August Semmendinger

Early life

August Semmendinger was born in 1820. Records indicate he emigrated to the United States from Bad Urach, Germany, arriving in the United States on July 6, 1849 aboard a ship named Columbia which had embarked from Bremen, Germany.

Along with August was Magdalene Semendinger, his wife and his one-year-old baby, a daughter, Alsoine (sp?) Semendinger. It is not believed that this daughter ever reached adulthood. Save for the immigration listing, no other record exists of this child.

After arriving in the United States, August lived in Lower Manhattan at 9 Elizabeth Street as a cabinetmaker. In 1855-6 he moved two blocks over to 40 Forsyth Street where his occupation is listed as a box maker. Shortly thereafter, August moved to 144 Elizabeth Street where he began to manufacture cameras.

Career

August Semmendinger began making cameras in 1859. An old letterhead, still in the family's possession states, "A. Semmendinger & Sons: The Oldest Firm of Camera Box Making - Established 1859." Semmendinger made his cameras in New York City at this time at Nos. 410 & 412 West 16th Street.

In addition to being the "oldest firm of camera box making," Semmendinger was also an early camera designer. He was awarded three United States patents related to camera making. On February 21, 1860, August Semmendinger was awarded his first patent, Patent No. 27,241 by the United States Patent Office. This patent was for a “Photographic Apparatus.” Just six months later, Semmendinger was awarded his second patent. On August 7, 1860, this second patent, Patent No. 29,523 from the United States Patent Office, was simply for a “Camera.”

By the early 1870s, August Semmendinger moved his family and business to New Jersey and purchased land just across the Hudson River in Fort Lee. Most of the Semmendinger cameras still in existence seem to have been manufactured in Fort Lee. Here August Semmendinger was awarded his third United States Patent, No. 145,020, for Photographic Plate-Holders. It is believed that this patent is for what August Semmendinger titled his “Celebrated Silver Double Corners.”

The December 1873 issue of The Photographic Times (Vol. III, No. 36) states: "Aug. Semmendinger, proprietor of the Fort Lee Camera Box Factory, is constantly receiving new testimonials in favor of his make apparatus. The multiplying and celebrated Roller Camera Boxes are his speciality."

August Semmendinger was able to earn a fourth patent fourteen years later on March 31, 1874. This, the final patent he earned, Patent No. 149,255 by the United States Patent Office was for “Camera-Stands.”

In 1882 a history of Bergen and Passaic counties was written, and August's factory was referenced as one of the top employers in the Fort Lee manufacturing industry, alongside other businesses employing hundreds of local operatives.

Marriage and children

August married Magdalene Kinney (b. c. 1829) who it seems certain was from Switzerland. Different spellings exist regarding her name. The couple had four children recorded in the 1880 United States Census: Theodore, Alvina, Roland, and Guido.

Death and afterward

August Semmendinger died in Fort Lee, New Jersey on August 6, 1885. An obituary was printed in Anthony’s Photographic Bulletin and reads:

"August Semmindinger (sic), the well-known camera manufacturer, died at Fort Lee, N.J., on August 6, 1885, at the age of 65. He was a native of Wurtemburg, Germany, and always an active man, whether in business or social life. He was the inventor of a number of improvements in the camera, for which he held patents. Mr. Semmindinger’s (sic) sons carry on the business founded by their father."

August Semmendinger in Print

Time has diminished August Semmendinger's impact in the history of camera manufacturing. His name is well known by enthusiasts of the early history of the camera. To most others, Semmendinger's name has been lost to time. That being said, his name occasionally comes out in print.

In 1881, a book titled the Photographic Times and American Photographer edited by J. Traill Taylor states the following about the Semmendinger camera:

"The idea of utilizing that portion of the camera just under the lens and converting it into a sort of cupboard is, at least, novel. To A. Semmindinger(sic) belongs the full credit of this idea ; whether photographers will appreciate it is another matter. But, seriously, it may become handy for storing away a sandwich, a few screws, or - anything else."

The Bergen County (New Jersey) Board of Chosen Freeholders published a book titled Bergen County Panorama in 1941. This book makes a cursory reference to August Semmendinger on page 104:

"August Semmindinger's (sic) photographic laboratories in Fort Lee were experimenting with an enterprise which soon was to revolutionize the habits of the country."

The book The Western Photographs of John K. Hillers: Myself in the Water (1989) makes reference to a Semmendinger camera. This text on page 20 reads:

“In 1875 W.H. Jackson lugged such a monster, probably a Semmindinger (sic) “Mammoth plate” wet-collodion camera, up and down the canyons and mesas of southwestern Colorado while he photographed landscapes and “Cliff Dweller” archaeological sites. Such mammoth camera were extremely heavy and cumbersome, as were the glass plates used in them.”

August Semmendinger is not specifically mentioned in the book Images of America: Fort Lee (2004), but his camera making plant is referenced on page 25:

"There was a small photographic manufacturing plant on Gerome Avenue."

This reference is to the Semmendinger plant which was located on Eickhoff Street (also spelled Ichoff Street) which was later renamed Gerome Avenue.