Henry Ulke

Henry Ulke (January 29, 1821–February 17, 1910) was an American photographer and portrait painter.

Henry Ulke and his brothers, Julian and Lee moved from Germany to the U.S. in 1852. He worked in New York designing banknotes, then illustrations for Harper's and Leslie's weeklies in Philadelphia approximately 1853 to 1860, finally settling in Washington D.C. in 1860 where they took up residence in the Petersen boarding house at 516 Tenth Street, NW across the street from the Ford Theater to which U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was taken after he was shot by John Wilkes Booth April 14, 1865. It is presumed that Julius Ulke, one of the three brothers took a photo of the room in which Lincoln died April 15, 1865.

The brothers had a portrait studio in Washington, D.C. at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., around the corner from their boarding house.

Henry was a member of the Smithsonian Megatherium Club particularly collecting beetles.

Married Veronica Schultze, 1865. Photographed Mary Lincoln in mourning after Willie Lincoln's death.

Painted portraits of an outstanding series of American politicians, scientists and noteworthy individuals - some from his own photos. Portraits include Robert Kennicott, William Stimpson, Edward M. Stanton, Treasury Secretaries Crawford, Taney, Bibb, Chase, and Carlisle, as well as Samuel D. Ingham (1893).

His New York Times Obituary says, "Henry Ulke, whose portraits of Presidents and Cabinet Ministers at Washington gained for him the soubriquet of 'Painter of Presidents,' died ... as the result of a fall at his home... He was 89 years old. Mr. Ulke was a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, and at the time of the assassination the dying President was carried into the famous Tenth Street house, where he was boarding. One of Mr. Ulke's best paintings was a portrait of President Grant, which now hangs in the long gallery of the White House..."

References

*Andrew J. Cosentino and Henry H. Glassie. The Capital