Caleb Lysander Howe

Caleb Lysander Howe (September 23, 1810 – March 14, 1896) was an American photographer.

Early life and education Howe was born in Dummerston, Vermont, the son of Caleb and Sophia Sheldon Howe. His family moved to Dover, Vermont, when he was young.

Career Howe began his career as a farmer. He worked circa 1830–1849 as a jeweler and watchmaker in Dover, and then later in Brattleboro, Vermont, where he had moved to work at a machine shop.

He met an itinerant daguerreotype photographer who had set up a temporary studio near Howe's farm in 1852. Howe bought out the photographer's business for three hundred dollars and started a career in photography. The photographer had not stayed around long enough to teach Howe the process, so he had to speak to other photographers, including traveling to Boston to learn how to make photographic prints.

The firm became known as C. L. Howe & Sons in 1865. Several of his stereoscopes are in the Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views at the New York Public Library.

Personal life Howe was married twice—the first time to Cynthia Sherman on October 1, 1832, in Dover, Vermont. They had five children, two of whom survived into adulthood. His second marriage was to Martha Batchelder Simonds on May 24, 1848. They also had five children, including opera singer Mary Howe.

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