Lives and Legacies

Tag: genealogy

  • An Image Captured: The Development of Photography through Lewis Family Descendants

    One of my favorite historical objects in the collection are photographs.  Not particularly for artistic reasons, but as a documentation of a moment, a time, a person, a world that no longer exists.  During the Victorian era (1837-1901), there were extraordinary developments in the field of photography. In a span of forty years, photographs went from complicated metal plates, harsh chemicals, and long exposure times to inexpensive images on cardboard that could be taken, processed, and given to the sitter in minutes. 

    We have many pictures in our collection, and we can trace the development of photography through images of Lewis family descendants. 

    A Pleasant View of Burgundy

    The widely accepted creator of photography as we know it was French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.  He produced the first surviving photograph around 1826 showing the scene from his window in Burgundy.  After Niepce’s death, his former associate, Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, continued improving Niepce’s photographic process, introducing the “daguerreotype” in 1839. (The University of Texas Austin, 2024)  To create an early daguerreotype, a polished silver-plated copper sheet was treated with iodine vapor to make it light-sensitive. After exposure, the plate would be developed with mercury vapor and fixed with sodium chloride.  This was a tedious and complex process that required the subject to remain entirely still for three to fifteen minutes. (Stewart, 2018) (The Library of Congress, 2024) (Department of Photographs, 2004) The process was amended and, by the 1850s, used large glass-plate negatives, allowing for a crisper picture and a much shorter exposure time. (Department of Photographs, 2004)

    We have three daguerreotypes in the collection dating circa 1850s.  They are all portraits housed in elaborate leather cases with gilt-metal frames.  The larger photograph is called a sixth-plate daguerreotype portrait of John Taliaferro Lewis (1785-1862), who was the grandson of Charles Lewis, Fielding Lewis’s brother.  John was a Methodist minister and lived at “Stepney” near Manassas.  Through his wife, Francis Tasker Ball, he became the owner of “Portici,” also near Manassas. The two smaller ninth-plate daguerreotypes are both portraits of Ellen Lewis Nye (1834-1886), the granddaughter of Howell Lewis, the ninth son of Fielding and Betty.  She married Anselm Tupper Nye, and they resided in Ohio, where they were both buried.

    Daguerreotype of John Taliaferro Lewis, 1840-1862
    Specular light image of daguerreotype of John Taliaferro Lewis, c. 1840-1862
    Back of daguerreotype of John Taliaferro Lewis, c. 1840-1862
    Normal light image of daguerreotype of Ellen Lewis Nye, c.1859
    Specular light image of daguerreotype of Ellen Lewis Nye in velvet lined case, c. 1859
    Leather case for daguerreotype of Ellen Lewis Nye, c.1859
    Daguerreotype of Ellen Lewis Nye, 1855-1860
    Specular light image of daguerreotype of Ellen Lewis Nye in velvet lined case, 1855-1860
    Leather case of daguerreotype of Ellen Lewis Nye, 1855-1860

    Images for Loved Ones

    The daguerreotype was soon replaced in popularity by the ambrotype and tintype, which were both cheaper and easier to develop. (Harding, 2013). 

    An ambrotype is comprised of an underexposed glass negative placed against a dark background. The dark backing material creates a positive image. They were sold in either cases or ornate frames to provide an attractive product and to protect the negative with a cover glass and brass mat. (Library of Congress, 2024)

    We have three ambrotypes in the collection: a landscape and two portraits.  The landscape dates to circa 1855 and shows a group of people gathered around Washington’s tomb at Mount Vernon. Two of the figures were Thomas Coatsworth (1821-1887) and his wife Electra Weller Coatsworth (1832-1869). It is housed in an embossed leather case.

    Ambrotype of a group of individuals outside George Washington’s Tomb, c. 1855-1865
    Leather case housing ambrotype of a group of individuals outside George Washington’s Tomb, c.1855-1865

    One portrait is of John Taliaferro Lewis and is almost identical to his daguerreotype. The other portrait is of Daingerfield Lewis (1785-1862).  It dates from the same time and is held in a leather case. Daingerfield Lewis was the son of Captain George Lewis, the fourth son of Fielding and Betty, who served in the Continental Army under his uncle George Washington.

    Ambrotype of John Taliaferro Lewis, 1854-1865
    Ambrotype of John Taliaferro Lewis without dark background, c. 1854-1865
    Back of ambrotype of John Taliaferro Lewis showing loss of dark background, c. 1854-1865
    Ambrotype of Daingerfield Lewis, c. 1855
    Ambrotype of Daingerfield Lewis in case, c. 1855
    Leather case housing ambrotype of Daingerfield Lewis

    Tintypes became especially popular because the photographer could take a picture and develop it within just a few minutes. It was called the new “instant photo.”  This “instant photo” could be found at fairs, carnivals, and on the boardwalk, not just professional studios. Due to the tintype price, weight, and unbreakable nature, they became extremely popular during the Civil War because soldiers were able to mail them back to loved ones. (Stewart, 2018)

    The three tintypes in the collection are a group of siblings, two brothers, and one sister (there were eight total siblings).  George Lewis (1832-1883), Fielding Lewis (1839 – 1863) and Betty Fitzhugh Lewis (1847-1920).  Their father was Howell Lewis Jr. (1808-1883), the son of Howell Lewis and grandson of Fielding and Betty.  Howell Lewis Jr. was one of the earliest settlers of Henry County, Missouri, and established Lewis Station (now called Lewis, Missouri).  There is not much information on the siblings besides the basics.  George Lewis, the eldest, was born in West Virginia, died in Nevada, and is buried at the Lewis Station Cemetery.  Fielding Lewis was born in Missouri and died young during his service with the Confederate army in Texas.  Betty Fitzhugh Lewis was born in Missouri as well; he married Milton D Finks, had at least three children, and is buried in Calhoun cemetery.

    Tintype of George Lewis, c. 1865
    Tintype of Fielding Lewis, c. 1860
    Tintype of Betty Fitzhugh Lewis, c.1870

    Paper, Cardboard, and Formality

    By the later part of the nineteenth century, paper photos mounted on cardboard became more popular. Carte-de-visite became quite a fad after carte portraits of Queen Victoria with her husband and children were published. (Harding, 2013).  Part of why they became popular is they were cheaper to produce because multiple images (eight) could be taken with the same photographic plate, cut into small portraits, and mounted to heavy cardboard. (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 1998) 

    Two of our carte-de-visites are portraits of two young ladies around 1860.  One is Ellen Lewis Nye, who previously appeared in daguerreotype around the same time.  The second is Mary Ellen Lewis Hogan (1834-1874), who was the daughter of Howell Lewis, Jr. and sister to George, Fielding, and Betty Lewis.  She was born in West Virginia, married Robert Henderson Hogan, and is buried in Illinois.   

    Carte-de-visite of Ellen Lewis Nye, c.1859
    Back of carte-de-visite of Ellen Lewis Nye
    Carte-de-visite of Mary Ellen Lewis Hogan, c. 1865

    The carte-de-visite was gradually superseded by the cabinet card, which remained popular until the introduction of the Kodak Box Brownie camera in 1900. (City Gallery, 2005)  The cabinet card marked a transition from more formal portraiture to amusing, personal, and even candid images.  They were taken in studios that were equipped with lights, props, and sometimes even hair and makeup. The average price was around $1.50 for a dozen cards, which is around $45 today. (Salvesen, 2021)

    Our cabinet cards date from 1850 to 1897 and are portraits of three females who, like all the others, are descendants of the Lewis family.  The oldest is of Francis Fielding Lewis Gwathmey (1808-1888), and it was taken around 1850, putting her in her early forties.  Her father was Howell Lewis, son of Fielding and Betty and sister to Howell Lewis Jr.  Francis married Rev. John “Parson” Blair and had twelve children, of which only three outlived her.  She is buried in Richmond, Virginia. 

    Cabinet card of Frances Lewis Gwathmey. c.1850
    Back of cabinet card of Frances Lewis Gwathmey

    We have another picture of Ellen Lewis Nye, who has previously been represented in daguerreotype and carte-de-visite.  The card was taken in 1885, shortly before her death. The last one is Virginia Tayloe Lewis (1842-1916), taken during the Christmas season of 1897.  She was born in Washington, D.C., at The Octagon House.  She was the daughter of Captain Henry Howell Lewis and great-granddaughter to Fielding and Betty. 

    Cabinet Card of Ellen Lewis Nye, c. 1885
    Back of cabinet Card of Ellen Lewis Nye, c.1885
    Cabinet Card of Virginia Tayloe Lewis, Christmas 1897
    Back of cabinet card of Virginia Tayloe Lewis, Christmas 1897

    Money and the Magic Lantern

    This is a brief history of photography seen through the descendants of the Lewis family. But make no mistake, these are not the only important pictures in our collection.  There are still trays of glass slides that belong to a curious device called the “lanterna magica,” which became an invaluable tool that, along with gingerbread, helped restore Kenmore.

    Magic lantern glass slide of Kenmore before the restoration

    Heather Baldus

    Collections Manager

    Bibliography

    City Gallery. (2005). Cabinet Card. Retrieved from City Gallery: http://www.city-gallery.com/learning/types/cabinet_card/index.php

    Department of Photographs. (2004, October). The Daguerreian Era and Early American Photography on Paper, 1839–60. Retrieved from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/adag/hd_adag.htm

    Harding, C. (2013, June 27). How to spot a carte de visite (late 1850s–c.1910). Retrieved from The National Science and Media Museum: https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/find-out-when-a-photo-was-taken-identify-a-carte-de-visite/

    Harding, C. (2013, May 25). How to spot a ferrotype, also known as a tintype (1855–1940s). Retrieved from The National Science and Media Museum: https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/find-out-when-a-photo-was-taken-identify-ferrotype-tintype/

    Library of Congress. (2024). Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs. Retrieved from Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/collections/liljenquist-civil-war-photographs/articles-and-essays/ambrotypes-and-tintypes/

    Salvesen, B. (2021, June 28). The Return of Cabinet Cards. Retrieved from Los Angeles County Museum of Art: https://unframed.lacma.org/2021/06/28/return-cabinet-cards

    Stewart, J. (2018, December 31). Tintype Photography: The Vintage Photo Technique That’s Making a Comeback. Retrieved from My Modern Met: https://mymodernmet.com/tintype-photography/

    The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (1998, July 20). Carte-de-visite. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/technology/carte-de-visite

    The Library of Congress. (2024). The Daguerreotype Medium. Retrieved from The Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/collections/daguerreotypes/articles-and-essays/the-daguerreotype-medium/

    The University of Texas Austin. (2024). The Henry Ranson Center. Retrieved from The University of Texas Austin: https://www.hrc.utexas.edu/niepce-heliograph/

  • Meet the Lewis Family: Lawrence Lewis

    Lawrence Lewis

    Lawrence Lewis was born on April 4, 1767, the ninth child of Fielding and Betty Lewis and nephew of George Washington.  His birth was noted by Fielding in the Lewis family bible,

    “Our Ninth a Son named Lawrence born the 4th of April 1767.  Mr. Chas Washington & Mr. Francis Thornton Godfather & Mrs. Mary Dick Godmother”[1]

    Just as the American Revolution started, Lawrence moved into Kenmore with his parents and siblings when he was eight years old.  Sadly, the move to the new house began a devastating chapter for the family that saw the loss of their financial security and, ultimately, of their patriarch.  Lawrence witnessed the toll that financing and supporting the War for Independence exacted on his father.  For the Patriot cause, Fielding provided much needed supplies to the army, bought and built ships for the navy, and funded a musket factory with his own money.  After all these sacrifices, Fielding died in 1781 when Lawrence was fourteen.

    Fielding bequeathed his ninth child “one thousand acres of land in the County of Frederick [this land was near Bath, Virginia, which is now Berkeley Springs, West Vriginia] on which my overseer Butler now lives as surveyed by Mr. Berry with the one sixth part of all my negroes.”

    Instead of going west, however, Lawrence struck out east.  By 1790, the twenty-three year old was living in Essex County and awaiting the birth of his first child with his wife Susannah Edmonton.  Sadly, Susannah and the child died in labor.  After this devastating death, Lawrence disappears from the historic records until four years later.

    In 1794, Lawrence volunteered for military service and served as aide-de-camp to General Daniel Morgan in western Pennsylvania during the Whiskey Rebellion. [2]  This rebellion was led by western farmers in response to the tax on all domestically-produced distilled spirits.  This was the first time the newly formed government, under the leadership of Lawrence’s Uncle Washington, who was now President of the United States, imposed a tax on a domestic product.  A destructive uprising was avoided and the tax was eventually repealed under Thomas Jefferson but the event led to the formation of America’s first political parties. [3][4][5]

    WhiskeyRebellion
    President George Washington reviews troops near Fort Cumberland, Maryland, before their march to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. Unknown, attributed to Frederick Kemmelmeyer – Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public domain.

    After Washington retired from the presidency, he began looking for a personal secretary and offered the position to Lawrence.

    “I require some person (fit & Proper) to ease me of the trouble of entertaining company…and for a little time only, to come, an hour in the day, now and then, devoted to the recording of some Papers which time would not allow me to complete before I left Philadelphia.”[6]

    Lawrence became part of the Washington household at Mount Vernon assisting his uncle with his entertaining, correspondence, and day-to-day activities. Also residing at Mount Vernon was Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis, the granddaughter of Martha.  Eleanor and her brother George had been informally adopted by the Washingtons after the death of their father. Two years after arriving at his uncle’s house, Lawrence and Eleanor married on February 22, 1799.

    Obviously fond of his nephew and step-granddaughter, Washington enjoyed having them near Mount Vernon.  Shortly before his death, he offered Lawrence and Nelly a large tract of land.  Washington made it known that he wanted them to start enjoying the property immediately and not wait for his death.

    “But, as it has been understood from expressions occasionally dropped from your wife, that it is the wish of you both to settle in the neighborhood…I shall inform you, that in the will which I have by me …that part of my Mount Vernon tract…is bequeathed to you and her jointly, if you incline to build on it.”[7]

    Sadly, George died a few months after he made the offer of land to the couple and never got to enjoy his nephew’s family living so near.

    Lawrence and Eleanor started building their home, now known as Woodlawn, in 1800. The house was completed five years later and designed by William Thornton, the same architect who designed the U.S. Capitol.  Owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Alexandria, Virginia, you can visit Woodlawn as well as the 20th century Pope-Leighey House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  The two houses provide a great juxtaposition between a classical Federal house of straight lines and proportion and a modern Usonian home that exudes simplicity and nature.[8]  Lawrence and Nelly raised their eight children and lived peacefully at Woodlawn until 1830.

    Woodlawn. Photo Courtesy of the National Trust for Historic Preservation – Gordon Beall Photography

    PLH
    Pope-Leighey House. Photo Courtesy of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

    Lawrence Lewis died on November 20, 1839 at the age of 72 and was buried close to George and Martha in the vault at Mount Vernon.  His wife Eleanor passed away in 1852 and was placed next to her husband and much loved adopted grandparents.

    Heather Baldus
    Collections Manager

    [1] Felder, Paula. “Fielding Lewis and the Washington Family”, The American History Company, Fredericksburg, 1998, pg 73

    [2] http://www.mountvernon.org/research-collections/digital-encyclopedia/article/lawrence-lewis/

    [3] Holt, Wythe. “The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794: A Democratic Working-Class Insurrection”.

    [4] http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/27341

    [5] http://www.mountvernon.org/research-collections/digital-encyclopedia/article/whiskey-rebellion/

    [6] “From George Washington to Lawrence Lewis, 4 August 1797,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-01-02-0245 [last update: 2015-03-20]). Source: The Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series, vol. 1, 4 March 1797 – 30 December 1797, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, pp. 288–289.

    [7] “From George Washington to Lawrence Lewis, 20 September 1799,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-04-02-0263-0001 [last update: 2015-03-20]). Source: The Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series, vol. 4, 20 April 1799 – 13 December 1799, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999, pp. 311–315.

    [8] http://www.woodlawnpopeleighey.org/pope-leighey-house