Archives & Special Collections Esty-Tuckerman Family
Skip to Main ContentA gallery of 11 photographs from Archives & Special Collections
See related article in Amherst magazine
Thanks to Thomas Michie, the Amherst College Archives and Special Collections has several images of members of the Esty-Tuckerman family, circa 1885-1900. All four of Professor William Cole Esty’s sons attended Amherst (as did Professor Esty himself, Class of 1860), so a number of the images have direct connection with Amherst events such as graduation or class activities. We include a selection of them here, along with a photograph of the Tuckerman house from the Archives and Special Collections Buildings and Grounds Collection.
Left to right: Edward (AC 1897) and Robert (AC 1897) Esty, March, 1889. Edward holds the dog “Dick” and Robert holds “Tony,” who appears in several photographs of the family.
Verso of Edward (AC 1897) and Robert Esty (AC 1897), March, 1889. John L. Lovell’s studio was the first photography studio in Amherst. A large body of his work is still in various collections and forms a major source for images of Amherst and surrounding towns during the second half of the nineteenth century. Perhaps the majority of formal photographs taken in Amherst during this period were taken at the J. L. Lovell Studio.
The Esty brothers, July, 1892. Standing: Edward Esty (AC 1897). Middle row, left to right: William (AC 1889) and Thomas (AC 1893) Esty. Seated in front: Robert Esty (AC 1897).
The Esty brothers, July, 1896. Standing, left to right: Thomas (AC 1893) and William (AC 1889). Seated, left to right: Robert (AC 1897), Edward (AC 1897).
The Esty brothers with their father, July, 1897. Back row, left to right: Thomas (AC 1893), Robert (AC 1897), Edward (AC 1897). Seated: Professor William Cole Esty (AC 1860), William (AC 1889).
On the porch of the Tuckerman house, ca. 1887 - 1890. Back row: Louis Derr (AC 1889), [Anna Louisa Cushing], Sarah Tuckerman. Front row, Edward Esty (AC 1897) with Tony, [Julia Coy Esty or Jane Coy Derr], [Martha Cushing Esty or Mrs. Coy], William Esty (AC 1889).
On the porch of the Tuckerman house, cyanotype, ca. 1887 -1890. This porch seems to have been a favorite place to gather for photographs. Back row, left to right: Sarah Tuckerman, [Anna Louisa Cushing], Louis Derr (AC 1889). Front row: [Professor William Cole Esty (AC 1860)], Robert Esty (AC 1897), William Esty (AC 1889).
Picnic on Sugarloaf Mountain, South Deerfield, Mass., cyanotype, ca. 1887 - 1890. Left to right: [Julia Coy Esty], [unidentified man], William Esty (AC 1889), Sarah Tuckerman, [unidentified woman].
Amherst College graduation, Class of 1893. Thomas Esty, the graduate, stands in the back row, fourth from right. His brother William (AC 1889) is sixth from right, with his wife Julia Coy Esty in front of him to his right. Edward Esty (AC 1897), in partial profile, is seated in the front row. [To Edward’s right is youngest brother Robert Esty (AC 1897)] Sarah Tuckerman, in profile, is seated in the middle of the second row. In the foreground, two of Thomas Esty’s classmates: William C. Breed and Frederick Scouller Allis.
The Amherst College Senior Dramatics cast of The Private Secretary (a play by Sir Charles Henry Hawtrey), June, 1897. Edward Esty (AC 1897) had the lead role as the Reverend Robert Spaulding, and Robert Esty (AC 1897) was stage manager. The play was presented in several towns in June, and at commencement that year on June 28. Edward’s performance received excellent reviews: “E. T. Esty, in the leading role as private secretary, was the star of the performance, his odd make-up, accentuated drawl of speech and the ludicrous situations into which he was continually stumbling, together with his splendid acting of the part throughout, easily distinguishing his work.” Robert, too, was given his due: “The manager and trainer have every reason to congratulate themselves on their success. The public verdict is one of unanimous approval.” Edward and Robert are in the back row of the photograph – Edward, center, assuming an expression consonant with his role as Reverend Spaulding, and Robert to his left.
Edward Esty (AC 1897) in his role as Reverend Robert Spaulding in The Private Secretary. June, 1897. The commencement issue of The Amherst Student describes the character as “an individual attired in the black cloth of an English curate, wearing white cotton gloves and huge galoshes, above which latter is visible rather more than a suggestion of white socks. Carrying firmly clasped in one hand a bungling cotton umbrella, he resists all offers to lay it aside, and removing a curious, old-fashioned, shell-like hat from his long hair, which streams like two watersheds from his ridgepole part, pours forth a tale of his dreadful experiences in London...”
