Maine Memory Network

Contributed by Maine Historical Society

Description

In 1857, incoming U.S. President James Buchanan appointed Saco businessman Moses McDonald as the Custom Collector for the Port of Portland. Sometime after McDonald's appointment, his staff posed for this portrait taken at the studio of local photographer J.R. Burnham. However, Collector McDonald did not sit for this photograph.

The names, written along the outside of the print have been corrected over the years. They appear below, un-abbreviated, along with their position according to "The Maine Register, For 1857".

Back row, left to right: Charles B. Varney, Benjamin Larabee (occasional inspector), Hollis St. Clair (inspector), Carleton Gardner (Inspector), Freeman Clark (occasional inspector), Charles H. Chase (Inspector), John Short (occasional inspector), Ammi Storer (Inspector at Yarmouth)

Front row: Harris C. Barnes (weigher and gauger), Cushman Hall (Inspector), Charles H. Haskell (inspector), Robert A. Bird (Superintendent of Warehouse), John A. Balkam (Deputy Collector), Samuel Andrews, 2nd (inspector), John Ayers (porter), William G. Chadbourn (weigher and gauger).

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About This Item

• Title: Portland Custom House officials under President James Buchanan, ca. 1857
• Creator: J R Burnham
• Creation Date: circa 1857
• Subject Date: circa 1857
• Location: Portland, Cumberland County, ME
• Media: Albumen print
• Dimensions: 39 cm x 45 cm
• Local Code: Photographs--Large--Box 1--Groups
• Object Type: Image

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Cross Reference Searches

Standardized Subject Headings

• Customhouses--Maine--Portland
• Customs administration--Maine--Portland
• Customs House (Portland, Me.)

People

• Andrews, Samuel
• Ayers, John
• Balkham, John A.
• Barnes, Harris C.
• Bird, Robert A.
• Chadbourn, William C.
• Chase, Charles H.
• Clark, Freeman
• Gardner, Carleton
• Hall, Cushman
• Haskell, Charles H.
• Larabee, Benjamin
• Short, John
• St. Clair, Hollis
• Storer, Ammi
• Varney, Charles B.

Other Keywords

• Custom house
• employees
• government employees
• group portraits
• Treasury

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For more information about this item, contact:

Maine Historical Society
485 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101
(207) 774-1822 x230
Website

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