McNear, Jennie Otis (1857- May 27, 1883) (1 of 2)
/Hectos W. Vaughan’s PORTRAIT photograph of Jennie Otis Mcnear
THE PHOTOGRAPHER/ PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO:
Photographer: Hector W. Vaughan
Photographic Studio: Imperial Photographic Gallery, 724 1/2 Market Street, San Francisco, California
THE SITTER:
Name: Jennie Otis McNear (At the time this portrait was taken, the sitter may not have been married and would have been known as Jennie Otis. Jennie was between 20 and 23 years old when this portrait was taken.)
Description: In this head-and-shoulders portrait, Jennie Otis McNear looks stoically and solemnly into the distance. Her dignified composure exudes calm seriousness tingled with melancholy. Her center-parted hair has been carefully coiffed into soft waves and pulled to the back of her head. She wears a dark jacket which is embellished at the neck with a large bow and a small white lace collar.
Biographical Note: Jennie Otis McNear was born in 1857 in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. At the age of seven, she moved to Petaluma with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wesley Otis. After graduating from Petaluma High School in 1875, she taught school in Salinas, San Leandro and San Diego. On May 13, 1880, she married prominent Petaluma businessman, George Plummer McNear (1857-1947), and together they had one child, Clara McNear (married name, Leppo). Jennie’s early, tragic death on May 27, 1883 resulted from the disastrous explosion of the steamship, Pilot, and was recounted in this excerpt from the Marin Journal, published May 31, 1883:
“No story could be more sad than that which tells of the early and sudden death of Mrs. George P. McNear. She was the idolized daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Otis—their only child—and great as was their parental pride and love for her, their affection was returned with all the ardor of her strong and affectionate nature. Jennie had been a little more than three years the wife of Mr. George P. McNear, and the day of her burial, last Sunday, was the second anniversary of the birth of their little daughter. She was the very personification of rosy health; in form and feature a model of beauty; the rosy pathway of her life was reflected in her cheerful spirits, and as daughter, wife, and mother, her character seemed perfection. This was the tender daughter, the bride-wife, the clinging mother, her good-bye kiss fresh on the lips of her husband-lover and child, and her feet led by filial affection toward a suffering mother, who was met by the appalling catastrophe to the steamer Pilot last Friday.” Marin Journal, volume 23, number 12, May 31, 1883.
Family Affiliation: Jennie Otis was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs Charles W. Otis. A man named C. W. Otis was an early librarian in Petaluma, and may have been her father. Jennie was the first wife of prominent Petaluma businessman, George Plummer McNear (m. May 13, 1880). Their only child was Clara McNear Leppo (1881-1979). https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/105784417/jennie-mcnear.
THE PHOTOGRAPH:
Format / Size: cabinet card
Medium: albumen photographic print mounted on cardstock
Description, Front: The imprint of the photographer appears in brown ink along the bottom edge of this classic head-and-shoulders cabinet card portrait.
Description, Back: The back of this cabinet card is either blank or contains only an accession number.
Date: This portrait was taken sometime between 1877 and 1880, the years in which the Imperial Studio in San Francisco was in operation.
Condition: There is light foxing throughout the front side of this cabinet card.
Owner: The James Allen Family Collection, digital copy by permission.
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