Louis James Pesha
Encyclopedia
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
and early 20th century Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
landmarks. Pesha died an accidental death while operating his steam-powered automobile. He practiced his trade, owning the Pesha Postcard
Postcard
A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope....
Company in Marine City, Michigan. Today, his photos are of highly sought by collectors of Great Lake memorabilia.
Early life
Pesha was born on August 11, 1868 at Euphemia, OntarioDawn-Euphemia, Ontario
Dawn-Euphemia is a township in southwestern Ontario, Canada, in Lambton County. Residents primarily are employed by the agricultural industry, or by local industries such as Union Gas distribution center, along with various smaller agricultural manufacturers or service providers...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He worked in farming in the Euphemia area until about 1895, when he learned the photography trade. For the next six years, he had studios in Oil Springs, Inwood, Alvinston and Brigden, Ontario.
His studio
In 1901, Pesha moved to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and settled in Marine City, Michigan
Marine City, Michigan
Marine City is a city in St. Clair County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located on the west bank of the St. Clair River, it is one of the cities in the River District north of Detroit and south of Lake Huron. The population was 4,652 at the 2000 census...
. He opened a photography studio (known as various variations of “The Pesha Postcard Company.”
His primary focus was photographing commercial ships as they passed in front of his studio, on the Saint Clair River. He also traveled around the Great Lakes Basin
Great Lakes Basin
The Great Lakes Basin consists of the Great Lakes and the surrounding lands of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada, whose direct surface runoff and watersheds form a large...
, photographing railroad stations and buildings in villages, towns and cities in the United States and his native Canada. He would later print his photographs as postcards, selling them to stores for the public to buy and use.
Following Pesha’s death in 1912, his widow continued the business, in Marine City, until about 1920. She later moved the business to Detroit, but photopostcards passed out of fashion in the 1920s. The vast majority of his glass negatives were then destroyed.
His death
In 1910, Pesha purchased a WhiteWhite Motor Company
White Motor Company was an American automobile and truck manufacturer from 1900 until 1980. The company also produced bicycles, roller skates, automatic lathes, and sewing machines. Before World War II, the company was based in Cleveland, Ohio.-History:...
(brand, not color) steam powered automobile. This was then considered the Cadillac of luxury steam cars and was the only one registered in Marine City. On October 1, 1912, while visiting his parents’ farm in Euphemia, Ontario, he died when his car overturned and his skull was fractured. He is buried in a family plot in Shetland, Ontario.