William Sargent Ladd was born in New Hampshire in 1826. He arrived in Oregon in 1851 and married Caroline Ames Elliott in 1854. W. S. Ladd contributed to the early development of business in Portland, establishing the Ladd and Tilton bank and organizing the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, the Oregon Telegraph Company, Oregon Iron and Steel, and the Oregon Central Railroad. He also laid out the plans for Ladd's Addition, then a Portland suburb and now part of the city. Additionally, W. S. Ladd donated property for Reed College and was the mayor of Portland from 1854 to 1855 and 1857 to 1858. Caroline Ladd was an active philanthropist and contributed to the construction of the first Portland Art Museum building. W. S. Ladd and Caroline Ladd had five children who survived to adulthood: William Mead Ladd, Charles Elliott Ladd, Helen Kendall Ladd, Caroline Ames Ladd, and John Wesley Ladd. W. S. Ladd died in 1893.

William Mead Ladd was born in Portland, Oregon in 1855 to W. S. Ladd and Caroline Ladd. W. M. Ladd married Mary Lyman Andrews in 1885. He served as president of Ladd and Tilton Bank after his father's death. He also formed the Ladd Estate Company, which developed many Portland residential neighborhoods, including Westmoreland, Eastmoreland, and Dunthorpe. He also helped to commission the construction of the Cloud Cap Inn. W. M. Ladd was a patron of many civic institutions, including the Portland Art Museum, the Portland YMCA, and the Portland Library.

Sarah Hall Ladd was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, in 1857. She married Charles Elliott Ladd in 1881. She was an active member of the Oregon Camera Club and a notable photographer of the Columbia River Gorge. She frequently collaborated in her work with fellow photographer Lily E. White. Sarah Hall Ladd died in Carmel, California, in 1927.

Lily E. White was born in Oregon City in 1866. White trained in portrait painting and art in San Francisco and Chicago before taking up photography in the 1890s. White joined the Oregon Camera Club as a “lady member” in 1898. At that time, women were not allowed full membership in the organization. However, White's technical expertise and talent elevated her to the positions of assistant secretary and demonstrator, a role in which she instructed fellow members on the art of photography. It is likely through the Oregon Camera Club that White became acquainted with fellow members Sarah Hall Ladd, Will H. Walker, and Maud Ainsworth. In 1903, White commissioned the construction of a houseboat, the Raysark, which featured several living quarters and an onboard darkroom. White lived on the Raysark during extended photography trips up the Columbia River. White died in Carmel, California, in 1944.

Source: Glauber, Carole. “Eyes of the Earth: Lily White, Sarah Ladd and the Oregon Camera Club." Oregon Historical Quarterly 108 (Spring 2007): 34-67.