Bardwell, Jex, 1824-1902

Mr. Bardwell was a noted Detroit photographer in the 19th century.

Mr. Bardwell was a preeminent Detroit photographer in the 19th century. John Jex Bardwell was born in London on Oct. 24, 1824. The Bardwell family emigrated from England to the United States in 1834; John Senior continued his distillery and brewery business in Ann Arbor, Mich. Mr. Bardwell returned to London in 1842 to study the brewery trade and again in 18445 upon his father's death to settle the estate. During this later visit he learned the daguerreotype process. He returned to Ann Arbor later in the year to close the family brewery and marry Emma Brown. In 1849 Mr. Bardwell opened his first photograph gallery in Marshall, Mich. He was appointed Wayne County deputy sheriff during the Great Railroad Conspiracy. Later he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota where he photographed Native Americans and their villages. In 1860 he moved to Detroit where he remained until his death on Dec. 14, 1902. During his career, he contributed frequently to photographic journals writing of his various photographic methods and processes.

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