San Francisco County
Biographies
WILLIAM SHEW
WILLIAM
SHEW, the pioneer photographer of San Francisco, was born in Providence, Fulton
county, New York, where he was also reared and
educated. He soon acquired the art of
taking pictures, and he and his brothers were among the first operators in this
county, taking lessons from the eminent Professor Morse, of telegraphic
fame. Soon after the gold discoveries in
California, Mr. Shew determined to come to the
Pacific coast, and left New York in 1851, and arrived on the ship Tennessee,
March 4, of the same year, via the Isthmus.
He visited the mines while waiting for his apparatus, which came via
Cape Horn, and he afterward established a portable machine on the Plaza, on
Kearny street, between Clay and Washington, but a
short time afterward removed to a vacant lot, and later to Montgomery
street. Messrs. Shew,
Vance and Bradley were the only photographers here at that time, and the former
is now the only one living. He has been
connected with the profession for over fifty years, and has also been
identified with various other enterprises, but not with the same degree of
success as in his chosen calling. During
the early days he was identified with political affairs, and has in his
possession a printed notice of the call for the first Free-Soil convention to
be held October 8, 1852, and this meeting was held in his rooms on the
Plaza. Mr. Shrew has always been
interested in good government, and has served as a member of the Board of
Education. His only daughter is married
and is now living in Oakland.
Transcribed by Terry Smith.
Source: "The Bay of San Francisco," Vol. 2,
page 13, Lewis Publishing Co, 1892.
©
2005 Terry Smith.