Photo Links To The Revolutionary War
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 2x4 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.
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If you have information or images to contribute to Maureen's Revolutionary War project, please contact her.
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