Photograph album II, Mitchell family album, undated

ALBUM (II). MITCHELL FAMILY ALBUM. The following 13 photographs appear in an album issued by E. Anthony, 501 Broadway, NY, bound in the original black morocco, decorated in blind, with one of the two original metal clasps present. Slightly worn, but very good. Photographs in very good or better condition, except when otherwise indicated below. The individual photographs are as follows:

[Page 1]. [MITCHELL, John Kearsley?]. CDV. [Circa 1850’s]. Back-mark: J.E. McClees, 910 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Faint soiling or foxing, still very good. Half-bust portrait of a man presumed to be John Kearsley Mitchell, father of Silas Weir Mitchell, based on comparison with an engraving included in the collection.

[Page 2]. [MITCHELL, Sarah Matilda Henry?]. CDV. Back-mark: M.P. Simons, 1320 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. Lightly foxed, but about very good. Depicts a woman wearing a bonnet, half-bust, in left profile. Given the placement of the photograph in the album, we suspect that the subject is Sarah Matilda Henry Mitchell (d. 1872), mother of Silas Weir Mitchell, however this is merely conjecture. The only other image of Mrs. Mitchell we could locate was an earlier, painted portrait reproduced in Burr’s Weir Mitchell: His Life and Letters (opposite p. 30). Although the appearance of the subject of this photograph is not dissimilar to that of the painted portrait of Mrs. Mitchell, the difference of her pose in the painting, as compared with the photograph, makes positive identification on this basis impossible.

[No photographs inserted on pp. 3-4 of album].

[Page 5]. MITCHELL, E[dward] D[onaldson]. CDV. Circa 1861-1862. Back-mark: M.P. Simons, 1320 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. Faint foxing, still very good. Half-bust portrait of Mitchell in his cadet’s uniform. Identification based on contemporary inscription on verso reading: “E.D. Mitchell, medical cadet.”

[No photographs inserted on pp. 6-9 of album].

[Page 10]. [MITCHELL, Silas Weir]. CDV INSCRIBED. Circa early 1860’s. Back-mark: Rintoul & Rockwood, 839 Broadway, NY. Moderately foxed; good plus. Three-quarters length portrait of Mitchell, seated. Penciled inscription on verso reads: “For Major Mitchell.” This CDV was evidently presented by Mitchell to his brother, Nathaniel Chapman Mitchell (1840-1900), who came of age as an Union officer in the Civil War. He served as a private and lieutenant in the 15th Illinois Cavalry, before being made major of the 4th U.S. Colored Cavalry in April, 1864. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the regiment in April, 1865. He engaged in business after the war, and secured several patents for the cleaning and processing of rubber.

[Page 11]. [MITCHELL, Mary Middleton Elwyn?]. CDV. Circa 1860. Front-mark (embossed on photograph): Germon, 702 Chest. St., Phila. William Lafayette Germon was operating at this address by 1859. Very good plus. Hand-tinted (adding color to cheeks). Full-length portrait of a woman presumed to be Mary Middleton Elwyn Mitchell (d. 1862), Silas Weir Mitchell’s first wife, based on comparison with a photograph of her reproduced in Burr (opposite p. 120).

[No photographs inserted on pp. 12-14].

[Page 15]. [NEILSON,] Lucy [Brooke]. CDV. Back-mark: J.H. Bostwick, Bristol, PA. Very good. Hand-tinted (adding color to cheeks). Head-shot portrait of Silas Weir Mitchell’s niece as a girl. She was the daughter of Mitchell’s sister Sarah (b. 1831), who married William Neilson in 1848. Lucy Neilson and her husband, Richard S. Edwards, were the parents of Richard Stanislaus Edwards (1885-1959), an admiral in the U.S. Navy.

[No photographs inserted on pp. 16-17].

[Page 18]. “Em.” CDV. 1869. Back-mark: D. Hinkle, 4739 Main St., Germantown. Light soil, still about very good. Hand-tinted (adding color to cheeks). Head-shot portrait of a girl, who is identified only by a contemporary inscription on verso reading: “Em. Sep., 1869.”

[Page 19]. [MITCHELL, Elizabeth Kearsley?] “Lizzie.” Back-mark: D. Hinkle, 4739 Main St., Germantown. Very good. Hand-tinted (adding color to cheeks). Head-shot portrait of a girl. Contemporary inscription on the verso reads, “Lizzie.” The subject is most likely Silas Weir Mitchell’s niece, Elizabeth Kearsley Mitchell (d. 1928). She was the daughter of Mitchell’s brother, Nathaniel Chapman and his wife, nee Margaret Yeates Brinton.

[No photograph inserted on p. 20].

[Page 21]. WEST[?], Maggie. CDV. Back-mark: Wenderoth, Taylor & Brown, 912- 914 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. Faint stain, still about very good. Hand-tinted (adding color to lips and cheeks). Half-bust portrait of a woman, identified by contemporary inscription on verso.

[No photographs inserted on pp. 22-23].

[Page 24]. DA CAMARA, Dr. CDV. 1872. Small tears and creases to one margin of photograph, in no way affecting image, else better than very good. Half-bust portrait. Inscription on verso reads: “Dr. Da Camara, Surgeon Dentist, St. Kitts, July, 1872.” Dr. Da Camara was most likely the doctor who treated Robert Walsh Mitchell, Silas Weir Mitchell’s brother, who died on Saint Kitts, in the West Indies, on April 10, 1872. [See item #352 above for biographical information on Walsh]. The date on this photograph (three months after Walsh’s death) and the presence of two other CDV’s from St. Kitts in the collection (see next two items), suggests the possibility that Weir Mitchell traveled to the island, perhaps to visit his brother’s grave and to meet the people who were acquainted with him in the last months of his life. None of Weir Mitchell’s biographers note such a trip, however Walsh was a notorious figure in his family and it appears that little record exists of his colorful life. One biographer (Earnest) misidentifies his place of death as Alaska. Although we have been able to learn little of the subject of this and the following two cartes de visite, they provide rare documentation of Walsh’s activities on Saint Kitts.

[Page 25]. JORDAN, Archie. CDV SIGNED AND INSCRIBED. Inscription on verso reads: “Faithfully yrs, Archie Jordan.” Circa 1872. Front-mark: E.L. Edwards, [St. Kitts]. Near fine. Half-bust portrait of a man. Jordan’s biography is unknown to us, but he was probably acquainted with Walsh and/or Weir Mitchell (see preceding entry).

[Page 26]. PIGUENIT. CDV. 1872. Front-mark: E.L. Edwards, [St. Kitts]. Very good. Inscription on verso reads: “Piguenit, St. Kitts, 1872.” Half-bust portrait of a man. The subject’s biography is unknown to us, however he was probably acquainted with Walsh and/or Weir Mitchell (see preceding two entries).

[Pasted to rear endpaper]. [MITCHELL, ?] ORIGINAL ALBUMEN PHOTOGRAPH, measuring 1.5 x 1”. Tiny half-bust portrait of a man wearing a suit (civilian). Inscription on the endpaper reads: “21 privates, 2 officers,” evidently in reference to a Civil War unit. The subject is perhaps Nathaniel Chapman Mitchell or Robert Walsh Mitchell, two brothers of Silas Weir Mitchell who fought in the Civil War, although the man mostly closely resembles another brother, Edward Donaldson Mitchell, who served as a medical cadet during the war.