McSchooler was born in New York in 1831. Tax and draft records show him living in Weston, MO, in 1863. He is listed as a photographer/artist. By 1866 he had moved on to St. Joseph, MO.
I realize I am arriving rather late to this discussion, but I am deeply interested in learning more about L. W. McSchooler and locating any surviving examples of his photographic work.
My name is Doug McSchooler, and I am a professional photographer and photojournalist in Indiana. I have been researching L. W. McSchooler as part of an ongoing effort to document both my family history and the work of an early photographer who shared my rather uncommon surname. The connection is especially meaningful to me because photography has also been my life's work.
The trail I have assembled so far places L. W. McSchooler in Berlin, Wisconsin, where he advertised ambrotypes from a gallery on Huron Street near the bridge in 1858; in Weston, Missouri, where he was identified as a photographer and artist and published
The Weston Times in 1863; and in St. Joseph, Missouri, by 1866. I am also investigating a possible later connection to Streator, Illinois.
I would be tremendously grateful for any additional information members might have about him—newspaper advertisements, census or directory entries, gallery addresses, business partnerships, biographical details, family connections, auction records, or references in local archives. Even a small clue could help establish where he worked and when.
Most of all, I hope to locate surviving original photographs bearing his imprint or backmark. I would be interested in cartes-de-visite, cabinet cards, ambrotypes, tintypes, stereoviews, or any other photographic work attributable to him. If anyone owns an example, I would be grateful simply to see clear photographs or scans of both the front and back, along with any known provenance. If an owner might consider selling an original work, I would be very interested in discussing its purchase for my personal family collection.
I am particularly interested in learning what became of the CDV shown in this thread—the three cavalrymen attributed to the 15th Kansas Cavalry with the backmark "L. W. McSchooler, Weston, Mo." If anyone knows the original Cowan's auction date or lot number, the purchaser, its present whereabouts, or the source of the identification, I would sincerely appreciate hearing from you.
Please feel free to reply here or contact me privately. I would be grateful for any information, images, leads, corrections, or introductions that might help me recover more of L. W. McSchooler's story and preserve examples of his work.
Thank you,
Doug McSchooler
Photographer and photojournalist
Indianapolis, Indiana
Bringing the