Hastings, Oregon Columbus

1846 - 1912  (66 years)

• Name	Hastings, Oregon Columbus
  Born	26 Apr 1846	Pontoosuc, Hancock County, IL   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Marriage	May 1867	Port Townsend?, WA   [2]
  	Bride: Matilda Caroline Birch
  	She was from Dungeness, WA.
  Home Address/Year	1877	Victoria, BC
  	Address: View St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Where Active (Non-Specific Address)	1879	Northwest Coast, BC
  	Trip on HMS Rocket as an official photographer commissioned by the B.C. Superintendent of Indian Affairs Dr. I.W. Powell
  Marriage	2 Oct 1884	Victoria, BC   [3]
  	Bride: Sylvestria T. Layzell (Mrs. Phillips T. Smith)
  Home Address/Year	1885	Victoria, BC
  	Address: Douglas St. corner of Herald St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Home Address/Year	1887	Victoria, BC
  	Address: Chatham St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Business Address/Year	1882-1888	Victoria, BC
  	Address: Fort St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Home Address/Year	1889	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 152 Douglas St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Home Address/Year	1889-1890	Victoria, BC
  	Address: St. Charles St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Home Address/Year	1891	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 9 St. Charles St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Where Active (Non-Specific Address)	1894	Fort Rupert, BC
  Business Address/Year	1889-1895	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 56 Fort St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Home Address/Year	1894-1895	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 9 St. Charles St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Home Address/Year	1897-1899	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 29 Elizabeth St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Where Active (Non-Specific Address)	1874-1906	Victoria, BC
  Died	5 Aug 1912	Victoria, BC   [1]
  Buried	6 Aug 1912	Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria, BC   [1]
  Association	Dawson, George Mercer (Relationship: Undetermined)
  Association	Savannah, John (Relationship: Successor)
  Association	Spencer and Hastings (Relationship: Partner)
  Association	Boas, Franz (Relationship: Employee)
  Association	Hastings Studio (Victoria, BC) (Relationship: Owner)
  Person ID	I187	Camera Workers | H, vol. 1, 1858-1900
  Last Modified	9 Nov 2021

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		Photographer O.C. Hastings. Image courtesy of BC Archives, Visual Records call no. F-08610.
  		Anglican mission church overseen by Rev. A.J. Hall, Alert Bay, BC, August 1885. Although the front and back of this cabinet card photograph bear the ownership marks of Victoria commercial photographer O.C. Hastings, the identifying marks in the lower left corner (53 | GMD | 85) are those used by the Geological Survey of Canada geologist and amateur photographer Dr. George Mercer Dawson. This same photograph is described on the Library and Archives as "Mission Church" (copy negative PA-037933). The Royal BC Museum also holds a reference copy print of the Library and Archives Canada photo.
  		Hastings Photo identification on front of photo mount. Except for the lack of a street number, this is nearly identical to an identification on a portrait of Sir James Douglas (BC Archives accession 198202-004, box 3).
  		Hastings Photo identification on front of photo mount. This identification contains a street number not present in another similar identification (BC Archives accession 198202-004, box 3). Sir James Douglas died in 1877.

  
  

  Documents » Slide Show		Spencer and Hastings cartouche from the verso of photograph.
  		Spencer and Hastings identification on front of photo mount.
  		Spencer and Hastings cartouche from verso of photograph.
  		Spencer and Hastings cartouche from verso of photograph.
  		Spencer and Hastings cartouche from verso of photograph.
  		O.C. Hastings cartouche from verso of cabinet card, between 1883-1889. The text reads "O.C. Hastings | Late | Spencer & Hastings | Artist Photographer | Fort Street | All Negatives Preserved | Victoria, B.C."
  		Joseph Merrill's funeral notice, Daily Colonist, 31 Mar 1895, p. 5. While it is not known if this is the same Joseph Merrill who worked for J. Savannah up until at least 1895, this funeral notice indicates the spiritual connection between two members of the Victoria photographic community, O.C. Hastings and one of the Maynard family men who acted as a pall bearer.
  		Hastings Art Studio ad, San Francisco Journal of Commerce, BC Edition, Feb 1888, p. 4.
  		Spencer and Hastings ad, Victoria Colonist, 12 Jan 1884, p. 4.
  		Spencer and Hastings ad, San Francisco Journal of Commerce, BC Edition, 4 Dec 1884, p. 4. Note that they manufactured dry plates, most likely strictly for the local market.
  		San Francisco Journal of Commerce, BC Edition, 4 Dec 1884, p. 2. This news item, as did the ad, notes their manufacture of dry plates.
  		Adelaide (Mrs. Albert) Maynard news, Victoria Colonist, 19 Aug 1892, p. 5. Item about her funeral at which the photographer O.C. Hastings delivered the eulogy.
  		Spencer and Hastings news, Victoria Colonist, 27 May 1883, p. 3. The photographs were taken on 24 May during the Queen's Birthday celebrations.
  		Spencer and Hastings news, Victoria Colonist, 27 May 1883, p. 3. Further details about the photos taken by O.C. Hastings on 24 May during the Queen's Birthday celebrations.
  		Spencer and Hastings ad, Yale Inland Sentinel, 5 Apr 1883, p. 3. The photographs enumerated in this ad were taken by O.C. Hastings during his 1 Jul to 4 Aug 1879 trip aboard HMS Rocket with Dr. I.W. Powell on a tour of inspection of Indigenous villages.

  
  

• Notes

  STATUS: Commercial. BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: Although primarily a portrait photographer, he visited Metlakatla, BC, and other points along the northwest coast, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) and the west and east coasts of Vancouver Island with Indian Affairs Superintendent Dr. I.W. Powell on an inspection tour between Jul and Aug 1879. A recounting of this trip is found in Mattison and Savard (1992). A summary of his career up to 1874 can be found in Kerr (1890); in that year he was employed as the manager of S.A. Spencer's studio even though he had had no previous experience. When his first wife died in 1881 he moved away for a year. Upon his return he became a partner with S.A. Spencer as Spencer and Hastings and then bought out Spencer the following year. According to the biography in Gosnell (1906), Hastings sold his studio in Jan 1889. Listed as being retired in the 1894 directory, he returned to photography the next year. One of his most important commissions was to take photographs at Fort Rupert for ethnologist Franz Boas in Nov 1894. Hastings was first married in May 1867 to Matilda Caroline Birch; after her death in 1881 he remarried on 2 Oct 1884 to Mrs. Phillips Smith (nee Sylvestria T. Layzell). The 1881 census showed him as married, an infidel, American citizen, and aged 34. Hastings also achieved fame among astronomy circles for his home-built observatory; his residence was located on Observatory Hill. IDENTIFYING MARKS: "Hastings Photo 56 Fort Street, Victoria, B.C." on recto bottom of print mount (BC Archives accession 198202-004). "O. C. Hastings, Late Spencer & Hastings, Artist & Photographer, Fort Street. All Negatives Preserved Victoria, B.C." on verso of boudoir print mount. REFERENCES: HIB77; WIL82; WIL85; MAL87; WIL89; HEN90; HEN91; WIL93; WIL94; WIL95; HEN97; WIL97; HEN98; HEN99; Colonist, 1879 08 05/3, 1879 09 06/3, 1884 10 08 and 09/3, 1912 08 06 (obit.); Times, 1912 08 05 (obit.); 1881 Dominion Census, Yates St. Ward (OOA reel C-13285); Kerr (1890):179-180; Gosnell (1906); Blackman (1981-82); Thomas (1981-82); Jacknis (1984); Mattison and Savard (1992).

  
  

• Sources

  [S652] BVIPA death registration index. Registration no. 1912-08-05 (microfilm reel B13082); digital facsimile URL (accessed 6 Feb 2017): http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/eee1da67-d3c0-42d9-aa44-2b8cd6244663 [S374] Kerr (1890), J.B. Kerr, (Vancouver: Kerr & Begg, 1890), 179-180. Hastings, Oregon Columbus [S670] BVIPA marriage registration. Registration no. 1884-09-002602 (microfilm reel B11367)