Originally published on iPentimento by webduck 23 Feb 2008
If you are lucky enough to have some old tintypes, you are lucky enough. But you might not realize that some of the people in those photos might have seen or participated in the American Revolutionary War first hand.
An article in Reunions magazine (Feb/Mar 2008; page 16) that arrived in my mailbox this week alerted me to a book project by Maureen Taylor The Photo Detective and David Lambert of the New England Historic Genealogical Society entitled "The Last Muster". The article details the project by Maureen and David in which they are endeavoring to publish a book that will include photos and background information about America's Revolutionary War generation.
Unless you are a photography history expert (which I am not) your first thought was probably that I am one flash short of a bulb. But, you would be wrong. Here is what Maureen has to say on her blog:
If an image in your photo collection fits the following criteria, it could depict a member of the Revolutionary War generation:
Type of photograph
Look for these types of images:
* Daguerreotypes (1839 to 1860s): The first photographs, daguerreotypes have reflective surfaces. You must hold the photos at an angle to see their images. Daguerreotypes are often found in cases.
* Ambrotypes (invented in 1854): Often placed in cases because of their fragility, these glass images are backed with dark material.
* Tintypes or ferrotypes (invented in 1856): This third type of cased image is produced on thin sheets of iron.
* Cartes de visite (CDVs) (introduced in 1854): Inspired by 19th-century visiting cards, these small paper prints usually measured 2×4 inches.The Subjects' Ages
Are the people in your pictures old enough to be part of the Revolutionary War generation?
* Patriots, soldiers, and loyalist adults: Anyone who was an adult during the American Revolution would have been at least 80 years old by the advent of photography.
* Children: Anyone who was a child during the American Revolution would have been in his late 50s or older when he had his picture taken.
* Wives and widows: The last surviving widow of a Revolutionary soldier died in 1906! Esther Sumner married Noah Damon when she was 21 and he was 75. Finding pictures of wives and widows means looking at pictures taken between 1840 and the early 1900s.
I am currently the caretaker of our family (Yates, Holmes, Morrison, etc) tintypes and this article really had me wondering if we had any that fit the criteria. Sadly, some of them are not in good shape, and to add to the frustration, I am not able to prove which family they are.
Here is what I know, and suspect. Before 1918 my grandfather Will Yates took his father James William Milburn Yates from Howell County, Missouri back to where Jim was born in Roane County, Tennessee to visit Jim's father James Knox Polk Yates. I think that at that time these tintypes were given to Jim Yates by his father JKP Yates because he was in frail health. Jim and Will went back to Missouri and JKP Yates died in 1918.
In 1937 Jim Yates, now a widower, came to live with his children who had moved to Washington State. I believe that he probably brought the tintypes with him and when he died in 1938 his possessions passed back to my grandfather Will. Here are a few of the photos that may fit the bill for this story.
It's too bad that the faces of the two men together are so badly marred, but considering the age of these tintypes, we are lucky to have them at all!
This might be my GG-Aunt Lydia
Maybe an early photo of Jim Yates
The tintypes of the couple above were in a black leather-bound case with a hook closure. That could be the reason for their good condition.
~~~
If you have information or images to contribute to Maureen's Revolutionary War project, please contact her.(c) CJW -webduck 2008
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Comments: 12
I know I've had a tintype in my hand -- some family member -- but as far as I know, none of our ancestors was in America before the late 1800s. So, it might be the right era, but the wrong continent.
to this man that came to purchase two old cameras
I had advertised. He asked if I had older pictures like
tintype, I showed him what I had he offered a large
sum of money which I really needed at that time. The
pictures were not of anyone in my family though.
it references a common problem with old photographs, however.
Most of them are not labeled or documented.
It is great for family historians to deduce through elimination or guesswork who is represented in these very old artifacts, but families should label and annotate their photos and images.
I have quite a few old photos in good condition from the years 1875-1920. All of the subjects are unknown.
Tintype Photographs
PS: If you come across an old photograph on a small tin plate, never touch or attempt to clean the image, you will destroy it.