Peter Neff (1828 to 1903)
Peter Neff was a native of Coshocton County, Ohio, and attended both Yale and Woodward College before graduating from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio in 1849. Between 1853 and 1854 Neff closely collaborated with Hamilton Neff, a Professor of Chemistry at Kenyon to develop what is generally acknowledged to be the first successful tintype photographs in America. In 1856, Neff acquired the patent for making “ferrotype” or “melainotype” plates, and shortly thereafter moved to Cincinnati where he opened a factory for their manufacture. The plant was destroyed by fire in 1857, and Neff moved his business to Middletown, Connecticut. As the tintype process became widely accepted by American photographers, Neff found his patent largely unenforceable. He returned to Gambier in 1860, eventually becoming involved in the oil and gas business in eastern Ohio.
Information courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions Inc., March 2007