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Hold'er Newt

~ Old Northern Dutchess Life

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Tag Archives: genealogy

The 1903 Jackson Corners Signature Quilt Book

16 Wednesday Mar 2022

Posted by SKH in 20th Century, Books, Fiber Arts, Genealogy

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books, genealogy, Hermans, jackson corners, quilt, signature quilt

Oh hey I forgot to post here as well…

I finished the book! You can buy it! It’s real!

Go to Oblong Books in Millerton or Rhinebeck to get a copy, or order it from their online store! I also have a separate blog for the book which you can check out here: jc.44parkave.com

I posted back in 2011 that I had gotten the quilt and was thinking that I should write a book about it. Took a decade, but it’s done. I’m speaking about it in various places and if I remember I’ll post about them. The first talk is tonight. I’m super nervous. If it doesn’t stink and they record it, I’ll try to remember to post a link here.

Jordan & Harris

15 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by SKH in 19th Century Photos, Genealogy

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evergreen cemetery, genealogy, Harris, Jordan, Knickerbocker, pine plains

Josephus JordanJosephus Dunham Jordan was born 16 Jan 1808 to William Jordan and Rhoda Sackett Allen in Hillsdale, Columbia County. He studied law with his uncle, Ambrose L Jordan. After his admission to the bar he practiced his profession at Hudson, N. Y as well as in Dutchess Co. He came to Pine Plains in the 1830s. He supported the Republican party. His grandfather, Major William Jordan fought in the American Revolution. On 13 Jan 1844 he married Mary Elizabeth Knickerboker (19 Oct 1819 – 29 Dec 1870), daughter of John Knickerbocker and Maria Benner (the author’s 4th great-grand parents). They had three children, Mary Burnap, William Burnap, and Laura Ailing.  Later in life, Josephus was a farmer by profession. He lead the choir at the Pine Plains Presbyterian church from 1837 until 1879 and helped raise money for the church’s first pipe organ. He died 12 Sep 1885.

Mary JordanMary Burnap Jordan (left) was born 2 Mar 1846 and died 13 Dec 1874. She never married. At 23 in 1870 she was listed in the census as “at home” rather than any occupation. She played the organ at the Presbyterian church in Pine Plains and gave lessons. Their next-door neighbor was a retired farmer named Cyrus Burnap, which is probably the reason for two of the children having Burnap for a middle name.  William Burnap Jordan was born 4 Dec 1848 in Pine Plains. He married first Mary Elizabeth Harris (portrait below) from Grand Rapids, Michigan (07 March 1854 – 16 November 1889). They had three children, Mary Elizabeth Jordan born 1877, Cyrus Victor Jordan born 1880, and William Burnap Jordan born 1885. After Mary Harris died, William married second her half–sister Myra Harris (1866 – 1953). They had one child together, Isabel Knickerbocker Jordan born 1898. William any Myra are pictured below in December, 1923. He died 31 Mar 1933.

WB Jordan and 2w Myra Harris Dec 1923Mary E Harris

Laura JordanLaura Ailing Jordan (right) was born 07 Nov 1852. She married Lucius Allen Pitcher and they had two children, Henry Burnap Pitcher born 1874 and Laura May Pitcher born 1880. She died 06 May 1884.

Josephus, his wife Mary, and their children are all buried in the Evergreen cemetery in Pine Plains.

Hermans & Husted

08 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by SKH in 19th Century Photos, Genealogy

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genealogy, Hermans, Husted, Link, milan, Olivette

James W -Jim- HermansAnne Olivette Mrs Jim Hermans

James William Hermans was born in June of 1834 in the Town of Milan to Henry Hermans and Gertrude “Gitty” Link (the author’s 3rd great-grandparents). He, like his father and numerous siblings, was a farmer. He married c. 1863 Anna W Olivett, daughter of Isaac Olivett and Maria Kipp. They had two children, but only one (daughter Emily) is known to have lived to adulthood. James was known as Jim to his family and died 17 Jul 1920 in Staasburg. Anna died 6 Jul 1927 and they are both buried at Wurtemburg cemetery.

Charles and Emma Hermans HustedEmily A Hermans (or Hermance) was born in 1865. She married c. 1889 Charles H Husted. In 1900 they were living with her parents and had no children. Emily died 7 Mar 1928 in the Town of Clinton. She was an invalid and mostly helpless for several years before her death. She and Charles are buried at the Schultzville cemetery. Charles was born May of 1857 son of Orin and Harriet of Hyde Park. He died in 1930. His daughter from a prior marriage, Mabel (who married Harry W Johnson of Poughkeepsie), inherited over $1,300 from him when he died on 3 Sep, 1930. His funeral was on 5 Sep 1930 at the Schultzville Church. They are pictured at right.

Feller & Fraleigh

01 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by SKH in 19th Century Photos, Genealogy

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Delamater, Feller, Fraleigh, genealogy, Saulpaugh, Schmidt

William J Feller and his wife Catherine Fraleigh at rightCatharine Fraleigh and Wm Feller

William was born 23 Aug 1798 in Taghkanic, NY to Jacob Felter and Anna Delamater. Catherine was born 22 Aug 1800 in NY to Peter P Fraleigh and Elizabeth Schmidt. Peter P Fraleigh was one of this author’s ancestors. William and Catherine married 7 Oct 1821 according to her father’s bible. They had at least two children: Mary Feller 1827-1913 who married Alfred Rennsalaer Westfall and George W Feller.

George was born 15 Dec 1831 presumably in the area of Germantown, NY. He married first Barbara Anna Younghanse (born c. 1835 daughter of Henry Jonkhans of Gallatin) on 2 Oct 1854. It’s presumed that she died before 1870 as in that census, George was married again to Sarah Saulpaugh, a daughter of John I Saulpaugh. Sarah died 3 Mar 1898. George left a large sum of money to his sister Mary when he died and they did not have any children. George and Sarah lived in Nevis, a hamlet south of Clermont, NY. Their portraits are below and they might be buried at a Lutheran cemetery in the area.

George Feller son of Wm Sarah Saulpaugh Feller dau of Wm

A Fleeting Namesake

18 Tuesday Feb 2014

Posted by SKH in 19th Century Photos, Genealogy

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genealogy, Miller, millerton, railroads

Recently, I was doing some genealogy work on families from Millerton, NY – my home town (village, actually). I wondered if the village’s namesake, Sidney G. Miller had descendants who yet lived in the area or beyond. There is a large Miller family (which I also have in my heritage) from Columbia County – perhaps he was a part of this clan. Looking online for “Sidney G. Miller” generally brings up statements like those found at the Tri-State Chamber of Commerce’s website – that the village was named “in honor of Sidney G. Miller, the congenial and sympathetic civil engineer, in charge of railroad construction.”

Millerton is a vibrant little place with two main roads that bring much-needed traffic to its businesses, restaurants, cafes and boutiques. Until the 1990s or so, Millerton was a village in decline as the local agricultural industry faded. The Harlem line of the current MTA out of Grand Central Station in New York City ends at Wassaic, but trains once ran from there through Millerton and connections were available to Connecticut. Passenger service to and from Millerton ceased in 1976 and shortly after that, freight trains stopped as well.  The trains that had previously transported both people and milk and were for more than 100 years the link that made Millerton a bustling hub were brought to the area by Sidney G. Miller and his company on contract with the New York and Harlem Railroad.

There is in Millerton (as with many small Northern Dutchess towns and villages) a love-hate relationship between the full-time residents of the locale and the visitors or second-home owners from “The City”. No one can deny that the influx of those of a more southerly origin has brought a higher level of prosperity to our Main Street. It is obvious in the many wonderful places to eat and the boutique stores found there. But this influx has also brought high price tags on both meals, antiques, and real estate that those who are originally from the area find disquieting. Thus, “City People” get a bad wrap (and often worse monikers).

 I was surprised and amused to find that Sidney G. Miller was not a local; that in fact, the man for whom Millerton was named, was a “City Person”.

miller

This image is from “A Beckon Call To A Village – Early Millerton, NY” by Diane Thompson for the North East Historical Society

Sidney Green Miller was born c. 1817 in New York City. He was the son of Silvanus Miller (1772-1861, a New York City Surrogate Court Judge) and Margaret Ackerley from Long Island. He married Sarah Frances Williamson (1824-1896) daughter of (first name unknown) and Sarah (maiden name unknown, born c. 1791) on 15 Nov 1846 in Warren, MS. Frances’s mother Sarah Williamson died 23 Sep 1854 in Saugatuck (Westport), Connecticut where her daughter’s family lived at the time. Miller was a civil engineer and contractor, working for various rail road companies at the height of the mode of transport’s expansion.

They had many children, including Cecily born c. 1848, Kate born c. 1851, and Sidney born c. 1854 in Connecticut, Frances born c. 1857, Theodore Williamson born 4 Dec 1859 (who married Edith Louise Gates), George W. born c. 1864, and Helena W. born c. 1868 in Virginia. The family moved quite a bit, probably following Miller’s work. In 1850 they were living in New York City and in 1854 in Westport, CT. It was at this time that Miller worked as a partner of Morris, Miller, and Schuyler – the company contracted to work on the New York and Harlem Railroad that went through the village that would be named for him.

In 1856, the family of seven (at the time) moved to Alexandria, VA, renting a house called the Lee-Fendall House until 1863 when they were “forced to leave their home as the (house) was seized by Surgeon Edwin Bently of the 3rd Division General Hospital of the United States Army of the Potomac. From 1863 until 1865, the house was converted into a wing of the Grosvenor House Hospital.” Two more of their children were born in Virginia after this date. Miller’s son Sidney died in 1861 in Alexandria, VA.

In 1870, they lived in Savannah, Georgia with four servants listed in their household during the census: three white and one black. In 1880 and 1885 they were in Chatham, Morris County, New Jersey and a grandson, Arthur W Myers, born c. 1870 in Georgia was with them. Their daughter Katherine Myers is listed as divorced. Sidney G. Miller died 24 Dec 1900 in New York City at age 84. Below is his obituary.

Sidney Green Miller, some years ago a well-known civil engineer – and railroad builder, died at the home of his son, G. W. Miller, 62 West Ninety-third Street, last night. Mr. Miller was eighty-four years old, and was born in this city. He was the only surviving son of Judge Sylvunus Miller, who was graduated from Columbia College In 1793 and was the first Surrogate of New York. Mr. Miller was associated with Ferris Bishop In the building of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and the Naugatuck Road, and also built a number of railroads in Virginia and the South. He is survived by four daughters and two sons.

– New York Times, 25 Dec 1900

Sources:

  • Thompson, Diane. (2001) A Beckon Call To A Village – Early Millerton, NY: North East Historical Society
  • Mississippi, Marriages, 1800-1911, index, FamilySearch
  • US Federal Census 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880
  • New Jersey, State Census, 1885, index, FamilySearch
  • Fridley, Beth. Alexandria Co, VA Births, 1853-59 p. 38
  • New-York Daily Tribune, 27 Sep 1854
  • New York Daily Tribune, 6 Mar 1861
  • Louis Berger Group, Inc. (2011) Archaeological Investigation for Restoration of the Lee-Fendall House Garden, Alexandria, Virginia, Washington, D.C.
  • Find A Grave Memorial# 103853024

We Remember Sterling Smith 1892-1898

07 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by SKH in 19th Century Photos, Genealogy

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genealogy, jackson corners, milan, photography, Smith, victoriana

Looking through my Hermans family pictures, I found a memorial card and it inspired this entry. I don’t doubt that it has been more than 100 years since anyone has memorialized the subject of this post and that today no one remembers him at all.

The census is often the amateur (or armchair) genealogist’s first glimpse into a family they know little about. Through the lenses of the 1900 census, a little boy who was born after 1890 and died before 1900 would appear only as the difference in a pair of numbers. A column of data filled in after the mother of each household is labeled “Mother of how many children” and the one directly to the right of that is “Number of these children living”. For the 1900 listing for the family of Irving and Annie Smith of Milan, Dutchess County, NY, these numbers are 2 and 1, respectively (1900 Census Milan, Dutchess Co NY page 5, ed. 14, family 96). The one living child is their daughter, Ruth. The difference in the numbers is their little six-year-old son, Sterling Smith.

Sterling Smith 1892 – 1898

Irving and Annie Smith

Irving Smith, a farmer, and his wife Anna May “Annie” Edleman married c. 1890. Irving Smith was born 21 Jan 1869, son of Freeman Smith and Margaret E Hermans, daughter of Henry Hermans, my 3rd great-grandfather. Irving’s family also resided in Milan so he was most likely born there. Annie was born 16 Feb 1868 and was probably the daughter of Phillip (a child of German immigrants) and Margaret Edleman of Ancram, Columbia County, just to the north. In 1900, they lived in the area north of what is now Rt 199 in Milan, NY between Red Hook and Pine Plains called Jackson Corner, down the road from my grandparent’s farm. Now-a-days, we add an “S” and call it Jackson Corners.

Ruth Smith

At right is Sterling’s little sister Ruth Smith (later Mrs. Joseph Bruyette) 16 Sep 1893 – 29 May 1976. She would later be a member of the same DAR Chapter that I am regent of, today.

An online newspaper archive, like Old Fulton Post Cards is invaluable for its record of the goings-on in small country communities like the one that the Smiths called home. In these columns, a local “reporter” would note who had visited, who was born, married and who was ill, among other important social happenings.

Sterling Smith was “on the sick list” as announced in the March 18th 1898 Pine Plains Register which noted that “a number in this place (Jackson Corner) are sick, two of which have the pneumonia.” In the following week’s paper, it is announced that Sterling died Thursday, March 16th. Two weeks later, the local reporter had only one story to report for Jackson Corner.

Sterling was aged 6 years, 5 months and ten days. This sweet memorial card is the same size as the “cabinet card” photos found in one of our antique family photo albums.

Funeral services were held on Saturday, conducted by Rev. W. W. Wilcox and E. A. Bishop. Rev. Wilcox’s card is found in the same album as the memorial card.

Rest in peace, Sterling.

 

Losee/Thomas House

18 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by SKH in 19th Century Photos, 20th Century, Genealogy

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genealogy, John Losee, Losee, photography, revolutionary war, upper red hook

Excerpt from a report from the Year Book of Dutchess County Historical Society, 1918 pages 21-27. This came from the semi-annual meeting in October of that year when the society visited several sites in and around Red Hook, including the Losee/Thomas/Red Tavern house.  My notes and corrections are in italics. The house is located in Upper Red Hook on Spring Lake Road, click here for google maps to see exactly where. My great-grandfather Harvey Losee was born 30 Mar 1867 in the house Upper Red Hook and died 20 Feb 1931 in the same house after a 10-year illness.

“The next stop was at the famous Red Tavern in Upper Red Hook, where the present occupant, Dr. Harvey Losee (on the left) read the following paper:

Members of the Dutchess County Historical Society: It gives me great pleasure to extend to you a hearty welcome to ye ancient village of Red Hook, at present yelept (yclept-“called”) Upper Red Hook.

When Mr. Adams called upon me not long ago, and said that this burg was upon your itinerary for this year, and asked permission to see “The Old Red Tavern” I told him it would give me the greatest pleasure; but when he also asked me to make a “speech”, I demurred. There is something so formal and stage frighty about the term “speech”, that timid souls instinctively take fright. But upon questioning him, Mr. Adams hedged, and said I would not be expected to act the part of a Cicero, but rather a cicerone in the matter of “The Old Red Tavern”, and so, as the nervous young speaker said, I kindly consented.

“The Old Red Tavern” or “The Old Brick Tavern” or “The Thomas House” was, according to some authorities, the thing that gave the village and township its name, though this point is more or less disputed; but the thing is certainly very plausible as the old red Dutch tavern stood at the angle or hook where the great thoroughfare, to Connecticut and the East, branched from the Albany Post Road. Farms came by this road in great numbers from the East, bringing their produce to be shipped by sailing craft to New Amsterdam or New York, and “The Old Red Tavern” was one of their regular ports of call, and must have undoubtedly become in time a notable public landmark, than that it should have received it from a strawberry patch.

It is not possible to fix upon even an approximate date when the house was built. The custom which was employed in the building of many of the early houses, of inserting the date in the gable, was, unfortunately not observed in this case. The late Gen. de Peyster, a member of many historical societies, and an antiquarian of some note, showed me a map (see scan at right, click to enlarge) of the date 1789, in which this house is set down and spoken of as a very old house at that time. There seems little doubt that it is well over 200 years old at the present time (1918). The house was not built of Holland brick, as some have thought, but brick made of the clay from our own Hudson. But the brick is of such adamantine hardness, that the masons, in putting in a new window, or making repairs, encountered such a difficult task that they always maintained that such brick had never been made in this country. The house was built in the simple Dutch style, with gambrel roof and dormer windows. A good many years ago, when the house was renovated, this characteristic roof was removed, and a gable added, which of course was a great architectural error. The oak beans, as in all the old houses, are large and hand-hewn; one, the great trimmer on the third floor, being 17×17. The walls of the house today stand perfectly four square, but the floors, due to the very weight of the heavy timbers, show some slight sagging. The cellars which are rather dungeon-like, are crudely hewn out of the rock, and in them during Revolutionary days, were incarcerated British prisoners, as well as an occasional continental soldier who had proved rebellious to military discipline. It was the general saying among our old inhabitants, who had it from their parents or grandparents, that Washington had stopped at the Old Tavern on one occasion, while Lafayette was said to have spent two or three days there. Gen. Gates is also reported to have stopped once with his command while Gen. Putnam maintained it as his headquarters for a brief period while in this section of the Hudson. The late William H. Teator (b. 1817) told me that his father had told him that he was at “The Old Brick Tavern” one night while a regiment of Putnam’s soldiers were quartered in the vicinity, and on that occasion a hogshead of rum was broached and finished in the same evening. There was a large block and tackle, he said, by which the casks of rum were hauled up and tiered in the back part of the room.

The first story, at the time, he thought, being practically all in one room, with a large fire-place at each end (At right, Harvey’s parents John Eckart Losee and Mary Elizabeth Knickerbocker in the living room of the house c. 1890). And for some reason, which he said he didn’t understand, it was always the custom to broach the very topmost casks first. Possible there was some system of siphonage, or gravity arrangement by which the worthy Dutch burghers sitting around the big fire-place smoking their long nines, could obtain their liquor without even the exertion of crooking their elbows! Those were certainly rum days! I found an old day book (ach, where is it now, Harvey?) amongst some rubbish, which had evidently belonged to one of our early store-keepers, as the charges were in pounds, shillings and pence, and the chirography was characteristic of that period – for it was equal almost to our finest engraving, and the ink was as bright as if written but the day before. One customer, “a thirsty soul,” whose name appeared at most regular intervals of three or four weeks, was invariable charged with five gallons of rum at the rate of two shillings and six pence. And there would occasionally be entered upon the book what would seem might have been a sop to his better half, namely the purchase of a quarter or half pound of tea. Could the shades of those worthies look forth to-day upon this now almost entirely arid country, they would certainly see a great change in this respect. And in speaking of shades, we are reminded of the ghost or spook which haunts “The Old Red Tavern.” In reading our histories and manuscripts, while collecting material for this cicerone business, I noted that the History of Dutchess County, in the matter of the hanging on the Tory at the Old Tavern, says that the Albany stage coach drove up at just the critical moment, and Judge Yates descended and ordered the victim lowered, and threatened them all with hanging if they did not desist from their purpose. But the account of it which I prefer, is the one given me by my old friend Mr. Teator, before mentioned, who had the story from his father or grandfather, together with many other interesting stories of the early peoples and customs of this village. He said, that the person in question, was not only a Tory, but a spy, and had been caught red-handed in conveying information to the British concerning the disposition and strength of Putman’s forces, and that he was hung one night quite right and proper at “The Old Brick Tavern,” and they used the very tackle which hauled up the rum and other heavy commodities, for this purpose. And people, who in later days inhabited the house, said that upon certain moonless nights, when the wind was in a certain quarter in the East, one could hear the creaking of the old tackle as it was being drawn up, together with gasps and guttural groans, as if emitted by a strangling person; while occasionally, there would be bursts of demoniacal shouts and laughter, as from a rum-crazed crowd. And this part of the story I can vouch for, as I have heard it all myself many a time – with only the slight difference, however, that while I have never noted that it occurred upon nights when the wind was in any particular quarter, yet I had noticed that it was very apt to occur upon nights after the ladies of our community had served one of their famous suppers in these rooms below.

While having nothing to do with the history of the old house, there is an incident connected with it, which I am minded to give, as it was certainly a very odd coincidence. When I began my medical studies in New York, economy and companionship made it necessary for me to select a room-mate, and after a time I selected as such from among nearly 300 class-mates, a young Hobart graduate, whose home was upon the banks of Lake Ontario, and who had never been in this part of the country before (Photo at left of the NH Galusha paddle steamer taken by Harvey on a trip most likely to visit this classmate in Rochester c.1890). I had never heard his name before, nor had he ever heard mine. And yet, strange to relate, out in his own home he had a photograph of me. His sister had been the nurse in the last sickness of a distant relative; this relative (names, Harvey!) married a lady whose ancestors had lived in our old house, and one time upon a visit to this part of the country, they had come to see it, and my father had presented them with a photograph if it in which I, with other members of the family, figured. And upon the death of Mr. Rose, this photograph with other effects, came into the possession of my room-mates’s sister. The four walls of the old house to-day stand untouched by the hand of man or Time, but in the interior alterations have been of such a nature as to leave scarcely anything to suggest its venerable age.

Of the people who lived in it, in its earlier days, when it was maintained as s hostelry and high wassail was held in its ancient hall, we have but little record; but later is was the abode of the law, and next came a good Dutch domine, (dominie) who established his parsonage here (Dominie-“Reverand” Andrew N. Kittle 1785 – 1864 and wife Eliza Gosman, on the right). And now for nearly one hundred years Medicine has had here its home. And fie upon thee! Sir Pessimist, if thou canst not see in this steady evolution, that the world doth move apace towards better things, when we progress from the rum-seller to the lawyer, to the domine, (dominie) to the doctor!

May the four walls of the old house weather the blasts of another centuries storms, and long eye that very like, the zenith of progress will be attained by its being the abode of the lady mayor, or other high official of a thoroughly evolutionized village!

Losee/Thomas house from an unpaved Spring Lake Road c.1930

Magic Lantern Show

17 Thursday Nov 2011

Posted by SKH in 19th Century Photos, Genealogy

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19th Century, genealogy, Losee, magic lantern, photography, upper red hook, victoriana

“A SHOW WEEK AFTER NEXT MARCH 11TH 1876 IT WILL BE AT HARVEY LOSEES. IT WILL PERFORM WITH MAGIC LANTERN. IT WILL BE SEVEN OCLOCK AT NIGHT. IT WILL BE A GOOD SHOW. AD MISSION ONLY 2 CENTS. DO. NOT. FAIL TO ATTEND”

This invitation is from my mother’s collection of family items. Harvey Losee was my great-grandfather. He was John Losee’s father (the gentleman who took the Kodachrome images I post here, remember him?) Harvey’s house was and still is located in Upper Red Hook on Spring Lake Road, click here for google maps to see exactly where. The home was called the Thomas House and has a history of its own that will be featured in our next post.

Harvey (on the right c. 1876) was born 30 Mar 1867 in Upper Red Hook to Dr. John Eckart Losee and Mary Elizabeth Knickerbocker. He attended Rutgers (class of 1889) and like his father before him took on the profession of country doctor. Raised with a bit of country wealth, Harvey thought very highly of himself as the essay I’ll post tomorrow will probably affirm.

I don’t know if the Losees owned a magic lantern or if it was borrowed or rented for the amusement of their friends for an evening. I imagine the one used on this March evening in the countryside in Dutchess County was a small device powered by a candle rather than the larger, multiple-lensed varieties used to put on shows for large public crowds. On researching what exactly a magic lantern is I learned something new. The larger, more complex lanterns used limelight for the light source. On googling further, I learned that “before the advent of electric lighting, white stage lighting was produced by heating lime in the flame of a torch, and this light was called limelight” (source: Chemical of the Week click the link for more science). The term “in the limelight” comes from this compound being used in theaters before electric lighting. Neat! Dangerous, but neat!

The Randall-Slater Collection website has great examples of Victorian magic lantern show material featuring what you could call the forerunner of the animated .gif – multiple glass slides moved through the lantern to produce a effect of motion. Sadly, my family has neither the lantern Harvey used nor any of the slides to show you what he might have shown his friends in Upper Red Hook.

H. W. Smith Stamp Portrait

19 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by SKH in 19th Century Photos

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19th Century, genealogy, photography, Smith, victoriana

This little guy is the size of a standard old-style stamp, scanned here quite large so you don’t need to squint. You can click to enlarge it, as well.

It’s from a late 19th/early 20th century photo album owned by my family. Only some of the images were labeled, and though we have Smiths in the family and in this album, I’m not sure where H. W. Smith fits in. He may have been a distant cousin of that family. The photo gallery which made the print is C. H. Gallup in Poughkeepsie. It’s a strange little thing, like a 19th century version of NeoPrint, traded with friends and pasted into albums and on business cards etc.

“…in 1887, two patents were issued for “stamp portrait apparatus,” first to Henry Kuhn, later to Genelli, both of St. Louis, Mo. They both copied a previously taken image into multiple stamp-sized reproductions on perforated, gummed photo paper. These are the earliest true photo stamps. Their popularity persisted until the early 20th century. Little is known about the makers of photo stamps in the U.S., even less for those overseas. Unless the maker is identified on the stamp, it is hard to determine even in what country the stamp was made.”

– Arthur H. Groten, M.D

The American Stamp Dealer & Collector, May 2009, p.47

Mr. Groten’s full article, linked to in this post, also has a page of examples of various stamp-type photos and a good, brief run-down of the history of photographic printing processes leading up to stamp portraits. It also mentions photos with stamps on the back from the Civil War era which I believe I have one or two in my collections somewhere, but never knew what the stamp meant! Neat. I’ll have to go through and see if I can find one again.

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