Below are photographs taken by the brothers Willis L. Sabean and Major A. Sabean in the Kemptville area of Yarmouth County, ca. 1895–1910. The Sabean family had moved to Kemptville between 1881 and 1891, probably because gold had been discovered there; James H. Sabean, the family’s head, worked at the Cowan gold mine in 1886 and was listed as a gold miner in the 1891 census. The next photograph probably was taken at the Cowan gold mine, where several mine shafts were located adjacent to other buildings. The men at left and right hold wrenches and oil cans, and so might be mechanics:

(P2001-911p, ATCHA)

Willis, the older brother, was probably the first family member to become interested in photography. He used a “New Model Camera, Variation 3” manufactured by the Rochester Optical Company, Rochester, New York, ca. 1890–1902:

Sabean brothers' camera (ATCHA)

Bellows allowed the camera to be collapsed for compact storage and easy transportation. The brass lens mounting reversed so as to be stored within the collapsed bellows. The camera, an extendable wood tripod, and two glass plate-holders, all fitted in a wooden case that could be carried around by bicycle.

Willis probably began taking photographs ca. 1895, at age eighteen. This photograph of Samuel Morton of Kemptville is stamped on the reverse “WILLIS L. SABEAN / PHOTOGRAPHER:”

(P1990-532pf, ATCHA)

Willis probably took the following photograph of Major:

(P2001-1132pf, ATCHA)

Willis died in 1898 at age twenty-one, having taken photographs for about three years. Major, who was nineteen when Willis died, then took photographs for about twelve years. Usually one does not know which brother took a photograph, such as this one of Kempt Corner, where the road from Carleton splits:

(P2001-1012p, ATCHA)

To the right is the road to East Kemptville, which leads to the iron bridge over the Tusket River. The Free Baptist Church, built ca. 1882, was destroyed by fire in January 1950. To the left is the road to North Kemptville. In 1900 a small store was built opposite the church at a site just beyond the left margin; for several years Major Sabean owned the store and may have sold gramophones and supplies for bicycles and photography. If you asked that your photograph be taken, it was easily arranged:

(P2001-895p, ATCHA)

Another photograph of Kempt Corner was taken from the window of the Baptist Church:

(P2001-1040p, ATCHA)

At right is the old Prosser-Reeves homestead. At left is a small grocery store built by Charles Hurlburt of Rockingham, and just beyond it is the roofline of a larger store built by Henry Crowell of Deerfield and Comfort Clements of Brenton. In the field below the stores, at the edge of the Tusket River, was a steam sawmill shown here during a spring freshet:

(P2001-1018p, ATCHA)

In the early 1930s Major moved to Arcadia, Yarmouth County, where he lived until his death in 1960. The Kemptville column in the 24 March 1960 issue of The Yarmouth Light recalled that “He was an ardent lover of the Fish and Game life and guided on many trips in the woods.”

(P2001-924gn, ATCHA)

Major Sabean’s house in Arcadia was occupied by his housekeeper from 1960 until 1974, when Mr. and Mrs. Ross Whitman purchased it. In the attic of their house the Whitmans found the Sabean camera and 439 glass plate negatives. In 2001 Ross Whitman donated both camera and negatives to the Argyle Township Court House and Archives (ATCHA).

I thank ATCHA’s archivist, Peter Crowell, for providing access to photographs by, and archival material concerning, Willis and Major Sabean. Their photographs are copyrighted by ATCHA.

References and Notes

   [1] A version of this essay appeared in the Yarmouth County Historical Society Historigram, vol. 14, no. 5, June 2014, pp. 5–7.

   [2] The photograph at the top, by the Sabean photographers, illustrates the challenge of hauling wood during the muddy season. (P2001-1119pf, ATCHA)

   [3] More photographs by, and information about, Willis and Major Sabean may be found in Peter Crowell’s article, “Sabean Photographers –– Kemptville,” in The Argus, vol. 14, no. 1, Spring 2002, pp. 20–26.