meade Brothers Studio⁵

Bishop and Gray Studio daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams, 1843, Bishop and Gray Studio⁶

Close up view of Bishop and Gray Studio daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams

Before and After with just a little touch up. Much more work is needed on this image. ⁶

Edward Anthony daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams Daguerreotypes

Colorized daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams. Photographer: Edward Anthony. ⁶

Both views of Philip Haas John Quincy Adams Daguerreotypes

1843 daguerreotypes of John Quincy Adams by photographer Philip Haas ⁸ ⁹

Up close view of the Philip Haas daguerreotype photograph of John Quincy Adams

Before and after Philip Hass daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams ⁸

Up close view of the 2017 discovered Philip Haas daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams

Before and after Philip Hass daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams ⁹

Death portrait of John Quincy Adams ¹⁰

Louisa Adams Daguerreotype

Did you know that First Lady Louisa Adams had a daguerreotype photograph made?

Sadly, the photograph itself appears to have been lost to history. However, an engraving created from her daguerreotype survives, giving us what may be the closest glimpse of her true likeness. Let's investigate.

Louisa Adams was listed among the subjects displayed at Mathew Brady's National Gallery, located at 205 and 207 Broadway in New York City, in several advertisements published in *The Evening Post* between May and September 1851.

Even earlier, in the *New York Evening Express* of November 21, 1844 (page 3, column 6), an advertisement for the National Miniature Gallery at 247 Broadway—owned by Anthony, Edwards & Co.—included a listing for a daguerreotype of "Mrs. J. Q. Adams." Edward Anthony would later become Mathew Brady's business partner before entering the photographic supply business with his brother.

A large engraving by Thomas Doney, based on the Anthony daguerreotypes, was later incorporated into the monumental work *United States Senate Chamber*. Louisa Adams appears in the center of the viewing gallery, just beneath the left side of the chandelier. This engraving is preserved in the Library of Congress. In the images below, the first shows an enlarged detail of Louisa Adams taken from the Senate engraving, which was based upon actual daguerreotypes. The second image compares several figures from the engraving—including John Quincy Adams, Albert Gallatin, and Dolley Madison—with their surviving daguerreotypes. These comparisons allow us to evaluate the accuracy of the engravings.

The engraved likenesses closely match the surviving photographs, suggesting that the artists reproduced the daguerreotypes with considerable fidelity. Based on this evidence, we can reasonably conclude that the engraving provides the most accurate surviving likeness of Louisa Adams derived from an actual photograph. The third image is the 1851 *Evening Post* advertisement mentioning Louisa Adams among the subjects exhibited at Brady's gallery. Special thanks to Owen Blevins for his invaluable research on this fascinating subject. Links to the entire Senate image from the Library of Congress is in the comments section.

More info from Owen Blevins (used by permission):

Alas, I believe all the Anthony daguerreotypes were destroyed in a fire in Feb 1852. A history of the National Miniature Gallery at 247 Broadway, New York. Apparently Edward Anthony, Jonas M. Edwards and Howard Chilton started the studio in 1843 as Anthony, Edwards and Chilton. By 1844, the studio was called Anthony, Edwards and Co. By 1846, Anthony was in partnership with J. R. Clark. In 1847, Anthony sold his interest and went into the photographic supply business, so it was only run by J. R. Clark. In 1848, Clark sold it to Edward White In 1850, White sold it to Daniel E. Gavit On Feb 14 1852, fire swept through the gallery on the 4th floor and apparently all but 12 daguerreotypes were destroyed. Gavit was uninsured at the time. Excerpt from the New York Daily Tribune, dated Feb 16 1852, page 4: "Mr. Gavit estimates his loss at about $3,000. This loss falls heavily upon him, as the property destroyed was all he possessed, and he is not insured a dollar. Some time since he met with a similar misfortune; his establishment in Albany having been destroyed, but there he was insured. Mr. G. had a great number of pictures, of which about 600 were of distinguished Americans. These were all destroyed, and as many of the originals are dead, they can never be replaced. He saved only about a dozen pictures in all, besides two medals which had been awarded to him--one by the State Agricultural Society, and the other by the American Institute. We trust to see Mr. G. at work again soon, when all his old friends should give him a lift..." Brady had a habit of making copy daguerreotypes for his own gallery, the one of Andrew Jackson I believe being a prime example (I will have to refresh my memory of the newspaper articles I clipped on who first photographed Andrew Jackson and promoted the image). So, there still might be a daguerreotype of Louisa Adams from his studio out there, either a copy of an Anthony original or one made from a sitting with his own studio. So many daguerreotype studios were lost to fire (I presume due to the volatile chemicals used in the process), it's probably a miracle that those from Brady's gallery survived. So, all I can say is that particular original daguerreotype was probably lost to fire.