Pesha Postcards

Louis James Pesha was a professional photographer from Lambton County, active from about 1899 - 1912. He specialized in real photo postcards, creating thousands of images before his sudden death. There are over 130 Pesha postcards in the Lambton Heritage Museum collection. They depict landscapes, streetscapes, buildings, and ships with a focus on the south, central, and west parts of the County. The collection is an incredible resource to learn about local history.

The Pesha family arrives in Lambton County

Pesha’s grandfather, Louis Picher was born in Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. He married Julie Fénix in 1831. They moved to Euphemia Township by way of Detroit, Walpole Island, Smith’s Falls, and Florence. Louis was a blacksmith who made extra money sailing on the Great Lakes. On August 2, 1853, Louis received a Crown grant for land south of Shetland (E ½ Lot 23, Concession 4). Louis and Julie raised eight children, including Pesha’s father, James (1840 - 1926). Pesha’s mother Elizabeth Ward (1848 - 1919) was born in Dawn Township to George Ward and Huldah Hicks. Elizabeth and James were married on November 12, 1867, in Middlesex County.

Louis James Pesha was born August 11, 1868, in Euphemia Township. He had three younger siblings: George Chester, Mary Elizabeth, and Viola May. They lived on a farm north of Shetland on the north side of Mosside Line between Inwood Road and Burr Road (SE ¼ Lot 31, Concession 3).

On December 23, 1889, Pesha received 50 acres from his parents. They sold him the land for the symbolic cost of $1, with the condition that Pesha live and work the land until he turned 21. His property was across the road just south of his parents’ farm (NE ¼ Lot 30, Concession 3).

Pesha married Lena E. Faucher (1870 - 1958) of Battle Creek, Michigan on August 29, 1892, at Sarnia. Lena’s parents were Antoine Faucher and Sophie Chaziner. She was born in St. Anne, Illinois and grew up in Dallas, Texas. Both bride and groom were members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, founded in Battle Creek in 1863.

Pesha’s sister Mary married John A. McAuslan in 1895. Their son Lancelot (Lance) was born the following year. Pesha’s brother George married Elsie May Busk in 1896. His sister Viola never married.

A new career in photography

Pesha began his photography career between 1895 and 1899. It is not known when or how he learned his trade. On November 11, 1898, Pesha and Lena sold their Euphemia Township farm for $1,500. Assessment Rolls for 1900 and 1901 show that Pesha and his family had moved to Oil Springs. His profession is photographer. Their daughter Lorraine was born around March 10, 1900.

Pesha’s early business was in portraits. As was common in this trade at the turn of the century, he labelled his photographs on the back with a rubber stamp. He was active in Oil Springs from 1899, and in Brigden and Alvinston from 1901. A spur line connected Oil Springs to the Michigan Central Railroad. Pesha could take this line to his branch studios in Alvinston and Brigden, and possibly a third studio in Inwood.

Pesha’s Oil Springs studio was on Kelly Road just south of the intersection with Oil Springs Line and behind the International Order of Oddfellows (I.O.O.F.) building on the corner. The location of Pesha’s Alvinston studio is unknown. His business in that town ruffled some feathers. Historian Phil Egan attributes threats in the Alvinston Free Press to rival photographer G.A. Hadden. A month after competitors broke into Pesha’s Alvinston studio and caused extensive damage, an anonymous letter warned, “We, the people of surrounding towns not more than 99 miles from Alvinston take this opportunity of warning you of your danger if you continue to make those cheap 98 cent photos. … We will proceed to do greater damage to your galleries if you do not raise your price.”

Unrelated to the threats he was experiencing in Alvinston, Pesha’s Brigden studio was destroyed by fire in January 1901. The blaze consumed an entire block on Brigden Road between Jane and Boswell streets. An I.O.O.F. lodge, harness shop, blacksmith shop, drugstore, and general store also burned.

A move to Marine City

Pesha and his family moved to Marine City, Michigan in 1901. Beatrice (McAuslan) Chapman (1901 - 1984), a niece of Pesha’s sister, remembered travelling from her home near Inwood for a photography session with Pesha. His first American studio was on the west side of Water Street between St. Clair and Union streets. As his business grew, he moved to the river side of Water Street south of Jefferson Street. His studio was at the front of a building that included the family’s living quarters. The basement held a workshop and storage space for Pesha’s steam car. Pesha photographed ships on the river as they passed his property. His camera was set up on a platform between a small outbuilding and the St. Clair River. Workers printed postcards in an outbuilding to the south.

Real photo postcards

Early postcards had an address on one side and a message or image on the other. In 1904 (Canada) and 1907 (U.S.), government regulations changed to allow “divided-back” postcards. These postcards had message and address spaces on the back and an image on the front. Real photo postcards had a photograph on the image side. This updated format proved to be an extremely popular means of communication.

In the early 1900s, a photographer would take a picture and develop the corresponding negative (film or glass plate). The negative was then placed on photosensitive paper and exposed to light to create a positive contact print. For real photo postcards, you used photosensitive paper in a standard 3 ½ by 5 ½ inch size that was pre-printed with a postcard back.

The design on the back of a real photo postcard helps to date it, particularly the stamp box which includes the type of paper. One paper used by Pesha was Azo produced by Eastman Kodak. Four triangles pointing up in the stamp box, indicate a date from 1904 - 1918.

Most Pesha real photo postcards are captioned, numbered, and labelled “Pesha Photo.” The numbers of a particular community are often consecutive. Letters and numbers were etched or exposed onto the negatives. In some printings, the etchings are missing or have been removed.

Gareth Lee McNabb’s biography of Pesha references Lewis Miller, who worked for Pesha in Marine City as a 14-year-old. According to Miller, Pesha was an active man of few words. He was friendly, not especially social, and read extensively. Pesha enjoyed tinkering in his basement when he was not away taking photographs. He was tall and thin, a snappy dresser, and always wore a derby hat. As a Seventh-day Adventist, his business was closed on Saturdays.

Lena Pesha supervised the postcard printing. Miller and four others worked in dark cubicles where they placed photosensitive postcard paper against a glass negative in a wood frame. They used sunlight (or light from a kerosene lantern on a cloudy day) to expose the prints. When the exposure was complete, they opened the contact frame and removed the paper. The paper was dropped into a chemical bath in a lidded developing tank built into the wall. After the appropriate amount of time, Lena would lift the lid and remove the paper for rinsing and fixing. Each worker earned one dollar a day and printed about 1,000 postcards.

The shocking death of Louis Pesha

By 1910, Pesha’s business was booming. He was able to buy a steam car built by the White Company of Cleveland, Ohio. At that time, steam, electric, and gasoline powered vehicles were competing for popularity. Pesha’s car was one of the largest, most powerful, and luxurious models available. He loved to drive around town and blow the whistle. 

The car proved to be Pesha’s downfall. At just 45, Pesha died in a car accident on October 1, 1912. The day before, Pesha had left Marine City with his wife and daughter for a road trip through Canada. Their first stop was his parents’ home in Euphemia Township. The next day, Pesha went out driving with his brother-in-law John McAuslan and nephew Lancelot McAuslan. They stopped to give Duffy Atkin a ride to school then continued to Pesha’s parents’ home. When John got out of the car to open the gate, the car started to roll backwards. Pesha reached for the wrong lever, or the correct lever failed to respond. His heavy car shot backwards down an embankment, fracturing Pesha’s skull and pinning his body underneath. Lancelet escaped relatively unharmed. 

Atkin, who attended the newly built S.S. #8, just down the road, remembered responding to the call for help. He had a vivid memory of Pesha lying on the floor of his parent’s home while Elizabeth swept the floor around her son’s body. Beatrice (McAuslan) Chapman (cousin of Lancelot) recalled having to stay at home to babysit while her mother hurried to the Pesha farm. Pesha’s funeral took place at his father’s home October 4, 1912, with interment at Shetland Cemetery.

The business continues

After Pesha’s death, Lena continued the photography and postcard business. She remarried on March 2, 1918, in Battle Creek. She and her new husband, Daniel Conrad Miller, became joint proprietors of the Pesha Art Company. They offered portraits, local views, and enlargements. Around 1922, Durrell J. Butterfield took over as manager. By the mid-1920s, the postcard craze was waning. The business moved to Detroit and eventually closed. Some of Pesha’s pictures were republished by other companies using different technology. Although not attributed to Pesha, these images match real photo postcards with the “Pesha Photo” label.

Pesha’s legacy

Louis James Pesha was one of the most prolific postcard photographers in the area. He created more than 8,000 images before his tragic death. Taking full advantage of his studio’s location on the St. Clair River, he specialized in photos of ships and views of towns, cities, and landscapes in southwestern Ontario, Michigan, and beyond. His postcards illustrate the past in exquisite detail in a convenient and collectible format. Images in the museum’s collection provide and enrich content for exhibits and programs. They are an important source of information for researchers and historians and we are so fortunate that Pesha was active in our area. His real photo postcards provide some of the best images of our villages and towns at the turn of the century. Which Pesha postcard is your favourite?