HAMLET – Frank Marchant, a photographer, was born in Pennsylvania in the 1800s. During his time in Pennsylvania he studied civil engineering. Due to poor records of the day, where he studied is unknown.
In the early 1900s, Marchant had moved to Hamlet, North Carolina as an engineer for the Seaboard Air Line Railway. However, Marchant had always had an interest and talent for photography so, in 1907, Marchant opened a photography studio in Hamlet on the second floor of O. T. Goodwin’s wholesale grocery located on Raleigh Street.
During this time, Marchant also served for a number of years as the official photographer for the Seaboard Railway. Marchant remained a bachelor, living with his elderly mother in a house they rented on the corner of Raleigh and Charlotte Street.
Marchant preferred to take photographs on location and not in a studio. Therefore there are very few portraits that Marchant took. Many of his photos depict actions and daily life in the community.
His photographs consist mostly of trains, train wrecks, parades, snows, hotels, town activities, and people. Marchant would occasionally photograph newsworthy events and things that he believed would be of interest to the public. Some of his photographs were registered with the copyright office in Washington, D.C. as well.
In 1911 he photographed the infamous murder trial of Lewis West and his gang of desperadoes in Wilson County. Marchant documented the construction of Blewett Falls Dam and powerhouse on the Pee Dee River at the Richmond-Anson County border in 1911–12. Newspapers throughout Richmond and surrounding counties often used his photographs to document events.
Many of Marchant’s photographs were turned into postcards. The souvenir cards actually were sold at depots, hotels, and drugstores.
Marchant was a successful photographer until sometime in the 1920s. It is believed that the death of his mother during this time lead to a decline in his work. Marchant began to drink heavily after her death in 1922. By the 1930s, Marchant was no longer photographing and never attempted a return to this line of work.
His health began to decline as well in the 1930s and he became more and more of a recluse. There is no record to show he was a member of any church or organization during this time. When Marchant died he was living in an old shack with a tin roof, alone, located on Vance Street. Marchant is buried in Mary Love Cemetery.
Many of his glass plate negatives and prints were destroyed after his death but a portion of postcards and prints remain. Many of those are in the State Archives in Raleigh.
Marchant’s camera and some photographs can also be seen at the Visitors’ Center, part of the Hamlet Depot and Museums, located on Main Street.
