Baylis, Thomas Fulcher (Fulsher)(1823-1867)
/William Henry Lentz’s Photographic Portrait of Captain Thomas Fulcher (Fulsher) Baylis,
District Deputy Grand Master, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
THE PHOTOGRAPHER/ PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO:
WILLIAM HENRY LENTZ was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1847; the date and place of his death have not been identified. He worked as a photographer in Petaluma between October 1866 and October 1867 in the photographic studio formerly occupied by Bryan R. Johnson. (For additional information on this photographer and to view all portraits by him in the collection, click on his name in blue above.)
THE SITTER:
Name: Captain Thomas Fulcher (Fulsher) Baylis
Description: This is an early, rare carte de visite. It is a full-length portrait of Thomas Fulcher Baylis presented as a leader of the International Order of Odd Fellows. Over his business suit, he wears the official I.O.O.F. regalia, which consists of a heavily embroidered and fringed shawl collar and apron. He holds a gavel and stands between a podium and a chair still housed in the Petaluma Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge 30 located at 111 Petaluma Boulevard North. The Petaluma I.O.O.F. Lodge was established in 1854, and its members played a vital role in the City’s early development.
With an air of authority and solemnity, Baylis gazes directly at the viewer and holds his gavel above the podium as if calling a meeting to order. His receding hairline is accompanied by locks of hair that project horizontally above both ears, and he sports a Shenandoah beard.
Biographical Note: Thomas Fulcher (Fulsher) Baylis was among the earliest pioneers of Petaluma. He became a prominent businessman and civic leader in the first two decades of its existence. Baylis was born in 1823 in Dublin, Ireland, but was baptized in London at the Anglican Church of St Marylebone Parish. His father was in the British Army, attached to the 17th Royal Infantry. When he was still a boy, the family moved to Australia, where he was raised and educated. As a young man, he became a merchant seaman, and around 1850 he arrived in Petaluma.
As early as January 1851, Baylis, and his partner, David W. Flogdell (1826-1856), began transporting food and supplies to San Francisco via the Petaluma River to meet the urgent demands created by the California Gold Rush. In October of that year, they built a trading post and store on the river’s west bank, a short distance north of the current intersection of Petaluma Boulevard and Western Avenue. These were among the first buildings constructed in Petaluma. The following year, they built a hotel, the Pioneer, attached to the south side of the store. The continued financial strength of the shipping business led him to build three warehouses in Petaluma, and a stone wall from one of these still exists as part of the Great Mill complex north of B Street. Baylis also acquired a succession of schooners and then steamers, providing service to San Francisco, Sacramento and Stockton. In 1859 his side-wheel steamer Rambler supplied needed competition on the San Francisco run, thereby helping to reduce the fare to a fraction of its previous level. Later Baylis was captain of the stern-wheeler Relief.
In addition to his business success, Baylis was active in founding and developing many of Petaluma’s civic organizations. He was a charter member of the fire brigade, organized in June 1857, and in November that year, he and a friend formed the first Hook-and-Ladder Company, with 14 members. The accompanying firehouse was built on Baylis’ own property, and in 1863 he was elected chief engineer of the fire department. In 1859, he served a year term on the Petaluma Board of Trustees, and he was a District Deputy Grand Master of the International Order of Odd Fellows. He was active in two local militia units, the Petaluma Guards and the Emmett Rifles. In January 1867, he helped organize Petaluma’s first public library. He donated 2000 books to the collection and was elected the first president of the Library Association. Baylis extended his civil activities beyond Petaluma when he served as Sonoma County Supervisor between 1862 and 1866.
In early September 1867, Baylis developed a respiratory illness. After a week, his condition suddenly worsened, and on September 10, he died of “congestion of the lungs”. His funeral was a significant community event; stores closed, flags were lowered to half-mast, bells tolled, and quiet pervaded the streets. The funeral procession was led by the Petaluma Band playing a solemn dirge, followed by members of the Odd Fellows, the militia units, and the fire department. He was buried in the Oak Hills Cemetery, but some decades later, this disorderly graveyard was closed, and the bodies moved. Neither of his wives’ families would pay the fee to move the body. The Petaluma Odd Fellows Lodge covered the expense and reinterred Captain Baylis in their plot at Cypress Hills Cemetery.
Biographical notes edited and excerpted from: http://bill-hammerman.blogs.petaluma360.com/13561/petalumas-golden-nuggets-capt-thomas-baylis/
Family Affiliation: Baylis’s first wife, Nancy Adela Wiese (1835-1858), committed suicide, drowning in the Petaluma River at twenty-two years of age. She left behind three children: Minnie Adele Baylis Connolly (1854-1924), Theodore Henry Baylis (1857-1891), and Catherine Hannah Baylis Dowdall (1857-1917). Baylis’ second wife was Honoria Murray Flogdell (1824-1880), the widow of his business partner, David W. Flogdell.
THE PHOTOGRAPH:
Format / Size: carte de visite
Medium: albumen photographic print mounted on cardstock
Description, front: Although this portrait contains a chair and podium which are authentic I.O.O.F. Petaluma Lodge #30 artifacts still located in the lodge today, this portrait was taken in Lentz’s studio. Lentz purchased Bryan R. Johnson’s studio in 1866, and the same intricate floor tiles can be seen in Johnson’s portrait, “Seated Stoic Woman”.
Description, back: Handwritten in pencil on the top right edge of the back of this card is, “1867”, the year Thomas Baylis died. In the center is Lentz’s imprint surrounded by a scalloped line. Along the bottom is printed, “Additional copies may be had from this Negative at Reduced Rates.”.
Date: 1867
Condition: With the exception of foxing on the right side of the front, this card is in good condition.
Owner: Private collector, digital copy by permission
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