I will keep most as a surprise, too. Just let me say, we will have some
GREAT prizes for the Muster this year!
But I also like anticipation, so as a teaser. . .Two of the prizes will be shadowbox displays containing period artifacts, one for the Confederacy and one for the Union.
Contents: Confederate Shadowbox
1.) Image - reproduced from Brady plate of December 15,1862. View looking across the damaged
Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R.R. bridge with a group of Confederate soldiers on the
Fredericksburg, VA side of the Rappahannock River during the truce to bury the dead after the
Battle of Fredericksburg. The Federals withdrew back across the river during that night.
2.) Tintype, - Unknown Confederate Sergeant.
3.) Currency - $1.00 1st Issue Note, State of Alabama, 1863. Capitol at Montgomery, AL and
portrait of Governor John Shorter, second of Alabama’s three wartime Governors.
4.) Postage Stamp - Type I, 10-cent, profile portrait of Jefferson Davis engraved by John Archer.
Earliest recorded date of use is April 21, 1863. 10-cent rate over 500 miles (5-cent rate under 500
miles). Legend has it that Varina Davis disliked this portrait due to it’s marked resemblance to
Abraham Lincoln.
5.) Excavated .58 cal. Minie’ ball extracted from a rifle barrel using the worm-style of patch/ball
puller(reference photo). Excavated from private property near Fredericksburg, VA in 1960’s.
Contents: Union Shadowbox
1.) Image - reproduced from Tyson Brothers plate of November 19, 1863. View looking north
along Baltimore Street (Pike) in Gettysburg on the occasion of the dedication of the Nation-
al Cemetery. On the left (west) side of the Baltimore Pike, in the foreground is the Rupp House.
Behind the Rupp House, on the same side is the Sweney House. On the right (east) side of the
Baltimore Pike are from front to back: Welty House, McCreary House, and Winebrenner
House. The lots were narrow and deep. The front of the houses faced Baltimore Street with
the rear on the opposite end. The long sides facing the camera faced the south, hence the
typical sun porches/balconies on this side.
Henry Clay Cochrane noted “Before ten we were in the saddle and assembled at the public
square for the grand military and civic procession. Mr. Lincoln was mounted upon a young
and beautiful chestnut bay horse . . . and his towering figure surmounted by a high silk hat
made the rest of us look small.”
In the far distance at the very rear of the column you can just make out two mounted figures
following the regiment, with the figure on the right noticeably taller than his companion.
(Is this a hitherto unidentified image of the President at this historical event? In 1952 one other
image was identified as Lincoln, hatless, on the Speaker’s Stand during the ceremonies.
The Gettysburg Address took but 135 seconds to deliver and no photographers were prepared
before the President had finished and sat down.)
2.) Tintype, - Unknown Union Private.
3.) Currency - $2.00 Note, Bank of Seneca Falls, NY, 1863. This period Civil War note is listed
as spurious in
Standard Catalog of United States Obsolete Bank Notes, 1782-1866, James A.
Haxby , Krause Publications Inc., 1988. Listed in Haxby as S5. Counterfeit notes were not un-
common with all these regional issues.
4.) Postage Stamp - Three cent, profile portrait of George Washington.
Scott Standard Postage
Stamp Catalogue, Scott Publishing Co., (Var. years). Scott #65. One of the more common
United States wartime issues. Canceled.
5.) Excavated .58 cal. Minie’ ball extracted from a rifle barrel using a screw-style ball puller
(reference photo). Excavated from private property near Fredericksburg, VA in 1960’s.
Each measures 12" X 16", tastefully double matted and framed in stained rustic pinewod.
RCJ
(As an interesting footnote, while all the artifacts are period,- the 8 X 10 glossy copies of the two photographic images are reproductions printed off the original glass plates, courtesy of the U.S. Army Signal Corps and so stamped on the back, and date ca. 1938. Evidently between the two World Wars the Signal Corps was the caretaker for the Brady Collection and sub-collections.
I believe that most all these historical collections have been since transferred into museums and other private conservatories for preservation, so the "U.S. Army Signal Corps" stamp on the back itself gives these photos a certain historical status.
Perhaps one of our members who has better knowledge of the history of the curatorship of this collection could help fill in details.)
p.s.
Sorry for the ghost images of the Photographer and his equipment. I was very pleased with the job the Framer did and wanted to take a couple of quick snapshots. The shadowboxes look even better when viewed in person.
RCJ
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Topic: 2009 Muster Door Prize Commitee Report in (Read 8498 times)