April Issue - Shades The Magazine by Shades Of The Departed

contents

Features

Columns

Appealing Subjects

pg. 5

Costume

pg. 45

The Year Was . . .

pg. 13

A Date With A Civil War Photograph

pg. 69

Captured Moments

pg. 21

All Photographs Are History

pg. 81

In2Genealogy

pg. 33

Penelope Dreadful

pg. 65

The Future of Memories

pg.. 94

Overlooked But Not Looked Over

The Year Was 1865

Mollie’s Rememberings

They’re Free

A Dreadful Sacrifice

The Medal of Honor

The Healing Brush

pg. 100

Saving Face

pg. 108

The History Detectives & Me

A Mountain of Boxes To Organize

On The Cover Cased Ambrotype Snood Glasses Civil War Era

Identifying Fashion in Civil War Photographs Revenue Stamps

Janine Smith On The Path To Restoration Part 2

In Every Issue

From My Keyboard

pg. 4

The Exchange

pg. 5

Letter from the editor Your comments

The Last Picture Show

The graphic image on the back of a carte-de-visite or cabinet card

Download The Magazine

Back Cover

from my keyboard fOOTNOTEMAVEN

Civil War History Month Shades extends our deep and heartfelt sympathy to a member of our family, Vickie Everhart, author of Captured Moments. Vickie’s husband, Bennie Everhart, died April 7, 2010, in a work related accident. I’m sure you join her Shades family in sending Vickie our thoughts and prayers. Memorials may be made to American Cancer Society, or the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. This month, Shades explores the Civil War. The first war where photography played such an integral part. There is so much to learn with regard to Civil War era photographs; and the Civil War had some very special clues for dating those old family photographs. With the April issue Shades is pleased to present the return of the Appealing Subjects Column authored by Craig Manson. Craig is on the mend and we are all the better for it. George Geder takes us inside PBS’ History Detectives, while Sheri Fenley leads us through 1865. Caroline Pointer’s finds are free, Denise Olson medals, and Rebecca Fenning takes us mountain climbing. And as always, Penelope is Dreadful! Our feature authors, Lorine McGinnis Schultz and Janine Smith have given us so much information to work with regarding those Civil War Era photographs. Brilliant articles by two brilliant women. Join us as we explore the Civil War in the month of April.

f M

contributors PENELOPE DREADFUL

VICKIE EVERHART

GEORGE GEDER

Penelope Dreadful is the alter ego of Denise Levenick. Denise authors the blog, The Family Curator and gives us something “Dreadful” every month.

Vicki is the author of Creative Moments. She also authors the blog BeNotForgot.

George is the author of The Healing Brush Column. He also authors the George Geder blog.

DENISE OLSON

SHERI FENLEY

CAROLINE POINTER

Denise is the author of The Future of Memories Column. She also writes the blog Family Matters and experiments with her iPad

Sheri writes The Year Was . . . Column. She also authors the blog The Educated Genealogist.

Caroline is the new In2Genealogy Columnist. She is also the author of the Family Stories blog.

REBECCA FENNING

CRAIG MANSON

Rebecca authors the Saving Face column. She also writes the blog A Sense of Face.

Craig authors the Appealing Subjects column. He also writes the blog Geneablogie.

THE EXCHANGE

LEAVE A MESSAGE WITH THE EXCHANGE Footnote Maven: I about fell out of my office chair when I discovered Shades of the Departed.

This issue is absolutely wonderful! Thank you so much.

What an outstanding publication! You can count on my readership.

I immediately read it from "cover" to "cover" and because I have a collection of "nurs-iana", I especially loved the stories and vintage photos of nurses.

Best regards, Dee Akard Welborn Funeral Cards & Genealogy I sat down in anticipation of scanning a few blogs, then going on to do some evening chores. Then I got to Shades ... now it's more than two hours later. Wow! Absorbing stories, useful technical tips -- everything is here. Greta Koehl Gretaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Genealogy Blog

Barbara Holz Sullivan Jason Smith said... I am very excited about the two year anniversary of Shades, because, to be honest, it allowed me find out about you through celebratory postings on twitter. I just recently posted an article on my blog about trying to identify photos of unknown persons. To find out that Shades has a great interest in old photos was so great! I am definitely keeping my eye on Shades and your digital magazine. I wish you many more years of success!

APPEALING SUBJECTS

overlooked but not looked over IMAGES IN BLACK FROM THE CIVIL WAR CRAIG MANSON

The Civil War was the /irst American war extensively documented by photography. Yet, pictures of black troops are rarely seen in perspective or proportion to their numbers or valor during the con/lict‐‐and this despite the fact that there were working black photographers during the rebellion. In the 1860s, photographers were used to /ixed portraiture with long exposure times. That technical detail is the reason that combat photography of the sort known since World War I is largely absent from the record of the Civil War. Even Brady's pictures are devoid of much activity. This matter of artistic fact in small measure accounts for the paucity of photographs of black troops.

THE COLORED TROOPS Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis certainly agreed on one issue in 1861: there would be no black soldiers /ighting the war. Despite entreaties from prominent whites and blacks, Lincoln resisted for nearly three years the notion of adding freemen or slaves to the ranks of the Union Army. In the meantime, however, strongly abolitionist states like Massachusetts and Kansas were forming their black units. For his part, the rebel president Davis approved of the hard stand that the Confederate

This cartoon which ran in an October 1861 magazine may have alternative meanings. "Contraband" was a term used to refer to escaped slaves who began flooding into Federal Army camps as the war progressed. There was fierce debate about what should be done with them. On one level, then, this cartoon is plainly racist in its suggested disposition of the self-liberated people. On the other hand some have argued that the cartoon satirizes Lincoln's hand-wringing over the issue of black soldiers. What do you think?

Congress, cabinet, and commanders took on the issue of whether blacks could be soldiers. Nonetheless, some slaveholders took some of their slaves in to battle with them, and there were a few formally organized local units of black soldiers in Louisiana especially. In 1863, Lincoln /inally authorized the recruitment and enlistment of black soldiers and the Bureau of Colored Troops was established. Nearly 200,000 free blacks and freed slaves showed themselves to be valiant, capable soldiers.

SOME REPRESENTATIVE PHOTOGRAPHS BLACK SOLDIERS IN THE CIVIL WAR

The stereograph was a popular form in the 1860s. The one above depicts the camp of the 10th U.S. Colored Infantry at Fort Brady, Virginia in about 1864. Amazingly enough, this regiment was organized in Virginia. Fort Brady is near the Dutch Gap canal in Chester/ield County, V i r g i n i a , n o t f a r f r o m t h e independent city of Petersburg.

Left is a rare combat "action" photo of two members of the 10th USCI along the James River near Fort Brady. Can you tell if the picture was taken "in action" or if it was posed?

SABLE SAILORS More rarely seen than photographs of black soldiers are those of black sailors. The Navy had no ban on the enlistment of blacks at any time during the civil war. The carte de viste left depicts an African-American sailor whose name may be "Charles Battles" or "Charles Batties". I could not find either version in the National Park Service's Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. In March 1862, naval history was made when two "ironclad" ships went head-to-head in battle. The USS Monitor fought the CSS Virginia at Hampton Roads, Virginia, after the rebel ship had destroyed USS Cumberland and USS Congress. Neither ship any significant harm to the other. The sterograph below depicts several black sailors on the deck of USS Monitor.

PORTRAITURE Upper Left: Major Martin R. Delany Upper Right: Sergeant Major Christian Abraham Fleetwood Center: 8th New York State Militia Band

"Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship." Frederick Douglass

African American daguerreotypist Augustus Washington (ca. 1820/21-1875)

“Augustus Washington, an artist of fine taste and perception, is numbered among the most successful Daguerreotypists in Hartford, Connecticut. His establishment is said to be visited daily by large numbers of the citizens of all classes.” Martin Delany, 1852 PORTRAITURE There is some portraiture of black soldiers from the war. It generally depicts proud, valiant men with creditable military experience. For example, opposite page top right is a portrait of Sergeant Major Christian Abraham Fleetwood, of the 4th U.S. Colored Infantry, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle of Chaf/in's Farm, outside Richmond, Virginia. Fleetwood was an entrepreneur with an advanced education and was made Sergeant Major of the regiment soon after enlisting. Although it's hard to tell in the photograph, Fleetwood was just /ive feet, four inches tall. Another important portrait is that of Major Martin R. Delany. He was the /irst African‐ American to hold /ield grade rank in the Army. He had been a journalist, novelist, educator, and medical doctor. He was a leading emigrationist (holding the view that African‐ Americans should leave the United States for Liberia). Delany earned his Army commission by impressing President Lincoln in an interview about organizing black units. Some of the seldom seen photographs depicting black soldiers give a new historical perspective on the war. For example, it is widely believed there were no racially integrated units (save for the fact that the Colored Troops were commanded by white of/icers). This picture de/ies that conventional wisdom. Center left, is the band of the 8th New York State Militia, photographed at Arlington, Virginia in 1861. Clearly, one or more of the members are black.

These /inal two photographs give tribute to the valorous former captives who fought for their own freedom. The subject is the same man in both pictures. Hubbard Pryor escaped from slavery in Tennessee and made his way to Union lines. This "contraband" enlisted in the 44th Regiment, U.S. Colored Infantry in 1864. He's depicted on duty in the other photograph. Photo Credits: All photographs courtesy American Memory Collection, Library of Congress (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ index.html), photographers unknown, except Hubbard Pryor photographs. Hubbard Pryor photographs courtesy National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Office of the Adjutant General, Records Group 94

The National Archives http://www.archives.gov/ education/lessons/blacks-civil-war/

THE YEAR WAS . . .

the year was 1865 "WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME AGAIN HURRAH! HURRAH!"

BY SHERI FENLEY

The end of the Civil War was of/icially over when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

"When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again, Hurrah, Hurrah!" Union soldiers at the end of the Civil War march down Pennsylvania Avenue in 1865. CREDIT: Brady, Mathew, photographer. Washington, D.C. Infantry unit with /ixed bayonets followed by ambulances passing on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Treasury, 1865. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Reproduction Number LC‐DIG‐cwpb‐02829.

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, also known as the Freedman’s Bureau, was established in the War Department by an act of Congress on March 3, 1865. The Bureau's main role was to provide relief and help freedmen become self‐suf/icient, it

Courtesy National Archives, www.archives.gov

also solemnized marriages that freedmen had entered into during slavery.

Godey's presented the fashion February 1865

On the fashion scene crinolines and hoops, the bigger the better, were all the rage. 1865 is also the year the Stetson "ten‐gallon" hat is created by John Batterson Stetson. Nicknamed "Boss of the Plains", the hat is a modi/ied Mexican sombrero with a a leather strap hatband.

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

four‐inch crown, a four‐inch brim and

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln, one of the last major events of the Civil War, took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, when President Abraham Lincoln was shot by actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth while attending a performance of Our

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American Cousin at Ford's Theater.

John Wilkes Booth and the Reward Poster issued by the War Department.

The /irst recorded train robbery in the United States happens May 5, 1865 in North Bend, Ohio, when armed robbers tore up tracks to derail an Ohio & Mississippi train that had departed from Cincinnati. While part of the gang of thieves took money and jewelry from almost 100 passengers, the other blew open and emptied the safes located on rail cars of the Adams Express Company. Newspaper Clipping offering reward is from The Cincinatti Daily Inquirer May 8, 1865 page 2.

Illustration from the Civil War Harper’s Weekly 1864 - Warning of Train Robberies

Written to entertain a very real Alice Liddell, Lewis Carroll publishes "Alice's Adventures in

Courtesy wikimedia commons

Wonderland" on July 4, 1865.

Illustration by Arthur Rackham for the Original Alice - Reproductions for sale on ebay

“I only took the regular course.” “What was that?” inquired Alice. “Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with,” the Mock Turtle replied; “and then the different branches of Arithmetic — Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.”

With a reported one third of the currency in circulation being counterfeit, the Secret Service was commissioned on July 5, 1865 in Washington, D.C. to suppress counterfeit currency.

Within a year, the men hired had arrested over 200 counterfeiters and removed a great amount of fake currency from circulation as w e l l a s t h e t o o l s o f t h e t r a d e t h e counterfeiters used to make their fake money. (David Johnson, Illegal Tender: Counterfeiting and the Secret Service in NineteenthCentury America, Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995, pg. 76)

Photo courtesy of www.secretservice.gov

With this much fake currency, the U.S. financial system was in danger of collapse.

Rounding out the year on December 6, 1865, slavery is abolished forever when the

Photo Courtesy - Library of Congress

Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is rati/ied.

CAPTURED MOMENTS

mollies rememberings MOLLIE’S STORIES AS TOLD BY MISS RUBY BY VICKIE EVERHART

In the autumn of 1852, Mollie West was born in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. This southern county is where this young girl and her kith 'n kin struggled to survive the years of the war between the states. By 1869, Mollie was an orphan, and on her way ‐‐ via wagon train ‐‐ to a new beginning in Texas.

MISS RUBY REMEMBERS MOLLIE'S STORIES One afternoon in the summer of 1932, Ruby (Nettles) Vance (1910‐2003) visited her Grandma Mollie for the purpose of taking notes on some of the Civil War stories she had always heard her little grandma tell. Mollie's story, as told by Miss Ruby, made its /irst public newspaper appearance in April of 1979, and it is parts of her story that are related below.

Mollie holding Miss Ruby's daughter ca. 1938. Notice the rocker? It does appear to be the same one in the ca. 1917 photo of Mollie in the collage.

MOLLIE REMEMBERS MISSISSIPPI I was born in Mississippi in 1852, in a one‐room log home with one door, one window, and a mud‐and‐stick chimney. We were quite poor, I guess, but I never remember being hungry. JONQUILS, DAFFODILS & SNOWDROPS When the war broke out, we went down the road aways to stay with Aunt Mary. Because the men folk were away from their homes /ighting or training, the women and children often gathered in the homes of relatives who had houses large enough to accommodate them. Aunt Mary lived in a home of six rooms, a long wide hall, two large porches, and a portico. The house was surrounded by a picket fence that enclosed a large yard. The walk from the front yard gate to the house was lined with jonquils, daffodils and snowdrops. The house itself was white, set on brick pillars. Life would have been fun but for the vast amount of work to be done. It left little time for play. Even though I was only nine years old when the war broke out, I spun many yards of cloth for our own clothing and for the soldiers. 1864 BATTLE OF OKOLONA [ LINK ] One day we could hear the cannon booming as a battle was fought over a bridge maybe twelve miles from our home. I remember that Col. Forrest had come by the day before and asked Aut Mary for a horse to ride. She had told him to take his pick, only leave her old Tom to ride, since he was real gentle. But he insisted on using Tom, and in anger she told him, "I hope he does you no good, Sir!" Late the next day, after the battle at the bridge, old Tom came home riderless with blood all over the saddle ‐‐ Col. Forrest had been killed on him. Aunt Mary wept in remorse and

never again rode old Tom. Col. Forrest and Gen. N. B. Forrest were brothers, and we saw them often. LIFE GOES ON Well, you wanted some of my memories of the Civil War. I hope you will remember that these were from a child's point of view. I'm sure the suffering and hardships were much worse for our parents than anything a child could understand. I don't remember any partying or celebrations when the war was /inally over after four long years. That was in 1865 and I was thirteen that year. MOLLIE'S TREK TO TEXAS There were twenty‐one families of relatives and friends who in 1869 /inalized plans to come to Texas where it was hoped it would be easier to start over. So we made the long trek from northern Mississippi and that in itself is a long tale. This afternoon is about spent and I have chores to do. . . . Miss Ruby would later express regret that she never did pick up that particular conversation with her little grandma. The following is based on Miss Ruby's memories, as well as further research done by Mollie's descendants. MOLLIE'S LIFE IN TEXAS Shortly after arriving in Texas, 18‐year‐old Mollie met and married 39‐year‐old Joseph Helidorah Nettles (1832‐1890). A member of Hood's Texas Brigade during the years of the war between the states, Joseph never fully recovered from the numerous wounds received at such places as Gettysburg and the Wilderness. He died in 1890, leaving Mollie with six surviving children to care for, including one‐year‐old Joseph, who grew up to be the father of Miss Ruby. Mollie began receiving a Confederate pension in March of 1916. In the beginning she received $53.50 annually. By the time of her death in the spring of 1939, the amount had

been increased ‐‐ to $25 per month. Mollie was laid to rest beside Joseph, amongst the Texas wild/lowers in the little country cemetery near their home.

MOLLIE'S TEA CAKES When Mollie died in 1939, it was exactly forty years to the day following the death of her husband. In later years, her granddaughters would recall helping their grandma make cookies that contained nutmeg. Following Miss Ruby's death in 2003, her son found the following recipe in his mother's recipe /iles. It was identi/ied as "Grandma Nettles' Teacakes." Mix together :: 2 cups sugar ~ 2 eggs ~ 2 heaping teaspoons baking powder ~ 1 level teaspoon soda ~ 1 teaspoon nutmeg ~ 1 cup shortening ~ 1 cup buttermilk. Set aside. Sift a lot of /lour into a large bowl. Make a hole in the center, pour in mixture, and work into /lour with your hand to a consistency to roll out on /loured surface. Cut and bake.

TUTORIALS BACKGROUND IMAGE This is the original version [ LINK ] of the altered image used for the background of the main collage.

Using the RETOUCH tool in Picasa, the graf/iti and unwanted spots were removed.

Using the collage feature, a MULTIPLE EXPOSURE collage was created using this image [ LINK ] and the above retouched image.

This is the resulting image that was used for the background of the collage.

One of the limits of Picasa is the inability to use GIF or PNG images with a transparent background, e.g., a cut‐out of the following turquoise bird. One way to achieve the "look" of a piece of scrap placed in a desirable location is described below. Using a graphics program such as IrfanView [ LINK ], create an exact mirror image of this free header image [ LINK ] by vertically /lipping the original image. Use the GRID collage feature in Picasa to create this image from the previous two mirrored images. This particular collage was done as an 8.5 x 11 image.

Use the PICTURE PILE option in Picasa's collage section to arrange your chosen graphic elements in a pleasing manner.

The TEXT feature in Picasa was used to add the shape of the State of Texas, and Mollie's name, and the additional /lourishes (as well as the discreet / subtle birthday message to fM!) with the following free fonts ‐‐ Blackadder, Border Corners 2, DingMaps, Florid Victorian Ornament, and Separates. SOURCES The COOKIE RECIPE was passed on by Miss Ruby's son, Robert Lee Vance (1941‐2009), who found the recipe in Miss Ruby's recipe box following his mother's death. Miss Ruby was a /irst cousin to the paternal grandma of the author. Mollie is the author's 2nd‐great‐ grandma. The FAMILY PHOTOS came from the photo collections of Mollie's granddaughters, Ima Lois (Muston) Pounders (1906‐1999) and Gladys Coreen (Muston) Taylor (1913‐2007). The FREE GRAPHICS used here were found at ‐‐ [ LINK ] Deviantart, [ LINK ] Graphics Fairy and [ LINK ] Flickr. The FREE FONTS used are BlackadderITC, Border Corners 2, Dilana Experimentype, DingMaps, Florid Victorian Ornament, and Separates.

IN2GENEALOGY

they’re free! TAKING A LOOK AT CIVIL WAR RESOURCES FOR FREE BY CAROLINE POINTER

“The First and Fifth Regiments were formed in column of battalions, ordered to draw sabers and, while the band played 'Yankee Doodle Dandy,' went forward at a full gallop, scattering the foe in their front, and afterward secured a place of safety for the whole command.” -An excerpt of the regimental history st

1 Cavalry Regiment Michigan

While my second great‐grandfather, Daniel

it served to boost troop morale, and

Rook Vaughn was not part of this cavalry

oftentimes, the musicians doubled as “stretchers” and carried the wounded off

regiment, he was 1 Infantry Regiment

the battle/ields. Daniel certainly would

Michigan, Company “G”. He enlisted 10 Oct

have grown up very fast in this

1861 at the tender age of 15 as a musician

environment.

having “added” 2 years to his age in order to do so. He was discharged 10 Jun 1865,

All of this information I found on my

and then he reenlisted in the U.S. Army and

own, even his name. So, while it's nice to

was assigned to Fort Brown, located on the

inherit both stories and artifacts about

Texas‐Mexico border now known as

our ancestors, not all of us are lucky

Brownsville, Texas. One could say that

enough to receive these treasured items,

Daniel became a man in the midst of a war.

but it's not impossible to know some

In particular, in the midst of the American

details of ancestors, particularly those

Civil War.

who fought in the Civil War. There are

I cannot imagine the atrocities that Daniel saw as he led his regiment into battle, at times playing, I would guess, “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” While it's hard to imagine now a band playing as soldiers march into battle, it was de/initely an integral element

many resources to draw upon for information. In fact, there are so many that it can become overwhelming at times. Add to that the constraints of a budget, and you've just made your task harder.

of battle strategy at the time. Furthermore,

There is a logical process to go through when looking for ancestors who participated in the Civil War. Below are some suggested search tips, and below them are some general resources for you to take an inventory of with some examples from my research. The resources are different for every state as well as every researcher, and you must take a look at what's available to you. These resources include online, of/line, free, subscription‐based, and a combination thereof. Also, remember that some resources will yield information for one or more of these tips. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather a guide to help you get started.

Library of Congress, American Memory

CIVIL WAR RESOURCE GUIDE

SUGGESTED RESEARCH TIPS: ● Identify ancestors in your family tree that would have been “of age” (17 years old) to be a soldier in the Civil War, which began on 12 Apr 1861. General Lee surrendered on 9 Apr 1865, but due to slow communication, the last major /ighting occurred 23 Jun 1865. You will want to keep in mind those who, like my second great‐grandfather, may have lied about their age in order to serve. Additionally, there were over 700 women who fought on the battle/ields using male aliases. Taking a look at where your ancestor was living in the 1860 census may help. Additionally, most of the 1890 Population Schedule (census) was destroyed, but the “1890 Surviving Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, and, Etc. Census Schedule” is available. It will list location current residence, name, rank, company, regiment or vessel, enlistment date, discharge date, length of service, post of/ice address, and disability incurred. If an ancestor had a biographical sketch done, this may yield his Civil War service information as well. There are more places to look for this information which will be listed below in resources. •

•Identify the state where they enlisted. Again, the 1890 Veterans Schedule would identify this for you. However, if they were not living at the time of the census in 1890, or simply not listed, then you'll need to take a look at other resources, which are listed below. However, knowing the state is key for your research. •Identify the regiment and company. •Identify the dates of your ancestor's service. •Study the regimental histories, keeping in mind your ancestor's enlistment and discharge dates. A word of caution: Even though your ancestor may have been in a particular regiment and/or company and serving at the time of a particular battle that the regiment and/or company participated in, does not mean that your ancestor participated in it as well. Your ancestor may have been sick or injured. Thus not able to particpate. That being said, don't let this stop you from looking. Just be aware. •Locate photos pertaining to the Civil War, especially those on a state or regiment level and look for individual photos of your soldier. •Locate Civil War videos on YouTube by searching for “American Civil War History” [ LINK ]. •National Archives is the crème de la crème for your ancestor's Civil War records, but it costs money, which is why I left it for last. Your ancestor's pension /ile can contain quite a bit of genealogical information, and may contain the actual battles your ancestor did participate in. As your budget permits, this is a must for your research, in my opinion. However, I don't know how realistic it is if you have many of them to obtain. The National Archives has an excellent step‐by‐step guide [ LINK ] to help you research your Civil War ancestor.

Library of Congress, American Memory

RESOURCES & HOW TO USE THEM Note: Most of the following resources are free, or there is a nominal fee for copies and/or postage. ● State Archives can have plentiful Civil War collections that include lists of regiments, regimental histories, photographs, letters, etc. As Forest Gump said, “...it's like a box chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.” All state archives are different in what they have. Therefore, you'll need to identify what the state archive has in the state that your ancestor served. Take the state of Michigan, where Daniel Rook Vaughn hails from. Here's what I found that pertained to Michigan and the Civil War: SeekingMichigan.org [LINK ] Did you see those Civil War collections? Now that's what I'm talking about. Some state archives even have online databases of the Civil War soldiers that served. For example, I was able to nd

/ind one of my 2 great‐grandfather's, Joel Harrison Martin, who lived almost his whole life in Johnson County, Illinois, in the Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database [ LINK ]. It lists the soldier's name, rank, enlistment date, discharge date, name of prison if imprisoned, injuries sustained during the war, and whether or not the Civil War soldier died while serving and where. So, take a look at your target state's (meaning the state your ancestor served in) archives because “you never know what you're gonna get.” Cost for looking? Free. Cost for paper and ink to print‐out a copy? Minimal. •Local Archives are excellent sources for information on the regiments that served in that

particular area. Do you know where your local archives are? Your local librarian does. Inquiries are free. •Local genealogical and historical societies are also excellent sources for information on

Civil War soldiers that lived in that area at the time. This may include relevant biographical sketches, books, manuscripts, etc. Another example from my Johnson County, Illinois ancestors illustrates this. The Johnson County Illinois Genealogical and Historical Society [ LINK ] has several publications concerning the Civil War soldiers from Johnson County. Under their publications, they list the book, “Civil War Soldiers of Johnson County, Illinois,” written by Rebel L. Kreklow, which is a spiralbound book for $23.95 ($26.55 for non‐ members). Probably not very economical if I only have one Civil War ancestor from this

•area. However, since I have many ancestral roots there, it might behoove me to acquire this

book. If I only had one, a quick phone call might yield an economical look‐up and a copy placed in the mail to me. In additon, their local library might have it on its shelves available for inter‐library loan. That's free. •The Library of Congress has many Civil War photographs [ LINK ] and maps [ LINK ] to look at. They also have regimental histories [ LINK ] for some of the regiments that are located on books where only some of them are digitized. But worth a look, because, hey, it's free.

Library of Congress Photographic print on stereo card : stereograph, albumen. Summary: Photo shows a portable darkroom in the wagon, with photographer Alexander Gardner seated in middle of image, holding his camera lens. Man at left is holding a plant. Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-stereo-1s00045 (digital file from original photo, front)

•If you are lucky to have a genealogy library near you, then it would be bene/icial to see

what collections they have for Civil War soldiers, regiments, etc. for your target state. Some could include census transcriptions (like the 1860 and/or 1870 census), a list of the soldiers on the 1890 Veterans and Widows census for a particular county, etc. Don't forget their micro/ilm collections pertaining to the Civil War. Don't have one near you? Check your target state and county and see what is available, and what costs are involved for look‐ups, copies, and postage. •If your local library has a genealogy department, you are going to want to identify its

collections as well for the Civil War, especially on a state and/or county level. If you don't live in the county or state of your ancestor, you might try a library with a genealogy department near where your ancestor lived. It doesn't hurt to call and /ind out what, if anything, they have available. Cost? Depends on your long distance plan. Of course, an email is free, if you already have email service. •Don't have a genealogy library or a library with a genealogy department near you, or there

isn't one near where your ancestor lived? Don't despair. Libraries, including university libraries, have relevant resources for genealogical research. It's just not grouped separately. Look at the Civil War collection in person if it's local, or look online at a library close to where your ancestor lived. If you /ind a book that may yield some pertinent information, and your local library does not have it, then see if it's available through the inter‐library loan program. This can be done with your librarian. [You know, the one that's quickly becoming your best friend?] And it's all free. ● Want to check all the libraries at once? Online? In your pajamas? Try Worldcat.org [LINK] This will assist in /inding the book that you're looking for, and how close it is to you. What do you know? This is free too. •USGenWeb.org [ LINK ] has various collections organized by state, then county. What's

available on each of them is highly individual. I once found a biographical sketch of Daniel nd

Haley, one of my husband's 2 great‐grandfathers, who had been in the Civil War. It listed

•the state he fought for, his rank, major battles he particpated, etc. It also listed his brothers,

how they too fought in the Civil War, which ones died in the Civil War, etc. It was a “Civil War bonus,” if you will. Basically, you're going to need to take a look for yourself. Hey, just remember, it's free. •Google Books [ LINK ], which includes some books in their entirety, can also be a wonderful resource in /inding books. You know the biographical sketch I mentioned above – the “Civil War bonus?” The whole book that includes the biographical sketches as well as county and township sketches and Civil War soldier lists is available in its entirety. The best thing about it? Yup. Free. •I hope by now you realize that you're going to need to obtain a library card [and, hey, it's

free]. There are just no two ways about it. Get one. Or two. Or three. If for no other reason than this next database, Heritage Quest [ LINK ]. It's available only through your library, but once you get your free library card, you can search it from the comfort of your own home. In your pajamas. Images for most of the census years are available, including the 1860 and 1870 census. Exactly what you need when searching for your Civil War ancestor's location. Amongst its non‐census databases that are available, you can search its digital book collections by person and/or location. Find a book that looks promising? You can read it online. And you know what? It's free. Provided you go get a free library card, that is. •Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System [ LINK ] is a handy database recommended by the

National Archives for regimental histories. I tried it. I put my ancestors' information who I knew were Civil War soldiers into the appropriate boxes, and it “spit out” their regimental information and included a link to the regimental history. There are some related databases also available, and worth a look. This particular site's history is more brief than what's available on Ancestry.com, but guess what? It's Free. •The Family History Library [ LINK ] has a wonderful selection of micro/ilmed resources

that can help you /ind out more about your Civil War ancestors and what they experienced. If you perform a place search, then you just might /ind what you're looking for. For example, nd

my 2 great‐grandfather, Daniel Rook Vaughn, enlisted and lived in Washtenaw County,

•Michigan. So I performed a place search for Washtenaw “part of” Michigan. Indeed, it had a

category for Military/Civil War with micro/ilm to rent. To look up this information is free. However, to rent the /ilm at your local Family History Library costs about $5//ilm. About the cost of a fancy, schmancy coffee. So if you have a few /ilms to rent, skip the fancy, schmancy coffee for a while. Look at it this way: the black coffee that you'll be sacri/icially drinking instead of the fancy, schmancy coffee will taste a whole lot better than the coffee your Civil War ancestor drank in camp. But how will you know if you don't skip the fancy, schmancy coffee, rent the micro/ilm of the book that contains the letter where your Civil War ancestor complains about how bad the coffee is? Cost of justi/ication? Free. •Ancestry.com [ LINK ] and Footnote.com [ LINK ] have quite a few Civil War database

collections available. In Ancestry.com, the “American Civil War Soldiers” and “U.S. Civil War Soldiers” are the main ones that I use once I know the state [and sometimes when I don't]. Once you've pulled up the information on the ancestor you are looking for, there should be a link on the regiment information that will take you to the regimental history. This history seems to be a little more detailed than the regimental history found on “Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System” website. Basically, you need to explore the Civil War collections on each of the websites. My one suggestion on using Ancestry.com, is that instead of entering the name of your ancestor on the main search page, locate the title of the collection you'd like to search [e.g., 1890 Veterans and Widows Census] and then enter your ancestor's information in that search page. This way you are only looking in this collection. Otherwise, you may never /ind an entry for him. For example, when I looked for Daniel Rook Vaughn on the general search page, I couldn't /ind him easily, but when I located and entered his information on the search page for the 1890 Veterans and Widow census, he came up on the /irst page as the /irst entry. These two databases are not free if you'd like to peruse them in your pajamas sipping your coffee in the comfort of your own home. However, if you can put down your coffee for just a moment, get dressed, go to the library [don't forget your free library card], and provided your library subscribes to these databases, you can use them there. And that is free. •The National Archives, as mentioned before, has a complete outline to follow in order to

•obtain information on your Civil War ancestors and it's located here [ LINK ]. Explore their

site to /ind what you need. The types of military records available and what may be found in them are listed there. Not to mention the costs associated with obtaining the records. They also have plenty of Civil War information available on their website, including Civil War photographs. So go take a look. Looking at the National Archives website is always free. •Last, but not least, is the Google Search [ LINK ]. I know everyone knows how to use this, but it never hurts to go over it again. Using search phrases like Civil War soldiers Michigan or Civil War Michigan regimental history just might yield you something useful. You never know. The internet is constantly changing, being added to, and so on, and it's worth a try. And, oh yeah, it's free.

BONUS EXAMPLE [AND IT'S FREE]:

Remember how I mentioned Daniel Haley and how I found his biographical sketch that listed Civil War information about his brothers? Here is a tin‐type photo of Edward Haley who was shot in the Battle of the Wilderness, captured, and taken to Libby Prison where he died. When I was discussing it with the relative who owns it, he mentioned that he was told that Edward did not /ight with his brothers on the Union side but on the Confederate side, which contradicted what I had found. So I went back home to double check my information. I was right. He fought for Vermont on the Union side. However, to be “extra sure” I decided to look up what the uniforms looked like for the two sides. Turns out that Edward Haley is wearing an Union uniform in this photo. Here, at this site that's free t o l o o k a t , I f o u n d p h o t o s o f r e p l i c a u n i f o r m s : QuartermasterShop.com [ LINK ]. I did verify the historical accuracy of these uniforms on various free websites by Googling for free. However, I was unable to /ind one that is as all‐inclusive as this one.

ONE MORE THING ABOUT BEING FREE . . . Much to my chagrin, I've yet to /ind any photos of Daniel Rook Vaughn, free or otherwise. nd

My next step with the my 2 great‐grandfather is to order his pension /ile from the National Archives, which is not going to be free. Among many things, I hope to /ind what instrument he played – bugle, /ife, or drum, and I hope to get a glimpse of his experiences that helped to shape him into the man he became. Experiences that were not free and experiences that helped to free. In the meantime from the comfort of my own home, wearing my pajamas, and sipping on my coffee, I'll be watching the following video from YouTube.com. That's right. For free.

LINK TO WATCH VIDEO

Sources and Credits: st

“Regimental History of 1 Cavalry Regimant Michigan.” Historical Data Systems, comp. American Civil War Regiments [database online]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 15 Jan 2008), Citing Data compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA. Davis, David Brion and Steven Mintz. The Boisterous Sea of Liberty. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Albright, Harry. Gettysburg: Crisis of Command. New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc., 2006. Ancestry.com. U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 15 Jan 2008). Original data: Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M233, 81 rolls); Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C. Historical Data Systems, comp., American Civil War Soldiers [database online]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com/ : accessed 15 Jan 2008). Original data compiled from state rosters, pension records, and rengimental histories by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA. Groom, Winston. Forrest Gump. New York: Doubleday, 1986. Weaver, Gen. James B., Ed., Past and Present of Jasper County, Iowa. Indiana: B.F. Bowen & Co., 1912, p.1269; Googlebooks.com (http:/googlebooks.com : accessed 7 Oct 2007). Haley, Edward. Photograph. ca. 1862. Digital image. Privately held by R.L. Pointer, Texas. 2005.

Costume Civil War

Lorine McGinnis Schultz helps date Civil War Photographs using fashion.

The Civil War period, from 1861 to 1865, was a time of great change. One change was in photography. Cartes de Visite, a cheaper type of photographic process, replaced daguerreotypes, and an age of picture taking for the masses began. Fashions also changed but more so for women than men. A proper lady conformed in all ways in the 1860s, and this included fashion. No one wanted to be ostracized from polite society because she was not a lady! Thus women of all ages and walks of life attempted to follow the latest fashion of the day as best they could. Poorer women altered older gowns in attempts to re/lect the newest fashion while those with money had new gowns created whenever a new sleeve or look became popular. There were regional as well as occupational differences and exceptions to the rules of propriety. Farm women and frontier women needed more functional clothing than city women who could indulge themselves with the latest fashions. In later years of the Civil War, southern women had to use whatever materials they had on hand as they were cut off from their usual supplies of ribbon, trimming, lace and other fashion items. Older women often wore clothes and hairstyles that were in style during their youth. During the Civil War, a small waist was a measure of beauty. Corsets were in use but they were not overly tightened to create a tiny waist, instead gowns and dresses were fashioned to create the illusion of a small waist. Shoulder seams were dropped creating the appearance of wide sloping shoulders. This made a woman’s waist seem small in contrast.

Sleeves became fuller at the elbow, and skirts became much wider in circumference, which also made the waist look smaller by contrast. A universal hairstyle for women was popular during the Civil War. The objective was the appearance of a full round face, so hair was parted in the middle, then pulled very low on the crown of the head, and wider to the sides. A bun or roll was created at the back and secured with pins. Young women sometimes dropped the bun into a roll at the nape of the neck. Sausage curls and ringlets were normally only created for evening wear but some women liked to create this fancier hairstyle for photographs as the woman on the right did. Hairnets, often called snoods, were frequently worn. Usually they matched the colour of the woman’s hair and were quite plain. Some women added ribbon, velvet strips, braid or beading to create more elaborate hairnets. Carte de Visite ca 1864

"The loss of easy access to the centers of fashion created a deprivation often mentioned by the ladies of the Confederacy during the Civil War. In Gone With The Wind among the most valued contraband goods that Rhett Butler smuggles through the blockade and brings to Atlanta are rich fabrics and fashion news." The South By Rebecca Mark, Robert Vaughan

Rachel Willson ca1862

Mrs. A. K. Towne July 1863

The snood above was worn ca 1862 and has a long â&#x20AC;&#x153;veilâ&#x20AC;? which hung down the back of the neck. Ribbons complete the look.

This moderately decorated snood was worn in 1863. It is set far back on the head.

The

Snood Cased Ambrotype ca 1861-1862 This very ornate snood with hanging ornamentation created to resemble sausage curls at the bottom was worn circa 1861-1862

Martha Lee This is a plain snood worn low on the back of the head holding the rolled hair in place

Mary Sternburg nee Spencer Some snoods had ribbons and decorations which hung down on one side only

Bonnets were also fashionable. Bonnets generally had a decorative edging at the back to cover the hairstyle of rolls or buns. Usually there were two sets of bonnet ties. One thin set was utilitarian and tied in front to hold the bonnet in place. The second set was more decorative and was usually fashioned of very wide material which could be left untied to hang down in front in order to show off the beautiful colours, fabric or design.

Carte de Visite ca 1863

Grandmother Zoller ca 1864-1865

Some women tied the wider ribbon under their chin either in front or at the side, but most left the ribbons hanging.

Carte de Visite ca 1863-1864 Even this older woman wanted to be in style. Her bonnet is the height of fashion circa 1863-1864 with two wide ties hanging loosely. She adds a lovely embellished shawl to her ensemble.

This woman is wearing a typical gown of the early 1860s. Full Pagoda sleeves dropped from the shoulder, with an undersleeve, create the illusion of the much sought after tiny waist. Her bodice has a natural waistline and removable collar. Her hair follows the typical hair fashion of this early period covering her ears, parted in the middle and pulled back to a roll at the nape of her neck. The extreme fullness of her skirt is very apparent in this photo.

Mrs. Joseph Curtis 1862 In 1865 this couple dressed in their best clothes with the gentleman wearing the more /itted frock coat rather than the casual loose sack coat. The frock coat was a step above the sack coat and was more like today’s suit. His wife is wearing a gown with a Bishop sleeve which replaced the Pagoda sleeve from the early 1860s. The Bishop sleeve dropped from the shoulder, was full at the elbow and then /itted at the wrist. By 1864 skirts were at their widest and were fuller at the back than the front. Fancy ruf/les,

Carte de Visite July 1865 braiding, fringes or frills usually appeared only at the bottom of the skirt as we see in this beautiful woman’s gown.

Her hair is still centre parted but now pulled back so that her ears show. This is a beautiful example of lace open /ingered gloves, gorgeous brocade material in the gown, wide Pagoda sleeves with an undersleeve (popular in the early 1860s). Snoods, or hairnets, came in a variety of styles from plain to fancy, and this woman has chosen to wear a very simple one. This is the type of gown a woman wore for special occasions. The belt at her natural waistline emphasizes her waist and adds to the illusion of a tiny waist, the ideal in feminine beauty. Her hair covers her ears which was appropriate for circa 1861 and 1862. Her open /ingered lace gloves are typical for this time period.

Left: Hannah Comstock ca 1862

Right: Carte de Visite unknown subject

This young lady is wearing a popular indoor jacket called the Zouave Jacket. This was a short loose bolero type jacket worn over a skirt. This was popular circa 1863 and later.

This young mother and her daughter had their portrait taken circa 1864. At the mother’s neck is a portrait broach, almost certainly of her Civil War Soldier husband. Mrs. Mary Thomas & Ella ‐ See larger image at beginning of article.

Cased Ambrotype. Unknown subject Evening wear during the Civil War era was quite different from daytime wear. Women wore gowns with dropped necklines which revealed their necks and shoulders. Short sleeves were in style. Because gowns during the 1860s were made up of separate pieces, women often had two bodices made with one matching skirt. One bodice would be short sleeves and scoop necked for evening, t h e s e c o n d w o u l d b e appropriate day wear with sleeves attached. This is an early example of an evening gown worn circa 1861 or 1862.

Popular magazines during the Civil War offering fashion news and views were Godey's Lady's Book (1830-98), Peterson Magazine (1849-92), and The Magnolia: A Southern Home Journal (1862-65).

Above Left: The Magnolia, University of Virginia. Above Right: Peterson Magazine Wedding 1864, NYPL. Left: Godey始s Lady始s Magazine Bridal Fashions 1861 Library of Congress.

Cased Ambrotype early 1860s. Unknown subject

Carte de Visite ca 1864. Unknown subject

Evening Gowns This is another early 1860s evening gown exposing bare shoulders, neck and arms. This woman wears a beautiful lace mantel and a snood holding her hair back in a roll at the nape of her neck. This young lady is also wearing evening dress. Her dress gives the appearance of bare shoulders with its /limsy gauze type material covering attached in a V‐formation to the top part of her gown.

This stately woman (Opp. Page ‐ Top row ‐ left) is dressed in typical outdoor clothing of the early 1860s. She wears a fancy bonnet adorned with decorative ties which hang loosely in order to show off the material. Often a second set of thinner ties held the bonnet /irmly in place and tied under the chin. Ribbons and other decorations adorn this bonnet as was the custom. Note the full Pagoda sleeve with undersleeve. A lace mantel is full enough to accommodate her full skirt. Mantels, shawls and capes were often worn for practical reasons as they were the only clothing that would /it over women’s full skirts. This young woman (Opp. Page ‐ Top row ‐ center) circa 1862 wears the typical center parted slicked back hair with a roll at the nape of her neck. Her snood covers her hair at the back. Her outer coat is a Paletot which is long and full with very wide sleeves and a large loose pocket. Her skirt appears to have a hoop under it rather than full crinolines. This woman (Opp. Page ‐ Top row ‐ far right) wears a hip‐length Paletot with pocket. It is wide enough to /it over her full skirt and has a loose wide pocket for her hanky. The sleeves are drop shoulder, full at the elbow and narrowing slightly at the wrist. Capes were popular during the Civil War. Kate Miller (Opp. Page ‐ Bottom row ‐ left) decked herself in furs circa 1863. She wears a fur stole, a fur hat, fur muff and a tight fur band around her lower arms. A long cape covers her dress and is visible under her fur stole. This older woman (Opp. Page ‐ Bottom row ‐ center) wears a bonnet tied in front and with a long veil added at the sides and back. She wears a fur‐trimmed muff and outer jacket. This woman (Opp. Page ‐ Bottom row ‐ far right) wears open /ingered lace gloves, an untied bonnet and a lace mantel over her multiple layers of clothing. Note the fullness of her skirts which have now reached maximum circumference so popular in the later part of the Civil War.

Elisa Spoor ca 1862

Carte de Visite ca 1862. Unknown subject

Carte de Visite ca 1864. Unknown subject

Outdoor Clothing

Carte de Visite. Unknown subject Kate Miller

Carte de Visite ca 1864. Unknown subject

Photos usually portray people wearing their Sunday best or their evening wear. But many people could not afford expensive clothes and relied on homespun clothing which they attempted to make as fashionable as possible. Here we see a family in 1863 wearing clothes that are made from cheaper cloth. The women’s dresses do not have /ine detail or embroidery or other embellishments. The young girl’s dress /its rather loosely and may be her mother’s hand‐me‐down. The mother’s only adornment is her bonnet which has a few decorations and a wide ribbon. She ties it

Samuel Smith & Family ca 1863

rather roughly under her chin with no attempt to let the ribbons hang or tie it neatly. Many women lost their husbands, brothers, sons or fathers during the Civil War. Mourning

Right: Carte de Visite circa 1863

attire followed strict rules depending on the relationship to the deceased. These women are widows who have lost husbands in the War. They are clothed completely in black with head coverings which hide their hair and come down past their shoulders.

Young girls were dressed as miniature adults. Very young girls wore skirts and petticoats that were mid‐calf with pantaloons at ankle length. In 1862 three year old Mary Mermod wore a shorter scoop necked dress with pantaloons just below her knees. In 1863 little Fanny Towne wore a scooped neckline which would have been identical to her mother’s evening or formal gown. As girls grew older and developed a bust, skirts and petticoats became ankle length or longer, and pantaloons became shorter. The sisters Emily and Susie Fryer in 1863 have

Young women’s fashion Left: Mary Mermod 1862

Right: Fanny Towne July 1863

longer skirts and their pantaloons barely show.

Emily & Susie Fryer

Carte de Visite. Unknown subject

Carte de Visite. Tommie & Katie Stahl

Young boys often wore a short jacket called an Eton jacket. It was loose /itting and casual. This brother and sister are we a r i n g t h e i r b e s t c l o t h e s c i rc a 1864‐1865. The young lad’s jacket is an Eton style jacket and his hair is curled and pomaded while his little sister wears an off‐the‐shoulder gown with a hint of pantaloons showing below the hem.

Young men’s fashion

Edward & Robert Botton May 1865 Older youths dressed much like their fathers. These brothers (above) are posed for their portrait in May 1865. One brother wears a younger Eton style jacket with curved neckline, while the seated boy wears an out/it with a notched collar on his jacket. Otis & Herbert Treadway (Right) Young cousins Otis & Herbert Treadway had their portrait taken ca 1861 wearing Military Academy Jackets.

Men’s Fashion Men’s fashions during the Civil War were much simpler than women’s and not as many rules applied. In general there were four types of coats worn by men during this time period. The loose /itting sack coat was very popular. It had wide shoulder seams, four buttons down the front and a notched or shirt collar. Vests or shirtcoats were worn by men and these could be almost any style. Usually they were cut straight across the bottom and had a shawl or notched collar. Trousers were high on the waist, had button fronts and almost always had suspenders to hold them up.

George Bell

Fitted Frock Coat Peter Wilson

Tail Coat Carte de Visite. Unknown subject

A frock coat which was a notch above a sack coat, was also worn. It was cut to /it the individual and cut straight across at the bottom. Many had velvet collars. The cutaway coat was similar to the frock coat but the front /lared back instead of being straight across. A tail coat, with the back of the jacket longer than the front, was only worn for formal occasions. Men’s hair tended to be long, almost collar length and constructed with elaborate wings, rolls and swirls. These were kept in place with hair oils, Macassars or pomatums which gave the appearance of wet hair. Facial hair was also varied. Some men wore mustaches, others did not. Beards might be neatly trimmed or long and unkempt. In general women followed traditional rules of fashion, and they saw to it that their children were also dressed appropriately for the times. Men had far more /lexibility where

rules were concerned and thus we see a greater variety of clothing and hairstyles for men during the Civil War. Now, try dating your Civil War photographic mysteries with the help of this journey into the costume of the period and a newly educated eye. The clues are here for you to use.

Lorine McGinnis Schulze's collecting passion is Civil War Era photo albums and photographs, some of which she displays on her website Olive Tree Genealogy in a section called "Lost Faces." Her Civil War era collection specializes in Cartes de Visites of women. All the photographs contained in this article are from the collection of the author.

Godey始s Magazine 1862

PENELOPE DREADFUL

a dreadful sacrifice THE WAR - ALWAYS THE WAR BY PENELOPE DREADFUL

The young woman bent her back to lift the heavy shovel /illed with damp earth. Dig, lift, toss aside. Dig, lift, toss aside. It was a joyless task in the early spring warmth. The robins scuttled nearby searching for plump earthworms wriggling their way through the mound of earth that lay to the side of the deepening hole. Dig, lift, toss aside. The sun was low in the sky when she /inally set the shovel upright in the soil. Her hands were blistered and sore. Her face was smeared with dirt where she had pushed back her fair hair. Tears had long since ceased to streak her cheeks. In their place was a /irm resolve. Anna looked east to the small neat clapboard house, and started to walk from the tree lined grove across the /ield toward home. In the distance she could see lights twinkling from the nearby farms. The Millers must be getting ready for supper by now, she thought. They had invited her to join them for the evening meal when she saw them this morning, but she had begged to be excused. She did not want interruptions in what must be done. Kind old Mr. Miller had no idea when he sent the dandelion greens to her mother that Mother would never enjoy them. As hard as it was to leave the older woman alone and cold in her bed that morning, Anna knew that she must maintain the /iction of their quiet life for at least one more day. After today, however. . .

Pausing to quickly wash the earth from her hands and face, Anna went to her mother’s room and gazed one last time at the older woman’s sweet face. Smooth now were the lines of worry that had appeared when her two young sons went off to War, and then deepened when her husband left to join them. Together Anna and her mother had just managed to keep up with the garden and orchard. Now, there was nothing to keep Anna here any longer. The /irst letter was a blow to the soul, by the second Anna was numb. Nothing, and no one, at all. Grimly, Anna performed the necessary tasks and respectfully placed her mother’s body on the small garden cart. There was no time and no one left to build a wooden cof/in. The cart wheels squeaked in protest as Anna pushed the cart back across the /ield to the little plot. It was over quickly, even the prayers. Anna paused to softly sing the words of her mother’s favorite hymn as the sun turned bright orange and slipped over the hills. Then she turned and pushed the empty cart back to the house. At the door Anna took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. She would have to move quickly. Day after day as the fever sapped her mother’s strength, Anna carefully considered her plans. When the third letter arrived just last week, Anna knew her course. Now, without hesitation, she went to a trunk in her brothers’ room and took out the carefully adjusted clothing. Soon she was dressed in trousers, shirt, and vest. The boots were a bit of a problem, but three pairs of heavy wool socks helped to /ill the gaps. She considered her image in the mirror. People always said she looked much like her brother, Tom. Now, thought Anna, as she cut off her long locks just below her ears, they will think I am his younger brother! The image that stared back at her from the mirror did look remarkably like Tom. Wavy blonde hair surrounded clear skin, a straight nose, and a /irm chin. Only the twinkle in Tom’s usual mischievous eyes was missing, to be replaced by Anna’s sad and determined gaze. It would be easier and safer to travel alone disguised as a boy, she thought, she just hoped she could arrive in time.

Anna’s eyes dropped to the top of the bureau where the photo of a young man was propped against the wood. He looked nothing like Anna, or Tom. The young man’s eyes looked /irmly into Anna’s, and she could recall every detail of the day he asked her to be Mrs. Miller, and then the way he dropped his gaze and asked her to wait. The War. Always, the War. Her transformation complete, Anna studied the picture again and touched the image to her lips before slipping it into her shirt pocket alongside the crumpled envelope. An orderly had helped Henry write from an Army hospital and Anna intended to /ind him and bring him home. Anna’s brother might never return, but she was /inished waiting for Henry. If only, she prayed, he would wait for her.

A Date With Civil War An Old Photograph

By 1862, the Civil War was costing the Union $2 million dollars per day and the government was desperate for money. The United States taxed many and varied items in the 1860s to pay for the Civil War, or the War Between the States, if you lived in my part of the country.

a photograph "with a retail value of not over 25 cents, 3 cents for a photo costing over 25 cents but not over 50 cents; 5 cents for photos costing over 50 cents but not over a dollar; and for each additional dollar or fraction of a dollar, another 5 cents. (See chart of images of Revenue Stamps contained in this article.) Photographs being bound into books, and the tiny

Medicines,

matches,

playing

cards,

photographs and perfumes were classified as proprietary items and were taxed by the Union government. Stamps issued are listed in the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers in the Private Die Proprietary Stamps section. On June 30, 1864, Congress enacted a tax on all "photographs, ambrotypes, daguerreotypes or any other sun-pictures," to be paid for by attaching a revenue stamp on the back of the photograph. Stamps were applied from 1 Aug. 1864 to 1 Aug. 1866. The tax was set at 2 cents for

gemtypes, too small to put a stamp on, were subject to a 5% tax and was paid in cash to Internal Revenue. There was no stamp specifically for photographs. There were two dozen different types of revenue stamps. The revenue stamps used most often on photographs were â&#x20AC;&#x153;Proprietary.â&#x20AC;? Keeping so many different kinds of Revenue Stamps in stock was difficult. Due to a myriad of complaints, in 1862 the law was altered to make most of the stamps interchangeable. At this point a wide variety of revenue stamps could be used on photographs as long as they reflected the correct amount of tax. 70

If you have a photograph with a Civil War Revenue Stamp you have a great dating tool! The stamps that are found on photographs are usually one, two, or three cent stamps of the following types: express, playing cards, telegraph, bank check, certificate, proprietary, foreign exchange, or U.S. Internal Revenue. Due to their popularity, most stamped photographs found today are cartes-devisite. Some 4.5 million were produced during the Civil War. Cartes usually cost around a quarter, although sometimes six for a dollar, and later ten or twelve for a dollar. Two cent or three cent stamps are the most common values found on cartes-de-visite and tintypes. Higher values can be found on daguerretypes, ambrotypes and handtinted photographs, the cost to produce these being more expensive. The tax on photographs was rescinded in 1866. The reason seems to have been aggressive lobbying by photographers and photographic studios. Revenue stamps were printed by the Philadelphia firm of Butler and Carpenter.

Fig. 2

Above New York Times article, October 1864 listing the types and amounts of Revenue Stamps. The government decided that for every item taxed there would be a unique stamp. The 1, 2, 3, 4 cent proprietary were used for photographs. I have found no 4 cent proprietary stamp. The government could not keep up with the demand for speci/ic stamps, and on December 2, 1862, the law was altered to allow stamps to be interchangeable as long as they re/lected the correct amount of tax. In 1865 congress reduced the tax on images costing under 10 cents to a 1 cent tax, which produced a very rare 1 cent stamp in red color. All stamps pictured are af/ixed to photographs.

Proprietary Stamps - No 4 cent stamp shown

Fig. 1 1 cent

Fig. 2 2 cent

Fig. 3 3 cent

Sample Revenue Stamps Playing Card Stamps

Playing card stamps are known to have been used in the summer of 1866 as other stamps were unavailable as the levy came to an end.

Fig. 4 2 cent

Fig. 5 5 cent

Certificate Stamp

Telegraph Stamp

Fig. 6 5 cent

Fig. 7 3 cent

Express Stamp Express stamps originally were required on receipts given to customers by express companies, which shipped parcels. Late in 1862 Express stamps could be used on photographs, as could any Revenue stamp of the correct denomination. Fig. 8 1 cent

Bank Check Stamp

Fig. 9 2 cent

Fig. 10 2 cent

Internal Revenue Stamp

Fig. 11 2 cent

If the photographic image cost was notÂ overÂ 25 cents a 2 cent stamp was attached.

If the photographic image cost 25 cents to 50 cents a 3 cent revenue stamp was attached.

If the photographic image cost 50 cents to a $1.00 a 5 cent revenue stamp was attached. More than $1, there was attached 5 cents for each additional dollar or fraction thereof.

The Civil Warâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most pessimistic photographer. W h e n t h e C i v i l Wa r commenced, it was a widely held belief that the war would be over in a year. Obviously the photographer Bennett, believed the war would be around for some time. He designed an imprint for his studio that incorporated a box for the required revenue stamp and had the cards printed. Note: I have found no other photographer whose imprint incorporated the Revenue Stamp.

How Stamps Were Cancelled The law required photographers to

Stamped photographs are sometimes found

cancel each stamp and record the date

canceled with the initials of the photographer,

of the photograph on the stamp. Some

with or without a date.

used a hand‐stamp similar to a postmark, as seen below.

Hand Stamp Dec. 2, 1865

L. L. Booth Initials May 30, 1866

Most photographers simply cancelled the stamp using a pen.

Pen Cancelled No Date

U & S Initials Upson & Simson No Date

Sometimes stamps were canceled

Some stamps found were not cancelled.

simply with a slash or an "x."

Slash or “X” No Date

Not Cancelled

There was a ten dollar penalty for each failure by a photographer or photographic studio to af/ix the required tax stamp on a photograph.

Does The Absence Of A Stamp Mean You Do Not Have A Civil War Photograph? Of course not all photographs were stamped. Large photographic studios were allowed to determine the amount of tax owed and remit to the Internal Revenue without af/ixing and canceling stamps. This was probably done to appease the large photographic studios who in many cases had to hire someone just to af/ix and cancel the stamps; a cost that had to be absorbed by the photographer. Cartes were often sold by the dozen. The stamp only had to be af/ixed and cancelled on one photograph, leaving eleven photographs without a stamp. Some photographers avoided the stamps completely, a practice that was not legal. Other photographs such as those being bound into books could not have stamps af/ixed to them. Photographs put into lockets were too small for stamps. The revenue act enacted a 5 percent tax on this format which was paid by the client directly to the photographer. And, you may have a Confederate photograph. The Confederate states did not have a tax on photographs.

No Revenue Stamp

Henry and Robert Johnston, whose photography studio was located at 867 B r o a d w a y , w e r e C i v i l W a r photographers. Robert Johnston began h i s p h o t o g r a p h y c a r e e r a s a daguerreotype artist around 1854, probably working with Mathew Brady since their addresses are both listed in New York City directories at 359 and 205 Broadway.

This photograph would be dated prior to 1866, because of studio name change. Snood, hairstyle, glasses, cape and dress are Civil War era. While there is no speci/ic date, this is probably a Civil War photograph.

In 1866, Johnston Bros. became Johnson and Howell.

Hand cancelled 3 cent U.S. Revenue Stamp, marked with the photographerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initials U & S - Upson & Simson, Buffalo, New York. This photograph would have cost between 25 and 50 cents.

This CDV was taken May 30, 1866 and cost between 50 cents and not over a $1.00. The high cost was probably due to the hand coloring.

Darrah, William C. Cartes de Visite in 19th Century Photography. Gettysburg: Darrah, 1981. McCulloch, Lou W. Card Photographs, A Guide To Their History and Value. Exton, Pennsylvania: Schiffer 1981. Mace, O. Henry. Collector's Guide To Early Photographs.Iola, Wisconsin: Krause, 1999. Mautz, Carl. Biographies of Western Photographers. Nevada City, California: Carl Mautz Publishing, 1997. Nickell, Joe. Camera Clues. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 1994. Palmquist, Peter. Pioneer Photographers Of The Far West A Biographical Dictionary, 1840-1865. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2000. Severa, Joan. Dressed For The Photographer. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1995. Fossil, Piedmont. “Tax Stamp Page.” Flickr. November 3, 007. http://www.flickr.com/photos/piedmont_fossil/ 1844258448/.

Earliest Known Photograph of Abraham Lincoln Library Of Congress

THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS

Janine Smith leads us down the path to restoration. PART II

All Photographs Are History If you've decided to go all in and learn photo restoration, good for you! Pat yourself on the back for caring enough about your family history to be able to want to do it right! I applaud you!

NOTHING VENTURED Here's the bad news: The chances of being able to master photo restoration right off the bat is slim at best. Many people make the mistake of thinking restoration is one of those things they can start today and make money at tomorrow. They are wrong. Before I scare you off of learning to digitally restore your own family photos, though, please understand I'm merely urging you to use caution in attempting to try too much too soon – you know: Don't sail out farther than you can row back? If you do succumb to the temptation to believe that digital photo restoration is easy, as with most things done in that frame of mind, there's a number of possible outcomes, but I'm most concerned about two in particular. One is where a person may believe that it really is easy and they do a good job, such a good job, in fact, that they decide to not only restore their own photos, but everyone else's as well, hanging out the proverbial shingle. This only perpetuates the myth that digital photo restoration is an easy, unskilled task, junk art as it were. The people who really suffer in this scenario are the people who pay good money for unacceptable work. The other outcome I'm concerned about when the restoration learning process is rushed is discouragement. You know the feeling, I'm sure. Rushing headlong into a project without taking the time to really learn how to do it. Think of it as trying to put together a huge thingamajig with hundreds of tiny little pieces and parts. Without the directions. Chances

are good that you'll get a few pieces out together, then realize you did it wrong and have to start over. After a few times, you're probably going to give up, maybe with the intention of actually obtaining and reading the instructions, the objective being to try again another day. At the very least, you'll put the project off. The worst case scenario is that you give up forever. It's not worth it. Finis. That would be the real shame. Because, like most everything, it's not really all that hard, especially repairing the lesser damage, if, if being the keyword, here, IF you take a little time to learn some basics!

IT'S ONLY PHOTO RESTORATION! “For pity's sake! It's not like this is brain surgery! Lighten up!” Yes, I know some people would think I'm taking this way to seriously. After all, there are no degrees in digital photo restoration – it's usually not even considered a stand alone business, if it is it's more than likely the 'hobby' sort of business, used to make a few extra bucks. Photo restoration is, historically, a sideline service connected to photography or genealogy. My work, in fact, is Landailyn Research & Restoration, a genealogical services business. Over time the restoration part has become as big as the research part, if not bigger, but it took a LOT of time, work, education, patience, promotion and reputation building. Years worth. I do take it seriously, because I know that really well done, professional, high end photo restoration is as valuable as well done wedding or baby photography and means as much to the client. All you need to understand that is to see a client tear up seeing a photo of their mother, or grandmother who they haven't 'seen' in years due to excessive damage, restored. Watch, just once, someone who has one surviving photo of their mother, and that badly damaged, cry as they tell you it's the /irst time they've seen their mother's face in thirty years, then tell me digital photo restoration isn't a valid, important service!

THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS If you've decided to go all in and learn photo restoration, good for you! I applaud you! I also encourage you:

DON'T GIVE UP – Nobody ever said that anything worth doing would be easy. There will be times when you feel like you're never going to get it! There's just to many things to learn and your restorations always turn out not quite right, when everyone else on the planet who does restoration is better than you – believe me, I still have days like that! I only ask that you not give in to these feelings and keep working on it! Take an hour, or a day off. Don't beat yourself up. Rome wasn't built in a day and all that! Give yourself a break and permission to not be perfect. It'll all come together in time!

DEVELOP AN 'EYE' – I'm not saying you should concentrate on trying to form a third eye, I'm saying you need to work on learning to observe your own work. In a sense, become your own worst critique – it sounds like I'm saying the opposite of what I just said above, but I'm really not. Learn to detach yourself enough from your work to be able to critic it honestly without beating yourself up – that it why I call it 'observing' your work. Learn to look at your work like a detached third party. The way to start this is, when you think you're done with a project, or if you're stuck on a certain part, save it, close it and leave it! After a day, or two, or four, come back to it and try to look at it with an unjaundiced eye. Now, say to yourself, “no offense, but that could use a little work” or “Something doesn't look quite right”. Think of it as a growth exercise. When you learn to do this, you'll become your best critique because you won't be telling yourself the work is great, when it could be better, because you don't want to hurt your own feelings!

NEVER STOP LEARNING – This is one of the most important bits of advice I can give you! The software program I use, Photoshop, has so many features, so many ways to combine /ilters, adjustments and tools, a nearly limitless potential for learning and growth, that I, personally, don't know of anyone who even claims to know it all, and I belong to a vast association of Photoshop professionals, people who work with the software daily and teach others to use it! I can honestly say that I learn something new, a different way to do something or a twist on an old way, constantly! I look at my work from a year ago, even six

months ago, and realize how much I've grown in my abilities in that short time. It's a constant, never ending, wonderful cycle of discovery! Play! Play with tools, brushes, settings – when you follow a tutorial, use it as a starting point, only! Never get stuck doing the same thing, using the same tool, the same method on every photo! Old photos and what is needed to restore them will never be the same! What works on one will need a little more, or less, tweaking on another, even if the damage looks the same!

NOT A BATCH PROCESS Digital photo restoration is not a batch process! There is no magic button that will take care of all the damage on a photo and restore it to near perfect condition, no matter what software makers

claim! Yes, there are a few examples that will get rid of certain kinds of damage, very minor in open areas (for example, plain backgrounds) fairly well, but what are the chances all your damaged photos will have all the same damage, of just that variety? No magic bullet software will repair facial features, textures and details like good, old fashioned skill and patience can!

WHEN TO SAY WHEN How do you know when a photo has too much damage and is just beyond your skill level? My first suggestion, if you've put in your due diligence, learned the basics of restoration and put in some practice time on some of your less damaged photos, would be to at least try! Some damage that seems incredibly daunting when you're just starting out can look much more doable when you have some skills under your belt! But let's say you have tried and it's just beyond you, or the one photo you really want to restore has major damage and you don't want to put in the prep time learning the basics, you just want to get down to the nitty gritty! What to do when you don't have the skill, the confidence or the time to work on a heavily damaged photo restoration? Perhaps it's time to call in a professional! For some reason, not a great deal of thought seems to go into finding a professional to restore family photos. Either it's a project taken on as a hobby, or the photo is taken to the first name in the phone book. Imagine doing this with another family heirloom, a piece of furniture, perhaps, such as the only piece made by George Hepplewhite known to exist. Would you take on it's repair as a hobby if you were untrained in the art? Glue a leg back on or put a screw or nail in it? Would you take it to just any furniture repair shop? While this example may be a bit extreme – your family photo probably won't bring many thousands of dollars on the auction block, it is just as rare! In most cases, that photo is the only one you have, it's truly one of a kind! I've seen many examples where a photo is the only one in existence of a certain relative! To you, the descendants of the persons pictured, these photos are truly rare, valuable and precious artifacts! Finding a skilled digital photo restoration artist shouldn't be a crap shoot. The first thing you need to do when looking is just that: look. Never take someones word about their skill level, or believe, out of hand, the claim “We're the best”. Adopt the theorem “Prove it”. Just as you shouldn't take the old clock that's been in your family for generations to Joe the Clock man who just started repairing clocks last week, you shouldn't trust your photo restoration to someone who has restored two of their own family photos and decided to go into business for themselves!

LOOK FOR:

Does the person you're looking at have a website? If so, do they have an online gallery? If they don't, proceed with caution: These people deal, or should, with the digital world everyday. They should certainly be knowledgeable enough to have an online gallery on their website! If there is a gallery, this is their portfolio, samples of their work in which they are showing you, the potential customer, all they can do. With their portfolio, they are trying to convince you, through the variation of work (easy/med/hard/colorization/manipulation (background extraction, element addition),base number of examples, multiple categories (restoration, colorization, color/tonal correction),presentation of before / after images, and the overall skill of the result, to come to them for your restoration needs. If they have one, or two, examples, or all their work is basically the same thing, such as all relatively minor with colorization, they aren't exhibiting the range of skills you'll want to be used on your family photo! Especially if the damage to your photo is extensive, look for examples that appear to be about the same level of damage. Preferably more than one.

Do they have a local presence? If so, is an actual street address given? Remember, this is a business! If there is no physical address, that could signal that the business is simply a part time hobby for the restorationist. That's /ine, providing they have the skills to do the work, but it's good to know. If the main concern of the business is something other than photo restoration (photography, scanning, printing, etc.), ask if the restorations are done “in house” or sent away. Many are actually sent out of the country. In local venues that offer photo restoration services (frame shops, photography supply retailers), also ask if the work is done in house. Many send the work out, often across the country, albeit still in the country. Remember, that's your one of a kind family heirloom that's being mailed! There is no insurance that guarantees your original photo back, unharmed, only that you'll be compensated for what they think the photo is worth, which might buy you a cup of coffee. Also think twice about trusting your restoration to a kiosk in a discount chain store. While these may by /ine for making prints and duplicates, the restoration work is done with automated software, the a fore‐mentioned 'magic bullet' that really isn't. Again, this will never take the place of a skilled professional – who's actually a person.

Try to /ind someone in your area, if you can. If photo restoration is their only business and they're not a part of, for example, a photography studio, they most likely work out of their home. If you don't look at their work on the Internet, make an appointment for an estimate. Ask to look at their book, or portfolio. Whether it's in a book or on the internet, take special care to look at the way they restore people. Do they look just like they would in an actual photograph, or is something not quite right about them? Do the features or limbs look off, not natural, or do portions look painted or drawn in? Can you clearly tell that something has been added to the photo or do the people look like they've been cut out and pasted onto a background? People are the great 'tell' of photo restoration, especially the facial features. If the damage in a photo was centered in these areas and the photo looks 'good as new', you've found a top‐notch, high end photo restoration artist. Rejoice! Get an estimate. There's no way, short of looking at the photo, either via scan sent over the internet, or, if in person, on a lightbox with at least an 8x loupe, that the artist can ascertain the damage and give a fair estimate. All estimates should be completely free, with no obligation. Make sure you communicate to the artist exactly what you expect from the work! Whether you just want the scratches cleaned up, the tired color perked up or the photo to look brand new, it help both of you, tremendously, if you spell that out and save some misunderstandings and bad feelings if your expectations aren't met. For instance, you bring a photo to an artist that has damage and has yellowed over time and you don't tell them you want to keep that particular color in the photo and they give you a black and white restoration. You either leave with a restoration you're not 100% happy with, or you tell them this isn't what you wanted and they have to go back and correct it, with a new print or CD or both, when it would have been so much simpler to communicate your wishes in the /irst place! Don't pay extra for little nothings. By 'little nothings' I mean things like paying $15 to have a sepia or selenium, or to have it converted to black and white, or a duotone. These are all one button processes that take absolutely no time! If you pay a professional for the real work, the actual restoration work, they will be more than happy to put a print tone on it for you, for free!

Be wary of /lat fees! Whether they're $5 or $40 or $75, someone's going to get ripped off! Sometimes it's the artist, sometimes it's the customer. Also be cautious of the too cheap restoration. Sure, cheap is as cheap does and people do love to save money, but it all comes down to what your family history is worth to you. Some may take acceptation to that opinion, and I do understand there are exceptions, such as a person who just can't afford high end photo restoration, but there are ways to deal with that, too! In most cases, with low, low prices and low, /lat fees, you truly do get what you pay for! Look at this from the point of view of the one doing the work: My base price is $50. That would be for the most minimal damage you can imagine. If you come in, I look at the photo on the lightbox and see one little speck, I quote $50. Excessive? Perhaps to some, but look at it this way, I could be charging $50 an hour, which my level of expertise, skill and training as an artist would certainly warrant, if not more. If that were so, I'd still be charging $50 for that one scratch because the work would involve getting rid of the unseen bits of damage that show up when you scan the image and put it in the photo editing software. It there. It's always there. As sure as the sun comes up in the morning, there is never, I say again, never 'just' one speck. Just because you can't see it with the naked eye, doesn't mean it's not there. Bring me your 'just one speck' photo and let me show it to you zoomed in to about 300% on an LCD monitor if you'd like me to prove it to you. So, I'm scanning the photo, cleaning the speck, repairing all the other little specks, spots, hairs and whatnot and putting it all on CD for you. It might not take a full hour, but it's close. On the other hand, if I charge you $50 for a heavily damaged photo that might take hours, even days, I end up being paid a couple of dollars an hour. Just for grins, lets say it takes me 40 hours to do the work – and I have had projects badly damaged enough to take that long, it would come out to $1.50 an hour. Great for you, but I lose my business, my house and my mother and I have

to /ind a cardboard box and a bridge to live under. Even if I charge you $150 for that same photo, it still only comes out to 3.75 an hour. Minimum wage in Texas, where I live and have my business, is $7.25 an hour. If I charged that for the photo, it would cost you $290, and still be dirt cheap, from the one doing the works point of view.

I have a repeat customer who has brought me many, mostly heavily damaged photos to restore. He is very happy with the work and, for the amount of time put into the restoration, and the results provided, the cost is not all that much. Since he is such a wonderful repeat customer, I did three photos for him for $50 each. One was fairly minimal damage, the other two were heavily damaged. He took these restorations to a meeting of the genealogical society he belongs to to show them off since he was so pleased with the work. Everyone there, he said, agreed the work was wonderful, but some of them expressed the opinion that it cost too much. Obviously he didn't think so as he continues to be a customer and one of our best P.R. Men, telling people how great he thinks we are, but the comments of those few, especially with them being so active in their family histories, astounded me! It told me, louder than words ever could, that those people would either be willing to settle for cheap, badly done work, or that they didn't value the work done on their precious family photo enough to think it was worth paying premium for (which, by the way, the amount I charged my customer was NOT premium!) But what if you believe the cost of high end restoration is worth it to you, but you just can't afford it, or you have so many photos, even at $50 each, you'd be moving under the bridge

with me? Well, I'll tell you a secret: Most photo restoration artists, or the ones who passionately love their work and history, want you to have your restoration done right as much as you do! Don't be afraid to ask if they can work a deal, maybe in exchange for something you can do for them – bartering is a wonderful thing and can often be an advantage to both parties! I've bartered restoration for yard services before! It helped the customer and saved me the time I'd have spent mowing my lawn! Offer to pass out /lyers for them or do some online promotion for them through blogging, Twitter or Facebook! Tell your friends! Become their personal P.R. Army! I've done work for this and for the use of their photos in tutorials! These can be written off at tax time as business expenses, so the artist is getting a good deal, too! Ask about discounts for repeat business or quantity. In most cases, we're so thrilled that you're that happy with our work and for repeat business, we're more than happy to cut you a deal! Especially when it comes with some great word of mouth advertising! The best kind there is!

NOTHING LESS THAN THE BEST Whether you're going to learn to restore your own photos or decide to let a professional do the work, take the time to learn the what you need to know to make it the best, most rewarding experience for you. Even though digital photo restoration is just that, 'digital', and therefore not written in stone or, heaven forbid, permanent on your original, it's still a time consuming process to learn, and, if done right, not cheap to have done! Don't rush into it, taking your photo to the /irst name in the phone book or picking a name at random! Don't open your photo editing program and expect to be a master within /ive minutes! Rushing headlong into either situation will only set you up for disappointment, eventually.

Some good, old‐fashioned preparation will serve you well in the end and you'll have some wonderful, well‐done restoration work to show for it!

JANINE SMITH Landailyn Research & Restoration Janinealogy

Janine Smith, is a professional genealogist and award winning photo restoration artist, with over 15 years experience in analysis and family history research and over 30 years experience as a portrait artist. She's co‐ owner, with her mother, Caroline, also a genealogist, of Landailyn Research and Restoration in Fort Worth, Texas. Janine is the 2008 winner of the Photoshop User Award for Photo Restoration, an International competition with over 700 entrants, and is proud to be numbered among the premiere photo restoration artists.

Air Force

Army

Navy/Marine Corps

THE FUTURE OF MEMORIES

the medal of honor IN THE CIVIL WAR BY DENISE BARRETT OLSON

During and immediately after the American Revolution, George Washington looked for ways to recognize the efforts of the men who displayed great courage and effort. The Americans had no use for the European system of decorations which awarded the elite rather than the courageous. General Washington awarded several certi/icates and even developed a badge of merit that could be sewn on the uniform. But, as the new country concentrated on building, military decorations were not a priority. Then, in December 1861, Congress passed a bill authorizing the Navy to create 200 medals "which shall be bestowed upon such petty of/icers, seamen, landsmen and marines as shall distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other seamanlike qualities during the present war (Civil War)." In July 1862, another bill was passed authorizing an Army medal to “be presented, in the name of the Congress, to such non‐‐commissioned of/icers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier‐like qualities, during the present insurrection (Civil War).” The Medal of Honor is the only medal awarded to U.S. military service members that is worn around the neck. Each branch of the service ‐ Army, Navy (the Marine Corps is part of the Department of the Navy) and Air Force ‐ has a medal with a slightly different design. Each design incorporates a gold star surrounded by a wreath and topped with an eagle.

There is also a bar with the word “VALOR”. The medal hangs from a light blue silk neckband and at the point where the medal is attached is a blue silk ornament embroidered with 13 white stars. The /irst recipients of the Medal of Honor were the six Union soldiers who highjacked the Confederate locomotive, the General. Because it was the only authorized military award during the Civil War, its use was somewhat abused. This included the members of the 27th Maine who agreed to continue defending Washington, D.C. for four days after their enlistment expired.

April 12, 2010, was the 148th anniversary of the "Great Locomotive Chase" that made "The General" famous.

WALKER, DR. MARY E. Rank and organization: Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian), U. S. Army. Places and dates: Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; Patent Office Hospital, Washington, D.C., October 1861; Chattanooga, Tenn., following Battle of Chickomauga, September 1863; Prisoner of War, April 10, 1864-August 12, 1864, Richmond, Va.; Battle of Atlanta, September 1864. Entered service at: Louisville, Ky. Born: 26 November 1832, Oswego County, N.Y.

Citation: Whereas it appears from official reports that Dr. Mary E. Walker, a graduate of medicine, "has rendered valuable service to the Government, and her efforts have been earnest and untiring in a variety of ways," and that she was assigned to duty and served as an assistant surgeon in charge of female prisoners at Louisville, Ky., upon the recommendation of Major-Generals Sherman and Thomas, and faithfully served as contract surgeon in the service of the United States, and has devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soliders, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health, and has also endured hardships as a prisoner of war four months in a Southern prison while acting as contract surgeon; and Whereas by reason of her not being a commissioned officer in the military service, a brevet or honorary rank cannot, under existing laws, be conferred upon her; and Whereas in the opinion of the President an honorable recognition of her services and sufferings should be made: It is ordered, That a testimonial thereof shall be hereby made and given to the said Dr. Mary E. Walker, and that the usual medal of honor for meritorious services be given her. Given under my hand in the city of Washington, D.C., this 11th day of November, A.D. 1865. Andrew Johnson, President

Dr. Mary Walker, who had served as a civilian contract surgeon through most of the war, wanted an Army commission but got a Medal of Honor instead. Just before World War I, additional military decorations were authorized with more being added during and after that war. As concerns grew about the misuse of the Medal of Honor, a board of retired generals was convened to investigate and report on past awards of the medal. As a result, there was a purge of 911 names from the list of recipients. Included were all the members of the 27th Maine and Dr. Walker. In July 1918, Congress passed legislation further de/ining the order of precedence for each of the military decorations with the Medal of Honor at the top. One key difference between the new decorations and the Medal of Honor was speci/ically de/ined, "That the President is authorized to present, in the name of the Congress, a medal of honor only to each person who, while an of/icer or enlisted man of the Army, shall hereafter, in action involving actual con/lict with an enemy, distinguish himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty." The President was authorized to present the lesser awards, but only the Medal of Honor could be awarded “in the name of the Congress.” In 1977, Dr. Mary Walker’s Medal of Honor was restored. As of today, she is the only woman to receive this medal. There are two paths for selecting a service member to receive the Medal of Honor. The most common path is nomination by an individual within the chain of command. The nomination must be reviewed and approved at each level of the chain of command before the award is made. The nomination review can easily take as long as 18 months. The other path is nomination by a member of Congress and approval by a special act of Congress. Since only 6 medals have been awarded throughout all of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, there is concern that the nomination process has become too political. This compares to 246 awarded during Vietnam and 133 during the Korean War. While all the men and women who have defended our country are exceptional, those who have received the Medal of Honor truly are the best of the best.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: • • • • • •

Congressional Medal of Honor Society U.S. Army Medal of Honor U.S. Navy Medal of Honor U.S. Air Force Medal of Honor U.S. Military Awards and Decorations article at Wikipedia Congressional Medal of Honor article at Wikipedia

Sources: Medals Courtesy Wikipedia Mary Walker & Citation Courtesy of the Library of Congress The General Courtesy of the Library of Congress

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THE HEALING BRUSH

the history detectives & me HOW IT ALL HAPPENED BY GEORGE GEDER

I became interested in genealogy after my father, William Emmett Geder (1903 ‐ 1977), passed in 1977. At that time I inherited a photo album that included tin‐types, turn of the century (1900) postcards, and other pictures of Ancestors I knew nothing about. One of the photos included my father as a boy. He was four years old, dating the picture as 1907. That was one of the very few photographs that had any description. For the last 30+ years I have been trying to identify all of my Ancestors in this photo album. In November 2006, I got a call from an April Marks. She is part of the production team at Lion Television that produces the hit PBS show, History Detectives.

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In a phone conversation, Ms. Marks explained that they received a group photo of Civil War veterans from a collector. In the photo were two African Americans amidst the all white soldiers. This group was known as the Knowlton GAR or Grand Army of the Republic and they were out of Cazenovia, New York. The collector, Angelo Scarlato, wanted to see if they could identify the two Black men. They accepted the challenge. Their investigation took them to upstate New York, Madison county. With the help of librarians and genealogists, they surmised that three African Americans from the area enlisted or volunteered in the Civil War.

They /irst identify the /lag bearer in the photograph. Someone commented that a guy inquired about African Americans in Cazenovia on the Rootsweb Madison county message board a couple of years ago, and maybe he could help. That guy was yours truly. So, that’s how and why they contacted me.

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In December, I sent April Marks a copy of the photograph that included my Cazenovia Ancestors. In this particular photograph are my Grandmother, Beulah Stevenson Geder; my Grandfather, Emmett Moore Geder; and a seated man whose lap my father is resting on. I could say that he’s my Great Grandfather but I’m not sure. He looks to be a little too old. Yet, he looks to be too young to be my Great‐Great Grandfather. I know, not a very scienti/ic approach. Then nothing. A week goes by, then another and another. Oh well, perhaps there’s no connection. However, my curiosity is peeked; BIG TIME!

On January 3rd 2007, I ask my AfriGeneas.com family to decipher a document from the 1890 Veteran’s Schedule I found on Ancestry.com. It was about John Stevenson. With their help I was not only able to con/irm that this particular document was about my 2nd Great Grandfather, but I learned that he was in the 29th Connecticut Infantry that was one of four ‘Colored’ regiments that kept their state moniker rather than the USCT designation. I re‐acquaint myself with the folks on the Rootsweb Madison county message board and they are happy to tell me what they know. I meet, through this board, Donna D. Burdick, Research Chair, Madison Co. Freedom Trail Commission & Smith/ield Town Historian (Madison County); Home of the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark. Listen, you don’t tell the Kid that you may have something on one of my Ancestors, and you’ll get back to me. Left to my own devices, I’ll shake the planet like a rug

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for info! Donna Burdick was primarily interested in the /lag bearer, Albert O. Robbins, however, in an exchange of e‐mails she began helping me put some meat on the skeleton of a research I had on John Stevenson. We began to check out and analyze census records. New York state had censuses in 1855, 1865, 1875, and 1892. Now, mind you, I haven't seen their photo. Now I must be fair to April Marks. She did say, back in December, that they were further researching this angle and that she was playing it close to the vest by stating that she couldn’t tell me anything more than what I knew at the time. On January 21st, out of courtesy and out of patience, I sent her this e‐mail:

Sue Greenhagen is one of the librarians and researchers in Cazenovia. I never got a response from Sue and here's the reason why. On January 22nd, I got a telephone call from April Marks to ‘CEASE & DESIST’ all research on John Stevenson. Everybody connected to this project got a telephone call. “You are not to be in contact with George Geder, as it may compromise the ’surprise’ element of the series.”

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If ever there was a timely intervention, this was it! I ceased. I didn’t know that they were that far along in the development of the show. Things now begin to move in earnest. They make arrangements to /ly us out to Syracuse, New York in mid‐February. Itinerary is set; and we go to Albuquerque, New Mexico to board our plane. Safe landing at the snow covered airport and then we drive for 30 minutes along slippery roads to Cazenovia. The following morning, Cynthia and I walked around town before we were to be called for the /ilming. It was more pretty and quaint than the night before. The buildings along the main street have a late 19th century look. We learn that Cazenovia is now an artsy‐tourist kind of place.

The cell phone rings and we are instructed to go to the house where we will do the /ilming. A beautiful house, a mini‐mansion by our standards. We /ilm our /irst segment in the kitchen (pretending that it’s our kitchen in Santa Fe). We discuss and compare the image of John Stevenson in my photo with the character in question in the post Civil war picture. Then they send me upstairs to chill and wait until they need me again.

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At this point, in the dining room (are you following this?), they are /ilming Angelo Scarlato ‐ the man who’s post Civil War picture and inquiry this History Detectives’ story is actually all about. Now mind you, Angelo and I are unaware of each other’s presence at this point. They summon me to come downstairs and wait in one of the parlors (did I mention mini‐ mansion?). They tell Angelo not only did they identify the two African Americans in his picture, they found a living descendant of one of them. On cue they usher me in to meet Angelo Scarlato. I think I can honestly say for the two of us that the moment of our meeting transcended the show and the reasons we were in Cazenovia, New York. There was a spiritual arch from the taking of that original picture of the Civil War veterans in the Knowlton Grand Army of the Republic to the acknowledgment of its signi/icance in February of 2007. The next day we were scheduled to /ly back home, but Elyse Luray and crew had one more thing up their sleeves. We got in the van at 7:30am; way too early for our 1:00pm /light. We drive to a grocery store. The crew debates who is going into the store. A subplot develops. They want to get Elyse out of the driver’s seat (she not the greatest driver in the world, in the winter, with snow b a n k s a l l a ro u n d ) . T h e designated come out of the store with /lowers.

The next thing I know we are driving up to a cemetery, the C a z e n o v i a E v e r g r e e n c e m e t e r y w h e r e J o h n Stevenson and his family are interred. The /irst major headstone you see as you enter is none other than… you

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guessed it. I was totally undone, blown away. The /lowers, of course. The program originally aired in July, 2007 ~~~ The Trail of Coincidences. Since the /ilming, we have made acquaintances with a number of people associated with this project. Char McCargo Bah was the Professional Genealogist/Historian the History Detectives contacted at the National Archives. She is a contributor to the AfriGeneas.com forums and over the years we have exchanged notes there. Charles (Ben) Hawley is also a descendant of the 29th Connecticut Colored Regiment of which John Stevenson was a member. He has founded a non‐pro/it organization called, what else, the Descendants of the 29th Connecticut Colored Volunteer Regiment. Naturally, I’ve become a proud ‘certi/ied’ member. But that’s not all. Mr Hawley is a Civil War re‐enactor and his group was /ilmed by the History Detectives to be included in this very episode. How amazing a coincidence is that? But that’s not all, folks. The /lag bearer in the picture, Albert Robbins, was friends with my 2nd great grandfather. In fact, one of his sons married one of John’s daughters! Are you sitting down? I was informed by Donna Burdick that there are living descendants of Albert Robbins. Could I be on the cusp of /inding new cousins? Last month on Facebook, ... John Stevenson Civil War Veteran; Freedom Fighter b. 1834 Maryland d. 1914 Cazenovia, New York

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The GAR Photograph Segment On The History Detectives [ LINK ]

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SAVING FACE

a moutain of boxes to organize INVENTORY WHAT YOU HAVE REBECCA FENNING

Being confronted with a mountain of boxes to organize and catalog is a daunting thing. Even as a professional, I often like to deal with situations like this by procrastinating and hoping the boxes will disappear on their own. Unfortunately, this has not worked for me yet, either at work or at home. Fortunately, working for years with piles of boxes who won’t organize themselves while my back is turned has given me a few tips on how to approach such overwhelming and often frightening situations. These are just approaches that sometimes work for me – not prescriptions for 100% success – but hopefully reading about what works for me will at least help you devise an approach that works for you. One way to start tackling rooms and piles of boxes is to simply inventory what it is that you have. It doesn’t have to be a detailed inventory, but doing something like numbering boxes and then writing down that Box 1 contains yearbooks and birthday cards, while Box 4 contains newspaper clippings and Box 8 contains baby booties and quilt squares can make you feel as though you are exerting some control over the situation. It can give you a game plan for what you’d like to tackle /irst in your organizing project and it will help to give you a sense of what you’ve got to contend with. You can also make more detailed preliminary lists. In one large collection at work that I am currently hoping will disappear, someone years ago made preliminary lists of each /ile folder label in each box. That was a lot of work, but it gives me an idea of how I might like to reorganize the collection (if it doesn’t organize itself /irst). Having the preliminary folder lists also helps to provide access to the collection,

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which has allowed us to make it accessible to researchers who have contacted us looking for notes or correspondence on a particular subject written by the collection’s creator. If we didn’t have the preliminary folder lists, this would be impossible and we’d just have to tell the researchers, “Sorry, come back in a few years.” Doing this at home can lessen some of the pressure of knowing you have a lot of work in front of you. Even if you aren’t able to get it all done and perfectly organized right now, you are still at least part of the way there. Partially because I am a procrastinator who doesn’t want to go back to things later, and partially because I just like feeling ef/icient (two personality traits that, yes, I know are a little bit at odds), I often use a somewhat different approach that has some slightly more

sophisticated archival theory as its backbone. It’s not a complicated idea, but one that I’m not sure I had been exposed to before I went to library school and began working with archives. As I have discussed in previous Shades articles, the document that you produce as the guide to your collection is a /inding aid (or /inding guide). But to review, there are national standards [ LINK ] that govern the structure and content of /inding aids in a professional

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setting, but really, any document that documents the structure and background of a collection can be called a /inding aid – even if it’s just a list of boxes and their contents. The main part of a /inding aid is actually that list of boxes and their contents, called a container list – but (and this is the important part) it doesn’t have to record the boxes or their contents in a Box 1‐Box 100 consecutive list. Indeed, at its best, a container list shouldn’t just be a plain old list, but an easily navigated hierarchical document, split up into thematic groups and subgroups (called series and subseries) in a way that aids the researcher in /inding things they want to look at. Series in a family collection can even simply be the names of the family members who created the material, as in the /inding aid I made to my grandparents’ papers. Other common series in personal papers are things like Correspondence, Legal Records, and Photographs, while common subseries for a series like Correspondence might divide letters up further into Outgoing and Incoming. Beyond this hierarchical division into thematic groups, a /inding aid can also be subject to the theory of intellectual arrangement, which allows the organizer to break away from simply listing folders or boxes in the order in which they are physically placed. This means, for example, that if you end up /inding letters from your great‐grandfather in Box 2 of your collection and also in Box 17, you don’t have to move them so that they are physically placed together (unless you really want to, of course). Instead, intellectual order allows you to describe them together but leave them where they are, which is a great boon when it comes to saving time and sanity when working with big collections. Because your container list does not have to re/lect the physical arrangement of the collection, and Box 2, folder 12 and Box 17, folder 1 can be listed consecutively in the Correspondence series as being letters from the same person and you don’t have to sit on the /loor meticulously sorting things into piles so that like things are physically together.

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So, that also means that, if you are good friends with the cut and paste functions in your word processor or spreadsheet application, you can keep the number of times you have to physically sort things to a minimum (which also means minimizing the amount of times you have to pick up and carry things, something that my bad back appreciates). Instead of making preliminary lists and revisiting the boxes again later, what I often prefer to do is start with the /irst box, set it on my desk, and make a list of what’s in it. This is the time that I will also do weeding (if there are things in there I don’t want to keep), put things in proper folders or other archival enclosures, and make appropriate labels (both title and folder number) on these enclosures. I do this box by box, physically processing the items in each box (that’s the foldering and labeling business) and writing down folder titles or other identifying information in the order in which they live in the box. After I’m done with that part, I decide what series might be appropriate and what subseries might be appropriate and write those down at the top of my document. Then I go through and cut and paste individual items into the appropriate place, under the appropriate series headings! This can take a while with a really big collection, but I’d much rather cut and paste for a while than physically lift and move things around some more.

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Shades & Mothers In The Month Of May ď

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THE LAST PICTURE SHOW

The Imprint Or Logo - P. L. Perkins, 205 & 207 Baltimore, Second Floor. Duplicates can always be obtained from the negative from which this was taken.

Palmer Lenfield PERKINS, daguerreotypist, photographer. Born in New Jersey, 1824; "Successor to Davis," Franklin Building, NE. corner North & Baltimore (1850-1857); and 211 Baltimore (1852-1856); 99 W. Baltimore (March 1856-1857); 91 and 101 Baltimore (1858-1859); 99 and 207 W. Baltimore (1859-1864); and 101 W. Baltimore (1864); 205 and 207 W. Baltimore (1865-1870); 205 W. Baltimore (1870-1877); 207 W. Baltimore (1877-1879); 103 W. Baltimore (1880-1881); and Son (1881). USC 1860, BD, CD.