Nissen, Louise L. Formschlag (1878-1950)
/Joslin & Company’s Portrait Photograph of Louise L. Formschlag
PHOTOGRAPHER / PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO:
JOSLIN & COMPANY was established by the photographer Amon James Tuft Joslin. He was born in 1839 in Rockwood, New York, and died in 1913 in San Benito County, California. He established the Petaluma Photo Parlor under the name of Joslin & Company in November 1893, and left the studio, departing for Chico, California in April 1897. (For additional information on Joslin and Company and to view all portraits produced by the studio in the collection, click on its name in blue above.)
THE SITTER:
Name: Louise L. Formschlag Nissen. When this portrait was taken, the sitter would have been known by her maiden name, Louise L. Formschlag.
Description: In this head-and-shoulders portrait, Louise L. Formschlag Nissen is attired in a dark blouse with vertical pleats and a scalloped, velvet collar. Over her blouse she wears a bolero jacket with very large, prominent, velvet, lapels which extend like wings beyond her shoulders. Below the lapels are puff sleeves. At her throat is a large, quatrefoil brooch. The top of her head is adorned with short, dark curls, and the hair at the side of her face has been combed to the back of her head.
Biographical Note: Louise L. Formschlag Nissen was born in Penngrove on her parent’s property, known as the Formschlag Ranch. She attended Eagle School in Penngrove and, upon marrying in 1904, moved to Sebastopol. In 1921 she and her husband purchased her parents’ property and remodeled it into a highly successful poultry ranch. They lived there for 25 years, and, after retiring, they moved to 415 I Street in Petaluma.
Family Affiliation: Louise L. Formschlag Nisson was the daughter of early Penngrove pioneers, John N. Formschlag (1838-1927) and Elizabeth Formschlag (1847-1909). There is a portrait of her sister, Mary Formschlag Scott (1877-1946), in this archive. Louise married Nahmen Nissen (1874-1969) in 1904. Together they had two daughters, Maybelle Elizabeth Nissen Blos (1906-1991) and Alice Georgia Nissen Lentz (1912-2009). Louise and Nahmen were buried together in Petaluma’s Cypress Hill Memorial Park.
Bibliography:
THE PHOTOGRAPH:
Format / Size: cabinet card, approximately 11 x 16.25 cm
Medium: gelatin or collodion photographic print mounted on cardstock
Description, front: In this cabinet card, the sitter has been photographed in front of a light, stucco, wall. The studio’s imprint appears along the bottom of the card, and the card’s edge is embossed with a thin strip of rosettes.
Description, back: Handwritten in cursive in dark blue ink is, “Louise Formschlag Nissen”.
Date: November 1893 - April 1897
Condition: The edges of this cabinet card are slightly soiled.
Owner: Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 1978-80-15
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