William Walter Coleman (1830-1908) was born in Providence and spent the majority of his life there. He lived in various boarding houses throughout the city, never really settling down, marrying, or having children.

After the invention of the daguerreotype in France made its way to America, photography started to become a serious profession. In his adulthood, Coleman gained an interest in photography, working for various studios until 1868. It was at this time that he partnered with Orville M. Remington and established a studio of his very own: “Coleman and Remington,” located at 25 Westminster Street. The studio closed in 1876 when Remington gave up the photography profession.

Coleman was a very close friend of Sarah Helen Whitman, photographing her on several occasions. Coleman even had the privilege of meeting Poe when Whitman introduced them in 1848. Shortly before her death in 1878, Whitman bequeathed her daguerreotype of Poe to Coleman, knowing that it would be in safe hands. That daguerreotype is now in the collection of Brown University at the John Hay Library.

Coleman died in 1908 from pneumonia. He is buried with his parents and siblings in the family’s lot at Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island.