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Hi! My name is Ulrik, and this is my student blog. My posts will be based on tasks and subjects given to the class by my English teacher Ann. I am currently in my third year at Sandvika High School, Norway.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Who was the earliest born human to be photographed?

I have written a couple of posts about photography(Look at the posts written in October) , and when reading more about the different subjects, I asked myself "Who was the earliest born human to be photographed?". As i have mentioned probably a hundred times in previous posts, I have a fascination for history, and the thought of this question really made me wonder. So, I started my research, which is quite easy if you know how to use Google, and I found the answers.

Hannah Stilley. *1746-†1840-1850
Photographed around 1840

The photographs

Hannah Stilley seems  to be the earliest born human, ever to be photographed. Except that she was born in 1746, I wasn't able to find much information on her. She had probably a husband, and the names of her parents are probably known. Hannah lived in the US and died between 1840 and 1850, which means that she became a weary old women, especially in those days. This could be the main reason she was photographed. If you looked into church books etc., I guess you should be able to find more information about her. However, finding anything on the web wasn't easy.


Conrad Heyer. 1749-1856
Picture taken in 1853















Theres no certain sources when it comes to the birth year of people born in the 1800s and backwards, so i feel that there's still one man who should be mentioned. His name was Conrad Heyer and he was born in Maine. In 1749 Maine was part British, but no one really controlled it (The natives, British and French were at war many times over the territory)  . When the revolutionary war broke out in 1776, Heyer joined Washington's forces and fought in many battles. After the war, he bought a farm in Maine and settled there. Heyer lived trough a lot of events. When he was a child, there were only a few colonies and when he died, the United states was 75 years old. He had spoken with people born in the 1600s, and he saw the
invention of the railroad, the telegraph, and he even got his picture taken in 1853. When you look at the picture, you see a man who has experienced a lot.

1 comment:

  1. interesting post about photographs. I wonder if you could connect with people in the US who know more about Conrad and Hannah. Worth investigating more perhaps?

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