Charles Henry Lefferts, his wife and two sons, left New York City to come to Milford in the spring of 1907. Arriving by train, the family came to Milford so that Lefferts could take over the photography business left vacant after the death of William Watson Daughterty.
They had no home when they arrived, so they made their way to Mrs. Laura Tatman’s Paying Guest House on Southwest Front Street. The 1880 census shows that Lefferts was 19 and living with his parents, Isaac and Mary in New Jersey and that he had one brother, William who was 14.
The 1900 census shows that Lefferts was born in July 1860 in New Jersey and he lived on Atlantic Street in that city with his wife, Mary L. and his children, William, who was 12 at the time and Louis who was nine. His occupation was listed as photographer.
In 1905, New Jersey conducted their own census. The Lefferts were living in New Jersey, but no children are noted as living with them.
Confirming that the family arrived in Milford before 1910, that census shows Leffert and his wife living on Causey Avenue in Milford. Neither son is listed as living with them, but Louis and Kate Jackson, noted as Mary Lefferts parents, were living in the household.
Mary Lefferts was a big, stout woman and very focused on her two sons. Reports are that William, who was known as Bill, was married when the family arrived but no information is available on his wife. She was also rarely seen in town. The younger son, Louis, was red-headed, fun-loving and single. He was described as “devil may care.” One story was that Louis could not decide what he wanted to drink for dinner at the guest house, tea or coffee. He had the server pour both beverages in the same cup.
Lefferts opened his photography studio on South Walnut Street. This was when picture postcards were very popular as cards could be purchased for a penny and mailed for a penny. Lefferts began a steady business of photography with postcards in mind. He paid special attention to groups, landscapes, interiors and exteriors of buildings, developing, printing, mounting and amateur work.
Lefferts brought with him modern cameras and state-of-the art apparatus which meant he was soon regarded as one of the leading photographers in the area. He established a reputation for high class, artistic workmanship that was enviable. His specialty was portraiture and enlargements in water color, crayon and pastel.
There is little known of this personality, however. He often photographed churches, leading some to believe he was religious, but he also photographed many drunken scenes. One was “The Gunning Season Morning After,” which indicates the hunters enjoyed the day before very much.
“Few photographers have ever gained a better reputation for satisfactory work that has been accord Mr. Lefferts during the less than two years he has been catering to the people of Milford and vicinity,” the Chronicle wrote in 1909.
The Lefferts Photography Studio, which was sometimes referred to as the Lefferts Art Store, had a very large assortment of picture postcards. A newspaper of 1909 said he had over 50 photographs of the most attractive points of interest in Milford. Lefferts did sign his postcards on the front in the lower right-hand corner using just the name “Lefferts.”
There is no information on why the Lefferts family left Milford after only five or six years, but the 1920 and 1930 census show Lefferts, his wife and his mother-in-law, Kate, living in Wilmington. It appears Lefferts passed away in 1939 and is buried in Arlington Cemetery, indicating he served in the military at one time.
