User:Johnnie Bob/Sandbox/Glenn Durston

Glenn Arthur Durston is a 20th-century American photographer known for his works depicting police and firefighters in the course of their duties, natural disasters such as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and important architectural works primarily around the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of his photographs remain on display in various galleries or collections, while others have either been sold or are still in the possession of family members. Durston also did drawings, paintings, and other visual artwork. Some of these have been published while others remain in the possession of family members.

Early Life and Education
Durston was born in Nashua, Iowa on September 2, 1876 to John Issac Durston of Wisconsin and Mary Elizabeth Freemire of Ohio. By 1895, when he was 18 years old, he was a student at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, living with his uncle (Wellington A. Freemire), aunt (Carrie Millard) and her mother (Hannah) at their East 17th Street home in Minneapolis near the college campus. At that time, Freemire was employed as a real estate agent working on commission. It is worth mentioning that Wellington Freemire later became mayor of Ontario, California, holding this appointment from 1912–1914. While attending college in Minnesota, Durston demonstrated his proficiency in the visual arts by taking second place in a contest to design the cover art for the Olson's department store's Fall catalog.

Military service
On April 29, 1898, Durston enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served as a Private in Company I, 13th Minnesota Voluntary Infantry in the Phillipines during the Spanish-American war. Upon enlistment, he immediately joined 978 other "professional men, business man, tradesmen, and college and university students" at Camp Ramsey, which had been set up at the state fairgrounds in Saint Paul to temporarily hold the servicemen until they could be deployed to the Philippines. On May 12, 1898, the regiment received orders to ship out, and on May 16, Durston boarded a train bound for San Francisco. Upon arriving in San Francisco, he and the rest of the regiment were stationed at Camp Merritt, a temporary mobilization center situated at Golden Gate Park, where they were outfitted and prepared for shipment to the Philippines. On June 26, he boarded the steamship City of Para which, after a short 3-day layover in Honolulu, arrived in Manila Bay on July 31.

While serving in the Philippines, Durston wrote a long letter to his uncle, Wellington Freemire, at home in Minneapolis about his experiences leading up to and including the Battle of Manila, including those of his companion Joseph Weaver, who had left his unit (against orders) to personally participate in the fighting. The bulk of this letter, together with a letter written by Weaver to his mother, were published in the Minneapolis Tribune on March 31, 1899. Durston served until October 3, 1899 when he was honorably discharged.

Artistic career
After his discharge from the U.S. Army, Durston worked in the real estate profession in Seattle, Washington. The record suggests (see references cited herein) that this is where he began to develop and use his artistic abilities in photography, drawing and painting, and graphic design. In November 1905, he married Minnie Sandberg in San Francisco, and he and his bride remained in the Bay Area up until at least 1912. By 1918, they had moved back to Seattle, as evidenced by his WWI draft registration form, which shows their permanent address on 4th Avenue North in Seattle.