M.E. Tyler and M.E. Herrin: Ashland’s first female photographers

25 May M.E. Tyler and M.E. Herrin: Ashland’s first female photographers

Mae Tyler, first Ashland female professional photographer.

Margaret Herrin, second Ashland female professional photographer.

Trail blazers who both had photographer husbands.

Stories from the late 1800s.

There were only 27 female photographers in all of Oregon in the year 1890. Two of them were Ashland’s first female photographers, who had photo studios in the small pioneer town of Ashland during the late 1800s.

Both studios were one-half block from Ashland Plaza – in different directions, at slightly different times. Both had the initials M.E. for their first and middle names – but not the same names. Mae Tyler started her business first and died first. Margaret Herrin assisted her husband with his photography business for a decade, traveling to towns all over Oregon. She finally had a studio in her own name right here in Ashland.

This photo essay grew out of stories gathered for the May 20, 2026 pioneer “Tombstone Tales” event at Ashland Cemetery on East Main Street. Tombstone Tales in 2026 told the stories of twelve early Ashland residents. Actors dressed in pioneer-style outfits recited life-stories right by their characters’ grave markers at the cemetery. Only two of the pioneers were not buried at Ashland Cemetery.

At Tombstone Tales, Mae Tyler and Margaret Herrin told highlights of their life stories to the audience in the form of a dialog. I will use the framework of that dialog in my photo essay, but I will add more information about their lives, including many quotes from local newspapers of the era. I will begin with M.E. (Mae) Tyler, the first of the two women to be born and to die.

M.E. (Mae) Tyler: Hello, and it’s good to meet you. I am excited to tell you about one of the highlights of my photographic career, which took place in 1892, toward the end of my life. Fortunately, we have this photograph to go with the written description.

Here’s what the Ashland Tidings newspaper wrote about me February 12, 1892. “Miss Cora Baldwin is bearing a banner with a large picture of Mrs. Tyler. Her bright-colored dress was encircled and biased with rows of pictures large and small from Mrs. Tyler’s studio.”

I had that dress made for a successful “business carnival” at the Ganiard Opera House in downtown Ashland, and it made a splash. The three-story Opera House was built at the corner of East Main Street and Pioneer Street in 1889 for theater and music performances, community events, possibly even operas. The top two floors of the building burned in a 1912 fire, but the ground floor survived, and you can still go to the shops there.

As you can see from the banner, my name is M.E. Tyler. I have been called “the earliest female portrait photographer in Southern Oregon, for which a significant number of photographs survive. ” Yes, I was a trailblazer in a man’s world, as was my colleague here.

M.E. (Margaret) Herrin: Hello. I am also glad to meet you.

M.E. Tyler was the first female photographer in Ashland, so I was the second. My name is M.E. Herrin. (laughs) Yes, we both have the initials M.E. – but with different first names. So we don’t get confused, you can call me Margaret and my colleague Mae. I was born in 1864 right here in Ashland, and grew up with five brothers and sisters. My parents were Morris and “Kate” Howell, who came here from Ohio in the early 1850s. According to the 1860 census, my father had a large farm growing corn. Sadly, my father died when I was five years old. The 1870 census showed my mother raising six children by herself, from age 13 to the youngest only five months!

Where did you grow up, Mae?

M.E. (Mae) Tyler: I was born in 1851 and grew up in Wisconsin. I wanted to become a teacher, so I attended the Platteville Normal School in Wisconsin. I became friends with a young man named George Hiram Tyler, who was also studying to become a teacher. We moved to Yreka, California together when we both got teaching jobs there. This was even before we were married! We tied the knot in Yreka in 1876.

I had poor health even in my 20s, so George and I left Yreka and traveled the West Coast, hoping to recover my health and strength. Neither one of us continued in the teaching profession. We finally settled in Ashland in the summer of 1885, where George found a job doing furniture upholstery. He also purchased a mineral springs called the “Dead Indian Soda Springs” that same year.

The very next year I became a photographer. How about your love life and professional life, Margaret?

M.E. (Margaret) Herrin: This is exciting to learn that you came to Ashland in 1885 and became a photographer here in 1886. Our lives overlapped right here in Ashland for just a few years, beginning in 1885 or 1886. Here’s what was happening in my life those years.

I married David C. Herrin in 1886, the year you became a photographer. We were married 16 years, but we never had children together. David was called D.C. Herrin in all the newspaper articles, and his name sure popped up in newspaper stories a lot through the years. My husband started a boot and shoe business at the Ashland Odd Fellows building on the Plaza the year we got married.

I guess he didn’t like selling boots and shoes, because by 1888 he had transformed himself into a photographer. I would say he puffed himself up a bit in terms of his skill level, to put it kindly.

For example, a Medford newspaper wrote in March of 1888 that “Mr. Herrin is in possession of the secret process of instantaneous picture-taking, and tells us that he can take a train on the run or a horse running and show an exact picture of the people flocking to and from the train. He will give us such a picture some of these days.”

Here’s a local newspaper quote from June 29, 1888: “The handsomest lady on the 4th of July ground at Medford will be presented with one dozen cabinet photographs of herself by D. C. Herrin, the leading photographer of Southern Oregon.” During his first year in business, he was already calling himself “the leading photographer of Southern Oregon!” Mae, that title was more likely yours at the time.

Here’s one more newspaper account from July of 1888. “D. C. Herrin, our leading photographer, has gone to Linkville [now called Klamath Falls] on a business trip and is better prepared than ever to turn out first-class work. His wife will have charge of the gallery here while he is absent.” As you can see from the newspaper, I was active in my husband’s business and I gained photography skills of my own. I’ll tell you in a few minutes how I put my own skills to use.

In the 21^st century, my husband David might be called good at marketing himself. Less charitably, you could say he was a slick talker and made too much of himself. That might be why we moved so much. Between 1888 and the early 1900s, we had photography studios in Ashland, Medford, Linkville (now Klamath Falls), The Dalles, Portland, and more!

I believe your gallery was always in Ashland. Is that correct?

M.E. (Mae) Tyler: Yes. I opened my photo gallery in 1886 on North Main Street, half a block from the Plaza, across from the end of Church Street. That would be about where the Flip hamburger place and Creekside Pizza are located in the 2020s. In your case, you were assisting your husband David with his photo studio. In my case, my husband George assisted me with my photo studio.

Remember, I had been a school teacher before George and I traveled the West Coast to try to improve my health. My obituary in the Ashland Tidings described how I became a photographer. “In 1886 Mrs. Tyler went back to Wisconsin to revisit old friends and learn the photographic business, and on her return opened a gallery in Ashland, which she has managed ever since with increasing reputation and success, her work rapidly bringing her in to rank with the best artists in the state.”

You described your husband’s “puffed up” marketing style. I was more restrained, but still proud of my skills. Here’s my ad in the Ashland Tidings of July 26, 1889.

The pioneer society of early Rogue Valley settlers was very active in those days. Reaching out to that group was one of my marketing strategies, as in this newspaper mention: “Mrs. M. E. Tyler, the photographer of Ashland, offers to present each pioneer of the county who will visit her gallery for the purpose of having a negative taken, with a cabinet photograph of himself or herself.”

M.E. (Margaret) Herrin: Oh, my gosh. Our careers definitely overlapped during the late 1880s. After helping David for many years, I had my own photo studio in Ashland on East Main Street, near the Plaza. it was only one block away from where your gallery had been from 1886 to 1892!

The photo above shows my gallery on July 4, 1898, during the Ashland 4^th of July parade. One of the arrows points to my sign: “M.E. HERRIN Portraits.” I moved in to this building in June 1897, then moved away from Ashland with David in August 1898. In case you are curious, the parade float featured in the photo honors the battleship U.S.S. Oregon, which played an important role in the Spanish-American War of that year.

I was also proud of my photography skills, and here’s what one of my ads said.

            Superior Photographs, Excelling all others in Life Like, Artistic and Permanent Results.      

Mrs. M. E. Herrin, Art Gallery. Opposite Hotel Oregon.

                  Valley Record, Ashland, April 28, 1898,

I had a few newspaper mentions, but not as many as either you or my husband. These two were in the Ashland Tidings during June 1897.

“The people of Ashland will now have an opportunity get first-class photos; Mrs. Margaret Herrin, a photographer of The Dalles, has charge of the Larson studio. All are cordially invited to call at the studio and see the samples of work.”

“Mrs. Margaret Herrin of The Dalles has charge of the Larson studio. Mrs. Herrin has an enviable reputation as an artist.”

M.E. (Mae) Tyler: I am glad you were recognized for your own skills, not just as an assistant to your husband.

Even though I opened my own business after moving to Ashland in 1885, I continued to struggle with poor health. In May of 1890, the newspaper reported: “Mrs. M. E. Tyler, the photographic artist, is convalescing after a siege of several weeks’ illness.” Two months later, I was ill again, and back in the newspaper again. “Mr. and Mrs. Geo. H. Tyler have gone to Tyler’s Dead Indian Soda Springs to remain for some time in recuperating Mrs. Tyler’s health, while George fixes up the premises. Mrs. Tyler’s photograph gallery will be closed for the next thirty days.”

I hired Miss Cora Baldwin to assist me at the gallery, and taught her the ropes. George helped out in the business. He also took photographs, as mentioned in October 1892: “Geo. H. Tyler and his assistant, C. V. Nye, were over on the Siskiyous this week taking views of the scenic and engineered points of interest. They will have them on sale at Mrs. Tyler’s gallery.”

Tragically, I was only 41 years old when pneumonia cut my life short on December 30, 1892. As the Democratic Times of Jacksonville reported on January 6, 1893, “Mrs. M. E. Tyler of Ashland, the well-known photographer, died last Saturday and was buried the following day. She had contracted a severe cold, which developed into a case of pneumonia that proved fatal. Mrs. Tyler was a lady of much intelligence and many estimable qualities, and her death is generally regretted.”

Looking back on my life, I am proud that I had a seven-year career as a photographer. They were the happiest years of my life.

M.E. (Margaret) Herrin: I lived a much longer life, albeit with many ups and downs along the way. David and I had two children together, Irene and Kate. I lived to be 79, but I gave up photography after divorcing in 1902.

You might laugh when I tell you about the rest of my working life. For more than ten years I was a bookkeeper in Portland, for the fraternal insurance company called A.O.U.W., the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Then in 1920 I was back in Ashland, living at 476 Laurel Street, and I owned a poultry farm! Imagine that.

I outlived both of my daughters. Irene died when she was only 14 and is buried at the Ashland Cemetery. I lived with Kate and her family in Portland during the 1910s, when I worked as a bookkeeper. As I mentioned, I was back in Ashland during the 1920s. By 1930, I was living again with Kate and her husband. When my dear Kate died in 1937, I moved in with my granddaughter and her family. My passing in 1943 brought me back to Ashland, to be buried at the Ashland Cemetery next to my parents and other members of the Howell family. Sadly, I do not have a grave marker at my grave site. However, someone who kindly remembered me painted a simple rock in May 2026 (at the time of Tombstone Tales) to place at my grave site.

M.E. (Mae) Tyler: I think it’s sweet that we both chose to be buried here at the Ashland Cemetery.

After I died, George remarried and had two sons with Mary Gunter. He continued the “Tyler photograph gallery” in Ashland and expanded to Medford. I am happy to say that my former assistant Miss Cora Baldwin – who was featured in the photo that began our story – was in charge of the Tyler gallery in Ashland by 1895.

I feel especially proud that we blazed a trail for female photographers in Oregon through the example of our lives.

References:

Note: The 2026 Tombstone Tales script that was greatly expanded for this photo essay was written by Peter Finkle and Lynn Ransford.

Ancestry.com

Anon. Obituary, Ashland Tidings, January 6, 1893.

Anon. “A Great Success: The Business Carnival Crowds the Opera House,” Ashland Tidings, February 12, 1892.

Anon. Ashland Tidings, many other dates.

Anon. Democratic Times, Jacksonville, various dates.

Anon. Medford Mail, various dates.

Anon. Portland City Directory, various dates.

Anon. Roseburg Review, 1885.

Anon. Photo taken by M.E. Tyler, at Sonoma County, California library.

[From https://digital.sonomalibrary.org/documents/detail/76177 ]

Anon. Southern Oregon Transcript, various dates.

Anon. The Dalles Times Mountaineer, various dates.

Anon. Valley Record, Ashland, various dates.

Anon. Herrin, David C. [From http://historicphotoarchive.com/oregon-photographers-online-edition/herrin-david-c-ashland-medford-portland-the-dalles/ ]

Jay, Billy. “Women in Photography: 1840 – 1900,” unitednationsofphotography.com, 4/24/2019.

[From https://unitednationsofphotography.com/2019/04/24/archive-women-in-photography-1840-1900/ ]

Palmquist, Peter E. “Western Photographers, 1: Some stories about audacious image makers,” The American West, Vol XVIII, Number 3, May/June 1981.

[From https://npshistory.com/newsletters/the-american-west/v18n3.pdf ]

Ben Truwe’s website at Southern Oregon Historical Society.

https://truwe.sohs.org

United States Census, various dates.