Who Were These Guys?

I purchased this interesting image about a week ago at an antique show down in Portsmouth, NH. It is an old beat up tintype, made probably the decade immediately following the Civil War (1865-1875). The man on the left is a fairly handsome chap, with a nice felt halt, jacket and striped vest as well. It makes me think he had a little bit of money to spend, and he clearly did not do manual labor to earn his living. The younger man on the right is not dressed quite as nice, with what looks like a white linen or cotten jacket and the big poofy hat doesn't seem to fit him quite right. Yet there is something that drew my eye to this picture and captured my imagination. The two men are too close in age to be father and son, but they clearly had some sort of friendly relationship, enough to pose for a picture together that has survived over a century!

Bridge over the Salmon Falls River

The railroad first came to the town where I live, Rollinsford, NH, in 1841 when it was the last stop in New Hampshire on the Boston & Maine Railroad. By 1849, the first wooden bridge over the churning Salmon Falls River into Maine was built only a few hundred yeards from my house. In 1860, that bridge suddenly collapsed but luckily no one was killed! The steel bridge seen in this photo was built during the late 19th century and is still used today by the Downeaster train which goes from Portland to Boston, and gigantic freight trains. Sadly, none of the trains stop here anymore, they just fly by! This postcard is dated in ink on the front "September 27, 1906", but this view from the pedestrian bridge nearby has changed very little over the decades. Sometimes I wonder when they are going to have to build a new bridge, it will be quite an engineering project!

Young Lady from the Turn of the Century

Usually I only collect images from the mid to late nineteenth century, but when I saw this one I while ago I couldn't resist adding it to my collection! This young woman had quite the poofy hairdo, but I really like the look of optism and fun she has. There are a couple of interesting details in this photo. She is wearing a metallic bracelet on her right forearm, and she seems to be looking at some sort of women's fashion magazine. One can even see a drawing or photo of a woman in a fancy dress on the paper she is holding. The fact this young woman wanted to photographed with this item suggests she may have been from a wealthy family, or at least she like to go shopping! The other interesting detail which I did not see until I got this home, is that there is a notation in pencil at the bottom of the photo which reads "Hetten (?), 1909." This gives the year of the image, which is fantastic. Where this photo was taken remains a mystery, but whoever this lady was, she lived during the Edwardian era before all that peace and prosperity would be shattered by the pointless carnage of World War I.

On Saturday, February 21, I had the pleasure of attending a party hosted by the 3rd Vermont Volunteers,a Civil War reenactment unit to which many good friends of mine belong. Ironically, the winter celebration was held in the town Randolph near Interstate 89, where coincidentally this image of an older couple was taken way back during the 1860s. Although I have to say, it doesn't look like these folks had been to a party in a long time when the visited the studio of J.W Hale in West Randolph. They look so deadly serious! Please click on the image to get a closer look. Well, at any rate I hope they don't mind being preserved here forever on my blog, wherever they are buried and rest for eternity. Please forgive me!

Brother & Sister?

Since my mom recently retired after a long and distinguished teaching career and my wife is now on school vacation, I thought I would post this nice cabinet card photo of what appears to be a brother and sister, or classmates at the very least, in front of their schoolhouse during the late nineteenth century. Unfortunately, there is no notation on the back, but I did purchase this one in Northwood, NH, so it could be from New England originally. They seem to be dressed up, so one wonders if this was a special occasion, perhaps a graduation day. Anyway, I very much like this image of two kids and wonder where life took them after their school days...

Couple from the Land of Lincoln

In honor of Valentine's Day, I have posted this interesting image of a married couple during the Civil War era who may have resided in Quincy, Illinois, where the photo was taken. This city is situated on the eastern banks of the mighty Mississippi River, not far upstream from the hometown of Mark Twain, Hannibal, Missouri. In 1858, coincidentally, Quincy was the site of the sixth and last legendary debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Ironically, at the time the city was a known stop on the Underground Railroad to help fugitive slaves from Missouri escape northward to Chicago.

The tallbearded gentleman in this image is wearing a fine quality frock coat with a velvet collar, and his wife looks beautiful, so I am guessing that they were well-to-do. The way she has clasped her hands is intriguing to me as well, and there are dark patches of cloth on her dress, which suggests to me the possibility she was in mourning, but that of course is pure conjecture. They look somehow sad and serious to me, despite the fact he has placed his hand on her shoulder to symbolize their special and loving relationship. On the reverse of the image is an orange 2 cent government revenue stamp, which tells us this image was taken between the summer of 1864, and August 1866, when the tax was repealed by Congress.

However, what makes this photo even more interesting is what is printed on the back:

"Mrs. W.A. Reed, Artist, No. 81 Hampshire Street, Quincy, Ills." This poignant image was produced by a female photographer, which were few and far between during the mid-nineteenth century! Reed's true identity was Candace McCormick, and she was born in Tennessee in the year 1818. In 1842, Candace married Warren Reed, and a few years later they opened a dauguerreotype gallery together in Quincy, Illinois, utlizing the first popular form of photography. Tragically her husband died about ten years later, and to help support her family, Candace opened her own studio, but keeping with the customs of the day as a widow, advertised herself under her husband's recognizable name. During the war, Mrs. Reed also served as a nurse in Union Army hospitals in Nashville and Vicksburg, certainly not an easy task. After the war, Reed continued her photography business with great success until the end of the ninteenth century, and died at the age of 82 in 1900. To see more examples of her work, please visit this website:

http://www.alliancelibrarysystem.com/IllinoisWomen/files/qh/htm1/qhreed.html

In Honor of Abe

On this date 200 years ago, a mementous event in our history transpired. A child named Abraham Lincoln was born in a simple log cabin on his father's farm in Hardin County, Kentucky. Although they lived a hardscrabble existence, Thomas and Nancy Lincoln raised their son as best they could. Obviously, they did something right! It was in these rural surroundings that Lincoln grew up and as a boy witnessed slaves being transported from Louisville to be sold in Nashville, which would have a tremendous impact on him later in life. Lincoln lived in Kentucky until his family moved to Indiana in 1816. It is amazing to ponder that someone from such humble origins would one day be memorialized in magnificent marble in our nation's capital with the likes of Washington and Jefferson.

Today, one of the most recognizable symbols of President Lincoln is his black felt top hat, which he was photographed wearing a few times, including in 1862 (http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=2141&rendTypeId=4). Lincoln helped to popularize this men's fashion, and the photo in today's post of an unknown bearded man in his overcoat and holding his shiny new hat is one of the only vintage images of men I own with a top hat in their "likeness." Interestingly, you will notice some sort of medal stand behind the right foot of the gentleman. This is in all probability an iron rod that was used to give the individual proper posture and aid the photographer in posing the image. One of these can be seen in many nineteenthy century photos, most famously in one of Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War. To see for yourself, visit

http://www.generalsandbrevets.com/ngg/grantus19.htm