Lives and Legacies

Tag: historic restoration

  • 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/

  • Building George’s House: Why Red? How We Picked the Paint

    A few weeks ago at George Washington’s Ferry Farm, painters finished painting the exterior of the Washington house.  They used a red color known as “Spanish brown.” The paint is linseed oil-based and actually behaves more like a stain.  Modern oil-based paint can, in a way, be thought of as a plastic that laying atop the surface and coating the wood.  The historic pigment we used actually seeps into the wood itself and essentially stains the wood the deep red.

    Washington House without Scaffolding
    River-facing side of the Washington house at Ferry Farm.

     

    House Painting (8)
    Falling snow against the new paint on the Washington house.

    In the 18th century, the pigment came from clay mixed with red lead, an iron oxide. The paint was “made by grinding the earth into a very fine powered consistency that would then be added to the linseed oil and turpentine – the content of the dirt and the amount used ultimately determined the color” which could range from “burnt orange through reds and into browns.”

    Why did we choose Spanish brown as the Washington house’s exterior paint?  Well, we have evidence, both documentary and archaeologically, that suggests the original Washington home was this very color.

    First, our archaeologists recovered fragments of plaster with Spanish brown on them, which demonstrates the color was available and used at Ferry Farm.

    Second, Mason Locke Weems wrote “The house in which he lived is still to be seen. It lifts its low and modest front of faded red, over the turbid waters of the Rappahannock.” (Page 11)  While Weems included myths about Washington, his biography was published in 1800 meaning the house could certainly have still been standing for either him to visit or for persons who had seen the house to describe it too him.  We know the house became a ruin just after 1830.

    Finally, when paint analysis of colonial houses is done, Spanish brown is frequently encountered.  The color was extremely popular during the 1700s.  Here in Virginia paint analysis found it used at William Randolph’s Tuckahoe and in Williamsburg at Nathaniel Walthoe’s storehouse, Bruton Parish Church, and, most notably, the Peyton Randolph House.[1]

    Peyton Randolph House
    The Peyton Randolph House in Colonial Williamsburg. Credit: Wikipedia / Jrcla2

    Spanish brown was also popular beyond Virginia.  It adorned the Palmer-Marsh House in North Carolina and Sotterley Plantation in Maryland.[2]  A survey of advertisements for Rhode Island paint shops between 1760 and 1819 found it offered “in nearly every ad.”

    Palmer Marsh House
    Palmer Marsh House in Bath, North Carolina. Credit: North Carolina Historic Sites

    Spanish brown was “the ubiquitous color of colonial America” and “was cheap, probably the cheapest available – dirt cheap because it was dirt.”  Its inexpensiveness did not prevent it from being popular among the gentry class.  If possible, the Washingtons and their fellow gentry would have preferred homes of brick that symbolized “dominance, prosperity, and social status.” With this desire in mind, “red paint in its various shades can be seen as an attempt to give otherwise well-finished frame buildings the same aura of permanence that brickwork offered.”[3]

    Zac Cunningham
    Manager of Educational Programs

    [1] Susan Buck and Willie Graham, Chap. 15 “Paint” in The Chesapeake House: Architectural Investigation by Colonial Williamsburg, ed. by Cary Carson and Carl R. Lounsbury, Raleigh, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 364.

    [2] Ibid.

    [3] Ibid.

  • Photos: Building George’s House – Painting the Exterior

    Painters recently finished painting the exterior of the Washington house at Ferry Farm.  The house was painted a red color common to the 18th century and known as “Spanish brown.”  The paint was linseed oil-based just as it would have been in the 1700s.  We’ll have a more detailed blog post in a few weeks explaining how we came to choose Spanish brown as the color to use.  In the meantime, here are a few photos of the painters working as well as of the finished job.

    Getting started.
    First coat.
    Painting the dormers.
    North and east side of house complete.
    Dormers complete.
    Falling snow against the new paint.

    Learn more about the Washington House here and view other videos, photos, and blog posts about the project here.

     

  • Photos: Historic Kenmore Behind-the-Scenes Tours

    On rare occasions, Historic Kenmore offers special behind-the-scenes tours that take visitors into portions of the home not usually open to the public during regular tours. Additionally, Meghan Budinger, Aldrich Director of Curatorial Operations,  leads the tour and shares her expert insights and knowledge into the mansion’s history, furnishing, and ongoing preservation. This past weekend, visitors once again got to go behind-the-scenes!

    Visitors prepare to go inside Historic Kenmore.
    The tour included familiar rooms like the master bedchamber.
    Visitors entered spaces not usually open to regular tours. Enslaved people used this narrow passage to travel between the bedchamber, where Betty Washington Lewis ran the household, to the dining room and outdoor kitchen.
    The slave passage features original paint and wallpaper. A message in chalk orders staff and future preservationists to save the 240-year-old wallpaper in place.
    Meghan explained how archaeological excavations informed the choices of 18th century ceramics displayed on the dining room table.
    The group visited the cellar that was used as storage during the Lewis’s days. Educational programs for visiting field trips take place, in part, in this space today.
    Visitors in the attic heard about how dendrochronology, the dating of timber using tree rings, helped determine that Kenmore was built between 1770 and 1775.
    In the attic there is a rowing scull left behind by late 19th century resident William Key Howard, Jr., who also repaired the house’s plaster ceilings after extensive damage during the Civil War.
    Leaving the attic down a narrow staircase.
    Descending a winding, narrow staircase into the underground HVAC control room.
    Inside the geothermal HVAC ‘vault’, visitors learned how 21st century technology preserves and protects an 18th century home and its artifacts.

  • Video: William Key Howard, Jr. – Saving Kenmore’s Ceilings

    In this video, learn about William Key Howard, Jr., who lived in Kenmore with his family in the years following the Civil War and repaired damage to the house’s plaster ceilings in the first restoration of Kenmore.

    You can learn more about William Key Howard, Jr. and why his boat is still in the attic while visiting rarely seen rooms and spaces during a special behind-the-scenes tour at Historic Kenmore on October 22-23. Reservations required. Details at http://kenmore.org/events.html.