Details
Title Dreser, William
Alternate title Dresser, William
Dressler, William
Date b. May 31, 1818
Description William Dreser, born May 31, 1818 in Hessen-Homburg, Germany, was a lithographer active in Philadelphia ca. 1847-ca. 1860 and ca. 1870-1872. Naturalized in New York in November 1844, Dreser worked as a lithographer with Edward Robyn (S.E. cor. Third and Pear streets) in Philadelphia by 1847 and lived in Moyamensing with his Dutch-born wife Elizabeth (b. ca. 1826) by 1850. The men formally partnered as Dreser & Robyn, ca. 1849-ca. 1851 before Dreser worked solely from their second location at 93 South Third Street (Chestnut near Third) ca. 1851-ca. 1855. By 1859, he formed another short term partnership with map lithographer William J. Barker, which again lasted only about a year, at 333 Chestnut Street.
Although his partnerships were brief, Dreser maintained a working relationship with Thomas Sinclair from the 1850s to 1860s. He delineated lithographs for Sinclair beginning ca. 1850, including advertisements and ornithological book illustrations and in 1865 served as the lithographer of his noted color print "American Autumn, Starucca Valley, Erie R. Road."
Although still working with Sinclair in the mid 1860s, Dreser had relocated to New York by 1860. At that time, he owned $2,000 (i.e., about $53,000 in 2008) worth of personal estate, resided with his wife, and worked in the partnership of Dreser & Wissler. In 1870 Dreser returned briefly to Philadelphia as a lithographer before relocating to Cleveland, Ohio in 1872 where he worked as an artist at the lithographic firm of W. J. Morgan & Co. According to a notice in the "Plain Dealer," Dreser arrived in Cleveland alone. In October 1876, he filed for divorce from his wife due to "willful absence" of over three years. Less than a year later in August 1877 he was issued a passport in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
Is part of Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
References See Barker & Dreser; Barker, William J.; Robyn, Edward; and Sinclair, Thomas
Has format LCP-Dreser-Rae-ChestnutSt-P-2006-1-20.jpg
Call number Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
Bibliographic citation Census 1850, 1860
Groce & Wallace, 189
Haverstock, Artists in Ohio, 241
Library Company of Philadelphia research file
Merrill, 46
Peters, 181
Plain Dealer, October 18, 1876
U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925
WWWAA, 960
Image file LCP-Dreser-Rae-ChestnutSt-P-2006-1-20