John Plumbe

In 1827, 18-year-old John Plumbe Jr. apprenticed as a civil engineer under Wirt Robinson, helping to locate a feasible railroad route across the Allegheny Mountains from the Plumbe foundry to eastern markets. That endeavor commenced Plumbe's lifelong interest in the potential of rail transportation. After serving briefly as postmaster for Philipsburg, Plumbe continued his employment with Robinson, moving to Virginia in 1832, where he worked on the construction of the first interstate railroad in America. Plumbe then returned to Philipsburg, where he married Sarah Zimmerman; their daughter, Sarah, was baptized in 1833. After fire destroyed Dr. Plumbe's metal foundry in 1836, the Plumbe family moved to Dubuque in Wisconsin Territory, which then included all of present-day Iowa. John Plumbe Jr. began his career in Wisconsin Territory as a land speculator. By mid November 1836 he had purchased and sold several downtown Dubuque lots. The following year he advertised the sale of properties along the Mississippi River, including the town of Parkhurst. He later established the Wisconsin General Land Agency in Dubuque. Plumbe played an active role in civic affairs, serving as president of the Board of Trustees for the Village of Dubuque in 1837 and secretary of the Dubuque Literary Association and the Temperance Society and drafting a resolution to Congress for improved postal routes in 1838. He was a prolific newspaper correspondent who advocated internal improvements under the pseudonym "Iowaian."  In 1838 Plumbe was engaged as surveyor and agent for the town of Sinipee, Wisconsin Territory, a river port four miles north and east of Dubuque. There he first gave voice to his dream of building a transcontinental railroad and drafted a memorial to Congress for a survey from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River as the first link in that grand project. Congress responded favorably with an initial appropriation, but the work was not completed due to the economic uncertainties of the times. Plumbe remained committed to the railroad project and pursued an extensive correspondence with the leading newspapers in the East. In an effort to draw attention to Iowa's economic opportunities and natural bounties, Plumbe authored Sketches of Iowa and Wisconsin (1839), one of the earliest works published west of the Mississippi advocating immigration. After working briefly for the Wisconsin territorial legislature in late 1839, Plumbe went east to continue his campaign for a Pacific railroad. He turned to the newly introduced daguerreotype process of photography as a means of support and excelled in that endeavor. Within six years Plumbe had attained a national reputation through photographic competitions and by establishing a chain of 23 galleries. Plumbe's Dubuque gallery, opened in 1841 and operated by his brother Richard (1810-1896), was the first photographic establishment west of the Mississippi. Plumbe manufactured and imported photographic materials, gave instruction to the first generation of photographers, and published dozens of lithographic prints of noted Americans based on his daguerreotypes. Among his many achievements are the earliest photographs of the U.S. Capitol and White House (exterior and interior), the earliest photograph of a president in office (James K. Polk), and thousands of portraits of the most noted personalities of the era. Plumbe pioneered brand name recognition, obtained patent rights for color photography, and published a magazine filled with illustrations based on his photographs. By late 1848, however, Plumbe had experienced severe financial reverses due to competition and mismanagement and was forced to sell his galleries to pay his debts. In 1856 Plumbe opened a patent agency in Dubuque and with his brother Richard established a steam-powered mill near the present site of Cottage Hill, Iowa, then known as Plumbe's Mills. The mill was a failure, and the Panic of 1857 drastically reduced Plumbe's financial