William J. Oliphant
{{Short description|American photographer (1845–1930)}}
{{Infobox person
| name =William James Oliphant
| image = William J. Oliphant.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date =September 30, 1845
| birth_place =Lawrenceburg, Indiana, U.S.
| death_date ={{death date and age|1930|11|11|1845|9|30}}
| death_place =Austin, Texas, U.S.
| death_cause =
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| known_for =
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| employer =
| occupation =Army private, photographer, photography publisher
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| boards =
| spouse =Lizzie J. (Walker)
Alice Olive Townsend
| children =
| relatives =Walter Prescott Webb (son-in-law)
}}
File:Pvt. William J. Oliphant, Co. G, 6th Texas Infantry Regiment.jpg.]]
File:"Our Special Artist" in Camp, Taylor County. (11404984045).jpg
William J. Oliphant (1845–1930) was an American Confederate States Army veteran and photographer from Austin, Texas. He published the first photographs of buffalo hunts in North America.
Early life
William James Oliphant was born on September 30, 1845, in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.William Russell Young III, "OLIPHANT, WILLIAM JAMES," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fol10), accessed July 24, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.[http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/jtx/id/3881 Lawrence T. Jones III Texas Photographs: William J. Oliphant], Southern Methodist University Digital Libraries[http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/60008/tsl-60008.html William James Oliphant Biographical Sketch], Texas State Library and Archives Commission His father, William S. Oliphant (1813–1890), was a jeweler. His mother was Jane (Van Zile) Oliphant (1822–1867). He moved to Texas with his parents in 1853. The family settled in Austin, where his father's jewelry store was located on Pecan Street, now known as Sixth Street.Lawrence T. Jones, Lens on the Texas Frontier, College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 2014, p. 54 [https://books.google.com/books?id=IdjOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA54]
He studied photography under Alexander Gardner (1845–1930) and Timothy H. O'Sullivan (1840–1882) in Washington, D.C.
Career
During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, Oliphant served as a private in the Company G of the Sixth Texas Infantry Regiment, also known as the "Travis Rifles", of the Confederate States Army (CSA). He served in the Battle of Missionary Ridge, the Battle of Pickett's Mill, and the Battle of Atlanta, where he was wounded and caught by Union forces. He was in prison at Camp Chase for nearly a year, from July 1864 to March 1865.
Shortly after the war, Oliphant became a photographer in Austin. His studio was above his father's jewelry shop at 117 Pecan Street.[http://texasartisans.mfah.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15939coll7/id/305/rec/23 Oliphant, W. J. (City directory entry)], William J. Hill Texas Artisans & Artists Archive: Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Indeed, together with Hamilton B. Hillyer (1835–1903), he was one of the earliest photographers in Austin to have a studio in the city.[http://www.austinlibrary.com/ahc/begin/bus.htm Austin Beginnings], Austin History Center: Austin Public Library Additionally, he published photographs taken by other photographers. He is perhaps best known for publishing the earliest photographs of buffalo hunts in the United States. They are known as the Life on the Frontier series, taken by George Robertson in 1874.[https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/indian/showdown/page1.html Buffalo Hunt, 1874], Texas State Library and Archives Commission
From the 1880s to the 1920s, Oliphant worked for the government. He worked for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts from 1881 to 1886, the Internal Revenue Service from 1887 to 1890, and for the Travis County Tax Assessor's Office from 1905 to 1927.
Personal life
Oliphant resided at the Oliphant-Walker House in Hyde Park, a suburb of Austin. He married twice. His first wife was Lizzie J. Walker (1848–1873). After she died in 1873, he married Alice Olive Townsend (1852–1908) in 1877. They had four children. One of his daughters married Walter Prescott Webb, a Texas historian.
James Oliphant, a journalist with Reuters News in Washington, is William J. Oliphant's direct descendant.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}
Death and legacy
Oliphant died on November 11, 1930, in Austin, Texas. He was buried at the Oakwood Cemetery in Austin, Texas.
The William J. Oliphant chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Austin, Texas is named in his honor.
Bibliography
- Oliphant, William J. Only a Private: A Texan Remembers the Civil War. Edited by James M. McCaffrey. Houston, Texas: Halcyon Press, Ltd. 2004.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|William James Oliphant}}
- {{find a Grave|66385531}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliphant, William J.}}
Category:People from Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Category:People from Austin, Texas
Category:Confederate States Army personnel
Category:Northern-born Confederates