Silas Selleck

Silas Wright Selleck was an American businessman and photographer. He was the proprietor of the Bay View Park Hotel in San Francisco. Yale University has a collection of his work in their archives. His work includes daguerreotypes and ambrotypes.

Early life

Selleck was born on November 26, 1827 in Putnam County, New York.

Career

He assisted photographer Henry Sherman Beals in Sacramento. After a fire in Sacramento he partnered with George Howard Johnson in Sam Francsico.
He had a photographic gallery at 415 Montgomery Street in San Francisco called the Cosmopolitan Gallery.
In 1863, he photographed the chief of the California Geological Survey, Josiah Whitney. Clarence King and the Field Party of 1864 is an albumen silver print he took that is in the National Portrait Gallery.
His portraits include carte de visite. Thomas Almond Ayers overpainted one of his photographs.

Personal life and death

He had a wife Sarah Elizabeth Selleck, a son, and two daughters.
He died in June 17, 1885 in Sacramento, California and is buried in the San Francisco Columbarium.