Charles Leander Weed, American, 1824-1903 Born in New York state, Charles Leander Weed moved to Sacramento, where he became a camera operator in the daguerreotype portrait studio of George J. Watson in 1854. Four years later he was named the junior partner of Robert Vance, the leading daguerreotypist in California during the 1850s. Weed is recognized for his early views of Yosemite. In June 1859