Levi V. Bean

American, 1845-1909

View raw data

Levi V. Bean was a farmer in Corinna, Maine in 1870, but sometime during the decade he, with his wife Sarah worked as itenerant photographers in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. Bean was listed as a photographer in Miner, Dakota Territory on the 1880 Census, but had established himself in Sioux City by the following year. Sioux City seems to been his base of operations, but he had a branch in Dell Rapids the same year. He was still operating in Dell Rapids in 1890, when the Sioux City Journal on July 28 reported that "While L. V. Bean, Dell Rapids photographer was 'taking' a baby the child became excited and fell from the chair, fracturing three ribs." In August of 1897, Bean was elected Vice President for South Dakota of the Northwestern Photographers' Association at their convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In 1900 he was reported to be in Salt Lake City, Utah "inspecting the Stockton Gold Mining and Milling Company's property in which they are interested." He had not given up photography, however, and continued in Sioux City until 1903, and then in San Diego, California until at least 1905. He died in Portland, Oregon in 1909.