Fredricks, Charles DeForest

BORN: 11 December 1823, Manhattan, New York, New York
DIED: 25 May 1894, Newark, Essex, New Jersey

ACTIVE:
Travelled as a daguerreotypist throughout South America, with studios in Belem, Montevideo & Buenos Aires, 1843–1852
Fredricks & Burgess, 223 King Street, Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, 1853
46 Rue Basse du Rempart, Paris, France, 1853–1855
170 Elm Street, New York, New York, New York, 1854–1855
Gurney & Fredricks, 349 Broadway, New York, New York, New York, 1854–1856
Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1856
349 Broadway, New York, New York, New York, 1856–1857
585 Broadway, New York, New York, New York, August 1856–1860
585–587 Broadway, New York, New York, New York, November 1857–1861
Havana, Cuba, 1857
Fredricks & Co., 136 Bowery, New York, New York, New York, 1859–1863
Charles D. Fredricks & Co., 587 Broadway, New York, New York, New York, 1861–1869
Fredricks & Co., 949 Broadway, New York, New York, New York, 1863–1867
Fredricks & Co., 179 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, New York, 1863–1867
Charles D. Fredricks & Co., 585–587 Broadway, New York, New York, New York, 1869–1877
Charles D. Fredricks & Co., 1134 Broadway, New York, New York, New York, 1873–1874
388 Bowery, New York, New York, New York, 1874–1876
Charles D. Fredricks & Co., 770 Broadway, New York, New York, New York, 1877–1894*

*Some sources say that Fredricks retired in 1889, but his studio continued in operation under that name at least until his death.

Not to be confused with Charles's nephew, also named Charles, who was a photographer in Brooklyn (also on Broadway), starting in the 1880s.

Photo: Anthony's Photographic Bulletin, Vol. XXV (1894), p. 237

Charles DeForest Fredricks (December 11, 1823 – May 25, 1894) was an American photographer.

Charles D. Fredricks was born in New York City on December 11, 1823. He learned the art of the daguerreotype from Jeremiah Gurney in New York, while he worked as a casemaker for Edward Anthony. In 1843, at the suggestion of his brother, Fredricks sailed for Angostura, today Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela. His business took him to Pará, Rio Grande do Sul, Montevideo, Buenos Aires. He enjoyed great success in South America, remaining there until some time in the early 1850s.

Following a brief period in Charleston, South Carolina, Fredricks moved to Paris in 1853. Here he became the first photographer to create life-sized portraits, which artists (like Jules-Émile Saintin) were hired to color using pastel.

On his return to New York City, he rejoined Jeremiah Gurney, though it is not clear whether he was initially a partner or an employee. By 1854, he had developed an early process for enlarging photographs. His partnership with Gurney ended in 1855.

During the latter half of the decade he operated a studio in Havana. Here he received awards for his photographic oil colors and watercolors. During the 1860s he operated a studio on Broadway that was noted for its cartes de visites. In the early 1860s, Charles Fredricks personally photographed John Wilkes Booth (the assassin of President Lincoln) on several occasions at his studio.

He retired from photography in 1889 and died in Newark, New Jersey, five years later, on May 25, 1894.

—Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_D._Fredricks)

NY0099A – Unknown Young Woman, Cabinet Card, Charles DeForest Fredricks, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, 770 Broadway, New York, NY, c1880s

NY0099B – Photographer Back Stamp, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, 770 Broadway, New York, NY, c1880s

NY0089A – Unknown Young Woman, Cabinet Card, Charles DeForest Fredricks, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, 770 Broadway, New York, NY, 1887

NY0089B – Photographer Back Stamp, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, 770 Broadway, Cor. 9th Street,
New York, NY, 1887

NY0070A – Unknown Girl, Cabinet Card, Charles DeForest Fredricks, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery,
770 Broadway, New York, NY, 1889

NY0070B – Photographer Back Stamp, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, 770 Broadway, Cor. 9th Street,
New York, NY, 1889

NY0074A – Unknown Girl, Cabinet Card, Charles DeForest Fredricks, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery,
770 Broadway, New York, NY, 1889

NY0091A – Unknown Young Woman, Cabinet Card, Charles DeForest Fredricks, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, 770 Broadway, New York, NY, 1889

NY0091B – Photographer Back Stamp, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, 770 Broadway, Cor. 9th Street,
New York, NY, 1889

NY0091A – "Kate F. Donnelly," Cabinet Card, Charles DeForest Fredricks, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery,
770 Broadway, New York, NY, 1890

NY0091B – Photographer Back Stamp, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, 770 Broadway, Cor. 9th Street,
New York, NY, 1889

NY0032A – Unknown Young Woman, Cabinet Card, Charles DeForest Fredricks, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, 770 Broadway, New York, NY, 1891

NY0032B – Photographer Back Stamp, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, 770 Broadway, Cor. 9th Street,
New York, NY, 1891

NY0090A – Unknown Young Woman, Cabinet Card, Charles DeForest Fredricks, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, 770 Broadway, New York, NY, 1891

NY0090B – Photographer Back Stamp, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, 770 Broadway, Cor. 9th Street,
New York, NY, 1891

NY0081A – Unknown Man, Cabinet Card, Charles DeForest Fredricks, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, 770 Broadway, New York, NY, c1892–1894

NY0081B – Photographer Back Stamp, Fredricks' Knickerbocker Family Portrait Gallery, 770 Broadway, New York, NY, c1892–1894

Robert Taft, Photography and the American Scene, p. 131

The Photographic and Fine Art Journal,
Vol. IX, September 1856, p. 288

The Photographic and Fine Art Journal,
Vol. X, November 1857, p. 347

The Photographic and Fine Art Journal,
Vol. X, November 1857, pp. 351–352

The Photographic and Fine Art Journal,
Vol. X, December 1857, p. 383

The Photographic and Fine Art Journal, Vol. XI, January 1858, p. 24

M. A. Root, The Camera and the Pencil; or The Heliographic Art, Its Theory and Practice in All Its Various Branches; e.g.—Daguerreotype, Photography, &c.; Together with Its History in the United States and Europe; Being at Once a Theoretical and a Practical Treatise, and Designed Alike, as a Text-Book and a Hand-Book, p. 381

Robert Taft, Photography and the American Scene, p. 196

"For twenty years Fredrick's Studio on Broadway, opposite the Metropolitan Hotel, operated as the largest and most stylish photographic gallery in the city. It conducted a solid business plying the celebrity image trade and civic work. Camera operator John F. Main undertook most of the Magnesium Flash work documenting civic events. His published catalogues paid homage to the veteran officers of the Civil War, placing them first in the ranks of famous—Union before Confederates—then a healthy offering of Divines, before listing his Dramatic Portraits, a category twice again as large as any other.

In 1875 a fire destroyed the Broadway studio. He relocated to 770 Broadway, a four-story photographic palace, outfitted in the modern style, where he trained his son in camera art before retiring and dying in 1894."

See: https://broadway.library.sc.edu/content/charles-deforest-fredricks.html