William Emory Bowman Sold at Auction Prices

Carte-de-visite photograph of the first Black voter in Illinois town

Carte-de-visite photograph of an African-American man. 10x5.5 cm (4x2¼"), trimmed at edges (into an oval shape). Printed on verso: “BOWMAN, Photographer, Ottawa, Ill.” According to the website of the Ottawa Museum, Gabriel (Gabe) Giger (also known as Geiger or Kreiger) “was the first Black person to vote in Ottawa”, west of Chicago, perhaps even in the entire state. Born a slave in Louisiana in 1848, Giger, according to legend, came to Illinois via the Underground Railroad. He was literate, worked as a manual laborer, was married to a Black woman who had been born free in Indiana, and had three daughters. In April 1870, a local newspaper reported that as Ottawa was dominated by Democrats, “it was deemed doubtful whether a colored man could get a ballot in the city election”. The stalwart Giger appeared at the polls at an early hour, borrowed a pencil from a bystander, marked his ballot (voting against the Democrats) and presented it to the judges. “There was some tall swearing and a deal of frowning and gritting of teeth” but Giger, thinking the ballot had been accepted, left for home. A lawyer who was city treasurer then “persisted in explaining the constitutional rights of the sable gentleman” to the election authorities, and brought Giger back to the polls, where several fellow lawyers, though Democrats, “united in saying that there was no question as to the negro’s qualifications”. As soon as Giger’s ballot was accepted, William Emory Bowman, the town’s best-known photographer, with a flair for advertising and publicity, “took Gabe to his gallery and photographed him as ‘the first colored voter’”. Local Ottawa historical buffs, shown a copy of the photo offered here, believe, that the unidentified man is “probably Gabe.” According to the website of the Ottawa Museum, Gabriel (Gabe) Giger (also known as Geiger or Kreiger) “was the first Black person to vote in Ottawa”, west of Chicago, perhaps even in the entire state. Born a slave in Louisiana in 1848, Giger, according to legend, came to Illinois via the Underground Railroad. He was literate, worked as a manual laborer, was married to a Black woman who had been born free in Indiana, and had three daughters. In April 1870, a local newspaper reported that as Ottawa was dominated by Democrats, “it was deemed doubtful whether a colored man could get a ballot in the city election”. The stalwart Giger appeared at the polls at an early hour, borrowed a pencil from a bystander, marked his ballot (voting against the Democrats) and presented it to the judges. “There was some tall swearing and a deal of frowning and gritting of teeth” but Giger, thinking the ballot had been accepted, left for home. A lawyer who was city treasurer then “persisted in explaining the constitutional rights of the sable gentleman” to the election authorities, and brought Giger back to the polls, where several fellow lawyers, though Democrats, “united in saying that there was no question as to the negro’s qualifications”. As soon as Giger’s ballot was accepted, William Emory Bowman, the town’s best-known photographer, with a flair for advertising and publicity, “took Gabe to his gallery and photographed him as ‘the first colored voter’”. Local Ottawa historical buffs, shown a copy of the photo offered here, believe, that the unidentified man is “probably Gabe.”