Book Basket Review: Widow of Gettysburg by Jocelyn Green

Fans of Civil War stories or women in historical settings will want to grab this engaging book by author Jocelyn Green. Ms. Green takes readers into Gettysburg and shows them the horror of 1863 when thousands of wounded men are brought into a makeshift field hospital. Liberty Holloway is thrust into opening her fledgling Liberty Inn to the bloody, war-torn, men fighting for their lives. Quickly she is recruited to help the one and only doctor on his mission to try to save as many lives as possible. 

Liberty's journey through the span of five months brings her hopes and dreams to a halt as she encounters horrific death, a mystery man whom she swears she's met before and as she is forced to face her past, there are twists and surprises at the end. The story is laced with truth from the historical events that changed the lives of those who endured the painful aftermath of the emotional battle between North and South.

Widow of Gettysburg is inspired from the research that Jocelyn Green did at the Adams County Historical Society archives in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. From the letters, diaries, and the first-person accounts of those people who lived through this historical period in American history, Ms. Green writes of the women behind the Gettysburg event. 

Available now at your favorite book source, Widow of Gettysburg is Book 2 in the Heroines Behind the Lines series that is published by River North Fiction, an imprint of Moody Publishers. And while you're at it, pick up Jocelyn's Wedded to War, Book 1 in the series. ~ Karen Utter Jennings 

MCDONALD COUNTY, MISSOURI'S HISTORIC COURTHOUSE GRAND OPENING 

You won't want to miss this Memorial Day weekend, 2013 event in the Southwest Missouri Ozarks!  The 1897 courthouse on the Pineville square has been renovated & now will house the museum. Words cannot do justice to what the old courthouse now looks like! Beautiful doesn't even come close.....

Get ready to come for fun, food, family gatherings, friendship & money prizes! See you on the Pineville square on Memorial Day weekend, 2013

CARTE de VISTE & CABINET CARD PHOTOGRAPHS

By Karen Utter Jennings

 These two types of photographs come from the Victorian era or from about mid 19^th century to early 20^th century and are easily recognizable.

The carte de viste (CdV) photographs are the size of calling cards, which measure 2 1/2 x 4 inches. Because of their size, a series of photographs could be produced on paper and then cut into eight individual cards. The size may vary, however, because commercial suppliers began mass-producing cards and the images had to be trimmed to fit the card size. Many were careless in their trimming, so you may run across some CdVs that are angled or otherwise varied.

People who went calling on their relatives or neighbors used the carte de vistes. Before leaving, they would leave their CdV.  They became popular in the 1860s and royalty, politicians, actors, and other famous individuals had their image made into these photographs and signed them. The Victorians prized carte de viste photographs and collected them.

These photographs were popular during the Civil War. President Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant had their photos taken this way. To accommodate people’s collections, albums were made to hold the prized cards. It would be fortunate indeed, for someone to have an album full of these beautiful Victorian treasures among their family photograph collection!  

To identify a carte de viste, first measure the size of the photograph. The paper print will be mounted on a commercially produced card. Look closely at the subject in the picture and notice their hairstyle and clothing. Carte de vistes were produced into the very early 1900s. These small prints may appear very faded and grainy.   

Cabinet cards replaced the carte de vistes. They can measure from small, 5 inches x 7 inches to larger ones, 5 inches x 10 inches. A customary cabinet card is a photo mounted onto thicker card stock. There is extra space around the photo and you will find the photographer’s studio imprint (if there is one) at the bottom. These are albumen images and will have a yellow-brown or purple-blue tone. But sometimes they may appear black and white. That is due to the process in which they were developed. The last cabinet cards were produced around 1925.

These photographs were named due to the Victorians displaying them in their parlors, especially in cabinets. The cabinet card was an admired type of photograph that displayed family groups. By this time, photographers began to use props or complex scenes in studios using ironwork chairs, gates and fences, fake trees and grass, or ornately constructed window and doorway sets.

To identify cabinet cards, note their measurements and observe the color of the paper image. Note if they have gilt and embossed decorative borders and an imprint giving the photographer’s name & the location of the studio. If the card stock is separating layers on the edges, they were probably made after 1870.

The Victorians treasured all things, especially their clothing and jewelry. Cabinet cards document their love of the elaborate. Children’s pictures may show them poised with their dolls and toys or bicycles and wagons. Look for women in fanciful hats and gorgeous gowns and men with pocket watches, mustaches and their dapper dressing. Such as Robert Calvin Utter "Dock" & his wife, Matilda Roll Utter, shown below: 

Notice there is no studio imprint at the bottom of this photo.

 In the photo above, the studio imprint is on hte side of this old photograph. Taken in Monett, Missouri, before the turn of the century. 

When Kodak introduced the Brownie Box Camera around 1900, cabinet card photographs declined in popularity.

While researching these two types of photographs, I found a lot of conflicting information. Writers, photographers, and collectors all disagree on definite dates the carte de viste and the cabinet card photographs were introduced and about how they were produced.

I love these types of photographs and in my collection, there are cabinet card photos of babies, children posed with their pets, men sitting beside their faithful dog, women in huge hats and family groups in various settings. But, not all of them have the photography studio imprint.

            

DEFINING THE PHOTOGRAPH TYPES

by Karen Utter Jennings

Defining types of photographs will help you discover which photos you may have in your collection. I cannot possibly include all of the information known about each type; this is a simple overview.

Daguerreotypes are images attached to glass plates. There were wet plates and dry plates. The finished photo was placed in a double frame of decorated foil-like brass to protect the glass.  Many times artists added color to jewelry, lips and cheeks of the person in the photo.

Calotypes are images produced on paper. Since these types of photos were not popular, most of the surviving photos can be found in museums or other intuitions. They are defined as faded, pale images, sometimes appearing yellow and very discolored.

Ambrotypes are negative images developed on glass with a dark coating on the back. These images were covered with another layer of glass, and then sealed behind a mat for protection. It was enclosed in a metal case.

Tintypes are also called ferrotypes or melainotypes. They were printed on thin blackened sheets of iron, then coated with photo chemicals and varnished for protection. These came in sizes from 8x10 to postage stamp size, or “gems.”  To test whether you have a tintype, hold it to a magnet and if it sticks, it is a tintype.

The photo above shows my great, great grandfather, Thomas Nathaniel Johnson as a young man in Indiana. He was my great-grandmother's father who migrated from Indiana to Southwest Missouri after the Civil War. He lived in McDonald County, Missouri, where he raised his family. In later years, Pa & Ma Johnson moved to Rocky Comfort where they died in 1951 & 1949 respectively. Notice Tom's tie is painted on the tin type. The original size of my photo is a wallet size.

Albumen prints are early paper photos made from paper coated with ammonium chloride and egg whites. From the process, the photographer could make multiple prints. If you look closely at these types of photographs, they appear glossy with a creamy coloring.

Carte de vistes are also called card photographs and come in varying sizes. They were popular for folks visiting others in their homes, where they would leave their visiting card. The government taxed the common card photographs. Look at the backs of these and you might find revenue stamps.

Stereographs are easy to identify. They are two matching images mounted side by side. They have a 3-D look when they are viewed through a stereoscope. If you find the photographer printed on the backs of these, research to find the date of the images.

The early black-and-white snapshots are identified by their shades of sepia or gray tones. They are printed on card stock and come in varying sizes, depending on the size of the negative.

Photo postcards were printed on paper with postcard backs. They are also known as “real-photo” postcards, a person could send a picture and a message to others. Look on the postcard side for the stamp box and other design elements. Travelling photographers usually have their imprint somewhere on the photo card. In the old photo below, you can see the traveling photographer's imprint. This photo is of Leander Scott (L.S.) Utter & his family. L.S. Utter was my great, great-grandfather's nephew who lived in Barry County, Missouri. 

Autochromes are those photographs taken from 1904 to the late 1930s. They were created using a process of dyed starch grains to create the image on glass plates. To identify them, the dyed

grains may give the photo a hazy look.

The color paper prints were produced between 1941 and the present. These prints come from 35mm film. To identify the era in which they were taken, look at the details of the photo, such as people’s dress and hairstyles or the styles of homes and other elements in the picture.

Finally, there are the instant photos, taken from about 1947 to the present. These photos are easily defined as having a white border and a glossy picture. They are layered and have thick plastic backings. These photos tend to fade, so you might scan all your instant photos to other media, and store the originals in a dark and cool environment. 

The source I used to help write this column is a great book, “Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs,” by Maureen A. Taylor. (Cincinnati, OH: F&W Publications, 2005).

            

TYPES OF PHOTOGRAPHS

By

Karen Utter Jennings

            When you look at a family photograph collection, you will see all types of pictures: tintypes, paper prints, cased images, Polaroids, black-and-white, color, and digitalized. Through the years, types of photographs came and went quickly. That is why there is a good market for buying, selling, and collecting photographs today.

            Here is an overview of types of photographs.

            Daguerreotypes were made from about 1839 to 1870. The sitting time for these types of photographs could be anywhere from five minutes to 30 minutes. Photographers sometimes used clamps to help their subjects sit still.

            Calotypes were the first paper images and were made from about 1841 to the late 1850s. These types of photos were not very popular. The ones surviving today are usually found in museums.

            Ambrotypes were the negative images made on glass plates with a dark coating on the backs. They lasted from about 1852 to the early 1870s.

            The tintypes, also called ferrotypes or melainotypes, were actually created on a thin, blackened iron sheet, then coated with chemicals, and varnished to protect the image. There is much more information about the popular tintype photographs, which I will cover in a future column.

            Albumen prints, from about 1850 to the early 1900s, helped make photography a profitable venture. They were also printed on paper.

            Stereographs were prints were nearly identical images mounted beside each other and viewed through a viewer called a stereograph. They were popular from about 1854 to 1938.

            Cabinet card photographs were made from about 1866 to 1906. The photographic images were put on large, oversized card stock. I have quite a few of these cabinet cards in my collection.

            George Eastman founded the new age of photography with black-and-white snapshots. During the late 1880s to the present, these prints were taken with box cameras that were easy to use. Eastman named his new camera the Kodak and the company’s promotion was geared to specifically women and children.

            Photo postcards are a special class to me. I own a precious photo postcard dated February 1912. The photo shows my paternal great-grandmother, 17, holding her son, my grandfather, Perry Utter. On the postcard side, she wrote to her younger sister in Rocky Comfort. There is a lot of information pertaining to photo postcards, which I will write about in a future column.

            Auto-chrome photographs were the first color prints and dated between 1904 to the later 1930s. There are special handling tips for owners of these types of prints.

            Color paper prints are well known to us today. The Kodak Company introduced Kodachrome 16mm movie film in 1935 and color prints with negatives in 1941. The popularity of Digital Imaging in today’s market ended the manufacture of Kodachrome film.

            From 1947 to the present, an instant photo is recognizable due to the photo having a thick black pouch-like backing. Polaroids became popular due to the consumer snapping a photo and waiting for a few seconds while the photo developed inside the camera, not needing to take film to the store for development. Special care is necessary for these types of photos.

            Today, using digital cameras is the popular way for photographers to take their family photos. Digital imaging goes along with scrap booking treasured photos for fun and easy creative projects. While many people embrace digital cameras, the cameras requiring film continue to be popular. 

Sources: “Photography as a Tool in Genealogy,” by Ron and Maureen Taylor and “Getting Up To Date,” Family Tree Magazine, Volume 11, Issue 7, November 2010.

             

THE BOOM OF PHOTOGRAPHY

By

Karen Utter Jennings

            Humans are visual beings. We like pictures to help illustrate what we are reading or listening to. When photography was born, it is no wonder that humans bought into the new invention. The first photographs our ancestors saw amazed them and they marveled over the detail the photographs captured.

            The word photography means “light” and “to write.” The earliest cameras were actually boxes that used light to project images through a small hole onto surfaces. Rather than recording an image, they were projectors of light.

            A French inventor, Niepce, made the first permanent photograph in 1825 and Louis Daguerre collaborated with him to refine the process. When Niepce died, Daguerre continued to experiment. In 1839, he developed photographic plates and discovered an image could be made permanent by immersing it in salt. You may recognize the name Daguerre, for his invention produced the type of photograph known as the daguerreotype.

            Society first looked at the new photographic process as a threat to painting and drawing, but the interest outweighed the negativity. When our ancestors embraced photography, they liked its qualities. The demand for the new images spurred inventors to develop new and better ways to produce photographs.

            An interesting fact I found is that in the 1850 US Federal Census, there are 938 males over the age of 15 listed with an occupation of daguerreotypist.

            By 1840 William Henry Fox Talbert made the first paper print, called either a talbotype or a calotype. Those prints were produced from a waxed paper negative. Those images lacked sharpness and clarity. But it was the beginning of a wonderful way to capture people, places, events, and things on paper for posterity.

            Ambrotypes appeared in the mid-1850s, but by 1860, the tintype method was the most popular images to own. The tintypes were more durable and could be carried in a pocket or sent through the mail to loved one.

            I own three tintypes in my photograph collection. One is a small wallet size tintype of my great, great-grandfather, Thomas Nathaniel Johnson, who lived in Kings Valley, McDonald County. Another tintype is a large, 8x10 and the last is a 3 x 4 size cased image of a mother and daughter.

            

The above photo is Thomas Nathaniel Johnson, my paternal great, great-grandfather. Notice his tie has been hand-painted by the photographer. That was popular with tintypes. 

             After paper prints were invented, card photographs became popular; the paper print was mounted onto cardboard stock. Carte de viste, cabinet cards and stereographs are the three types of card photographs. I have many of these in my collection, also.

            Through time, it became the goal of the early photographers to simply the process of photography. The large cameras and heavy equipment was a cumbersome task to undertake.

            George Eastman, considered the father of photography, ushered in the age of candid photography with the slogan, “You push the button, we do the rest.” Eastman developed the roll film camera that anybody could operate and called it the Kodak camera.

            The Kodak Company is instrumental in the age of photography. They marketed their cameras to women and I’m glad they did. My great-grandmother owned a camera at a very young age and it became one of her passions. Through that passion, today I have a wonderful photograph collection!

            Cameras, film and photography has evolved into the digital wonders we enjoy today. But make no mistake; photography truly is an art form! I admire award-winning photographers, for there is nothing more breath taking than seeing a person or animal, place or event captured and saved to a paper print.            

            In coming posts, I will describe each of the types of photographs that has been listed. It is necessary to have an understanding of which types of photographs you may own, so you can identify and study them.

             I hope you enjoy collecting old photographs as much as I do and better yet, I hope you use your camera and snap those pictures that tell your family story.

Say Cheese! The Art of Photography

“SAY CHEESE” – THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY

By

Karen Utter Jennings

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of family photographs is how lucky I am to own wonderful and varied collection. I am thankful for what I have found over the years that I’ve been searching. Many families are not quite as fortunate. Sometimes photographs are lost in a house fire or other disasters. Occasionally people are not interested in old photograph collections they inherited, so they are tossed out with the trash!

I’m surprised to learn that sometimes people keep the pictures thrown in a box and stored in the garage or attic. Year after year, the old photos are susceptible to extreme heat, cold, bugs, rot and dirt. The elements will eventually destroy those photos that are records of history!

Photographs are one of the most valuable genealogical tools we can find. Family pictures contain a vast amount of history and detail of social significance. They offer many clues about ancestors’ lives, which add to the information we obtain through paper records, stories, and certificates.

A family photograph collection is a direct link to family history. The photos and images will provide insight into your ancestors and the life they led.

This photo shows Gladys Opal Utter with her doll. Gladys was born in 1906; this photo was taken when she was 8 years old.  

Did you know that photography has been around for 172 years? It began about 1839 to 1840 when William Henry Fox Talbert announced to the Royal Society of London, England, that he had perfected a paper photographic process.

Did you know that working on old photographs in your collection means that you must play the part of detective? You need to research every clue in the picture and follow the lead to uncover information that is usually hidden in the elements of the picture. You must learn how to search for clues to the answers you want to get from your old photographs.

Do you know what orphaned photographs and heirlooms are? They are photographs and items that got lost from the family of origin. They are belongings that were once very dear to someone. We find orphaned photos and heirlooms in antique stores, flea markets, garage sales, or left in a box in the closet, garage or attic of a home when someone dies or moves. They are in those boxes of “junk” we buy at an auction. Or, in my case, they are precious items that were sold at auction after a particularly nasty grandfather stole my inheritance from me the day of my great-grandmother’s funeral.

The photo above was taken before 1914; it is the log cabin of my great, great--grandparents and my great-grandfather, located in McDonald County, Missouri.

Some of the topics I’m going to write about for future posts are a brief history of photography, the different types of photographs and picture postcards, separating and organizing your photograph collection, dating and identifying clues in photos, and caring for those old photographs. Did you know you can make a photograph timeline with the photos you have and then you can write your family history using the information from those photographs?

Even if you don’t have an interest in genealogy and you don’t own old photographs of kinfolk, you probably do have modern photographs of your family, your children, and your pets. These, photographs need to be cared for just as much as the old ones. And, there are some fun ways to use your modern photos and help take care of them at the same time…through scrapbooking. I’ll be talking more about scrapping and the above topics in future posts.

To document my resources for this photograph series, I will use these some of my genealogy books: UNCOVERING YOUR ANCESTRY THROUGH FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS by Maureen A. Taylor, TRACING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY by Lise Hull, and THE EVERYTHING GUIDE TO ONLINE GENEALOGY by Kimberly Powell.

I will also use internet resources and my personal copies of FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE. Finally, I will use my own family photograph collection to talk about where I got the photos, how I got them, and what I have learned through researching my collection.

           

My next post will focus on the boom of photography going in to the history of photographs and how the Kodak Company made their own history. I’m glad they did! Through their equipment, I’m collecting a great family history through photographs.

A fun fact: In 400 B.C., the Chinese philosopher Mo-Ti recorded the creation of an inverted image formed by light rays passing through a pinhole into a dark room.

Karen