I just received Vermont Historical Society’s History Connections, vol 12, number 1, and inside this short newsletter features an article on the two of the earliest known photographs of Vermont by Thomas Easterly (1809-1882) of Guilford, Vt.
According to the article, Easterly was an itinerant calligrapher and teacher of writing. He learned the art of photography in Albany, Ny. or New York City, and by 1844 was on a steamer to New Orleans. When he returned to Vermont about 1847, he began to take photos of the landscape around Burlington, Rutland, and Brattleboro.
This 1847 daguerreotype was taken from the base of Mt. Wantastiquet looking toward Brattleboro.
Brattleboro, Vt., from Chesterfield Mountain, N.H.; courtesy of Digital Vermont, Easterly, Thomas M. (Thomas Martin), 1809-1882, “Brattleboro, Vt., from Chesterfield Mountain, N.H.,” Digital Vermont: A Project of the Vermont Historical Society, accessed December 21, 2017, http://digitalvermont.org/items/show/1100.
Eight of Easterly’s photos may be viewed at the Vermont Historical Society’s Digital Vermont website.
He went on to settle and marry in St. Louis where he was a resident for 35 years. His Missouri burial record gives his occupation as an “artist.” He died at his home at 1916 W. 9th St. in St. Louis, Mo. on 11 March 1882 at the age of 71. His cause of death was “brain congestion.” [1]
[1]“Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910,” database and digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 21 December 2017), entry for Thomas Easterly, Burial Certificate 1487, St. Louis, Mo; citing Missouri Death Records. Jefferson City, Mo., Missouri State Archives Microfilm.