A popular daguerreotypist, Samuel L. Carleton studied his trade in Boston before relocating to Portland in 1845. This daguerreotype of an unidentified woman was taken at Carleton's studio at 80 Middle Street.

Carleton was proud of his longevity in the industry; he advertised in an 1852 Portland Transcript that he had "stood the test for most seven years, in this city, as a Daguerreotypist, and despite all opposition, having executed about thirty thousand likenesses..."