From collection Great Cranberry Island Historical Society Collection
Dagurreotype photograph of William Pitt Preble ca.1850-1855
Photograph. Dagurreotype of man believed to be William Pitt Preble ca.1850-1855, in hinged, gilt-edged, leatherbound, wood case. Plush green velvet with impressed scroll design lines the interior of the cover; thin brass/metal mat has green corrosion spots. From the Louise Marr collection of items recovered from the Preble House. William Pitt Preble (1811-1905) was the second owner of GCI's historic Preble house. He exemplified the industrious ingenuity needed to succeed in homesteading and developing a community on this rugged island in the early 19th century. Preble was the son of the Mount Desert Rock lighthouse keeper, a descendant of an influential Portland family. He came to Great Cranberry as a teacher, and became a church elder, selectman, justice of the peace, tax appraiser, postmaster, storekeeper, shipbuilder, and shipwreck appraiser. He outlived both his wives and raised nine children.
