The three Swartz brothers came to Fort Worth unheralded, starting with David, the oldest, in 1885. John, the second oldest, arrived later that same year, and little-brother Charles came in 1893. They left Mt. Jackson, Va., looking to make a name for themselves out West and found Fort Worth, a booming town in the 1880s that would someday call itself the city "where the West begins." David was already a professional photographer when he reached Fort Worth. He opened the Lone Star Copying House in Hell's Half-Acre, but a few years later relocated to a nicer block uptown. When John joined him, they hung out their sign that read: D.H. Swartz & Bro. David had a gift for promotion, and one of his touches was renaming the business, the "Cottage Gallery" as befit its quality product and well-heeled clientele.
John proved a quick study. After three years with David, he was ready to go out on his own, first in Denison then back to Fort Worth in 1896 as a friendly competitor. While David always saw himself as an artist who could work in any medium, John was a wizard with a box camera. He entered his photos in contests and quite often walked away with the blue ribbon.
In the meantime, brother Charlie had come to Fort Worth in 1893 with a young wife and infant child. He too apprenticed under David before going out on his own as a view artist. His studio was at 700 Houston St., but he spent most of his time taking outside shots.
All three brothers were now working in the same town for the first time. But not for long.
Sometime before 1900, David closed his studio and moved to Dallas, where he re-invented himself as Dr. Swartz, manufacturer of "medicines and toilet preparations" for women. Back in Fort Worth on Oct. 6, 1905, Charlie was on a job south of town when he set up his camera on some railroad tracks to get a shot. The KATY Flyer came roaring down the track and took him out; he died at the scene. His wife was devastated by the tragedy and lost her mind. David settled the estate, and John became guardian of the two children. In 1912, John had to sell out his own studio to a professional rival, George Bryant, and go to work for him. A few years later, he tried to re-open his studio but finally gave up and moved back to Virginia.
With all three brothers dead or out of the business, their priceless collection of photographs was scattered to the four winds. Today, some are in the hands of private collectors, others in the hands of institutions like the Fort Worth Library and Tarrant County Archives. We are just now recognizing their amazing legacy of photographic images of people and places from our city's past. Their most famous photograph is undoubtedly the studio shot of the outlaw gang known as The Wild Bunch taken by John on Nov. 21, 1900. Original copies of that photograph now sell for up to $85,000!
The exhibition of the Swartz photography will be at the Mary Couts Burnett Library at TCU from Oct. 28 - Nov. 30. It was at the Fort Worth Library in the spring of 2013 and is scheduled to be at the Haltom City Library in the months to come. We can never bring all the brothers" pictures home, but at least we can shine a spotlight on their legacy.
