Mid 1800s oil on board portrait of Anson Eldred in original frame. Dated 1850.
Eldred (1820 - 1895) was a lumberman, businessman and railroad promoter, born in Detroit. He moved to Milwaukee in 1842 and opened a lumber business. Maintaining headquarters in Milwaukee, he purchased timberlands in Marinette, Shawano, and Oconto counties and operated sawmills at Stiles, Little Suamico, Oconto, and Fort Howard, eventually acquiring a fortune. He was an active promoter of early Wisconsin railroads, especially the Milwaukee and Watertown R.R. and the Milwaukee and Mississippi R.R. He was a director of the Milwaukee Gas Light Co., the Farmers' and Millers' Bank (established in Milwaukee in 1853), and the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.
Handwritten information on the subject (pictured) on the back side of the painting.
