How common were prints of non-person photos

hatchet

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Sep 22, 2016
I'm trying to solve a family history mystery. A person I'm researching (Severyn Bruyn Linderman) purportedly served under George H. Sharpe (Secret Service/Bureau of Military Information) and then under Grant at City Point. I can find no record at all of this service other than his son and his brother (who was a Union officer) mentioning it in letters. His son donated photos to the Nebraska Historical Society and among them is a photo with a handwritten "Commissary Head Quarters City Point Va 1864" below the image, which I have not found another copy of by searching the various online archives. It's a pretty uninteresting photo of a two story house with some barrels in the fenced yard. Can anyone tell me how common (quantities of) prints would be made during that time of non-personal Civil War photos such as this. I'm trying to figure out why he would have this photo - could he have got it as a souvenir easily obtained after the war, or would he likely have been connected with the subject at the time?

Not sure who the photographer was, this snip of the legend may provide a clue from the handwriting:
commissary.png
 
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From research I have done online, usually wealthier people (often officers) would own albums filled with non-personal prints which were both directly connected and unconnected with them which they collected during and after the war. I'd imagine it would be the same for those owning loose prints not in albums.

Would it be possible to post the whole image? We might be able to find more about it.
 
Unfortunately, the historical society holding the photo reserves rights to republish. I will inquire if they will allow me to post a low resolution image of it here. I'll also continue searching for another copy already online (which would be easier if I knew who the photographer was).

After some digging, I'm extremely confident that it's a photo of the "Cook House", and also shows the edge of the "St. John's Rectory" house on the far right of the photo. The Cook House still stands, and can be seen in this google street view that is approximately the same view (but there were only very small trees at the time, and they had no leaves): https://goo.gl/maps/i8Yuz93ggfv
 
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I'm trying to solve a family history mystery. A person I'm researching (Severyn Bruyn Linderman) purportedly served under George H. Sharpe (Secret Service/Bureau of Military Information) and then under Grant at City Point. I can find no record at all of this service other than his son and his brother (who was a Union officer) mentioning it in letters. His son donated photos to the Nebraska Historical Society and among them is a photo with a handwritten "Commissary Head Quarters City Point Va 1864" below the image, which I have not found another copy of by searching the various online archives. It's a pretty uninteresting photo of a two story house with some barrels in the fenced yard. Can anyone tell me how common (quantities of) prints would be made during that time of non-personal Civil War photos such as this. I'm trying to figure out why he would have this photo - could he have got it as a souvenir easily obtained after the war, or would he likely have been connected with the subject at the time?

Not sure who the photographer was, this snip of the legend may provide a clue from the handwriting:
View attachment 111673


I'm happy to have a look for it- there are dozens of City point photos on Library of Congress and National Archives. I'm unsure about how frequently private citizens obtained prints but personally could see someone asking a photographer for a print of somewhere they were stationed.

For instance, in LoC is a series on Fort Griffin, outside Dc, from 1861. It's mounted on tablet paper indicating it sure was not from a professional's collection. Since a lot of our archives are donated by relatives of soldiers, it is possible this collection was someone who was there and brought copies home for themselves.

George Sharp was amazing- here are quite a few photographs of him, too. If I remember correctly, he is in a few group photographs. Since Capt. Sharp was Secret Service, guessing he did not have a huge amount of men serving under him- it's vaguely possible your relative would be in one of the group photos.
 
I'm trying to solve a family history mystery. A person I'm researching (Severyn Bruyn Linderman) purportedly served under George H. Sharpe (Secret Service/Bureau of Military Information) and then under Grant at City Point. I can find no record at all of this service other than his son and his brother (who was a Union officer) mentioning it in letters. His son donated photos to the Nebraska Historical Society and among them is a photo with a handwritten "Commissary Head Quarters City Point Va 1864" below the image, which I have not found another copy of by searching the various online archives. It's a pretty uninteresting photo of a two story house with some barrels in the fenced yard. Can anyone tell me how common (quantities of) prints would be made during that time of non-personal Civil War photos such as this. I'm trying to figure out why he would have this photo - could he have got it as a souvenir easily obtained after the war, or would he likely have been connected with the subject at the time?

Not sure who the photographer was, this snip of the legend may provide a clue from the handwriting:
View attachment 111673


Well, that was cool. Had your commissary photo on my computer and found the City Point HQ for Secret Service, too, on LoC.

city poin commisary2.jpg

This is so you can use it, sourcing Library of Congress.

city point ss hq snip.JPG

Just a snip from the original TIF image- they're so large I did not want to load it here. Secret Service HQ, City Point, also LoC 1864
 
Fold3.com has an extensive (42 page) "Navy Widow's Certificates" file for Anna L. Linderman (d. Lincoln, Neb, 1917), as widow of Selwyn B. Linderman, Captain's Clerk on USS Adirondack. He enlisted in April 1862, and was on board in August when the vessel struck a reef in the Bahamas and went down. The crew was stranded on a small island for 10 days, during which time "there was a great deal of hardship and suffering," and much sickness due mainly to bad drinking water. On Sept. 26, 1862, Selwyn was discharged from the Navy for disability. The documents, including many hard to read affidavits, are mainly intended to show that Selwyn's death in 1887 was due to "disabilities incurred in the service," and that Anna was his lawful wife. The claim was successful.

While I see no mention of the service you refer to, there is one affidavit (p.26) from his sister, Charity L. Munger, which states that "he came home from the war in the summer of 1865." So, he was doing something in the intervening almost 3 years . The pension, however, was based solely on his service in the Navy. There may yet be some hints in the Widow's Certificate file, I did not attempt to read every page in detail. His original pension file must also be available, though I can not find Navy pensions in the Pensions index at Fold3.
 
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I appreciate your taking the time to look. The first photo you posted is, I think the commissary warehouse. The photo that was in Severyn's family (then in the Nebraska State Historical Society since the early 1900's) is of a house owned by the Cook family. Apparently Brevet Major William P. Martin, Commissary of Subsistence, U. S. Volunteers took up residence there with his family, and made it his headquarters. There is an historical marker that contains the closest photo I've found
cook house.jpg
(but it's a different photo) and there is a photo in the National Archives (165-C-523) of the nearly identical house next door (St. John's Rectory)
St Johns Rectory.jpg
I've searched for any mention of Severyn Linderman's service after his stint as Captain's Clerk on the USS Adirondack, but can find nothing other than the family letters. It's odd too, because his brother, who was an officer in the 156th NY inf., and for a time in a N.Y. cavalry unit under Custer's 2nd Division described his brother's service in an 1889 letter "Severyn was two years my senior, he was Captain's Clerk for Captain Guert Gansevoort of the Navy during 1861 & 1862, at home in 1863, and during 1864-5 was with Gen. George H. Sharpe (my father's student & partner) who was Chief of Secret Service of the Army of the Potomoc." And Severyn's son wrote "Educated in Kingston Academy & US Naval school at Brooklyn N.Y. [unreadable] at age 16. Was Captain's clerk under Cap. Garrett Gansvoort on the U.S. Gunboat Adirondack April 1862. Later under Gen. George Sharpe in Army of Potomac. Later with Gen Grant at City Point Va. 1864."
Yet, I have so far found nothing concrete about any service in the army after the Adirondack sank, except this photo of the commissary headquarters that he apparently had (and also a portrait head and shoulders photo of Brevet General Jacob Sharpe which appears different than any photos I've found of him on the internet, but that photo may have originally came from Severyn's brother who served in Jacob Sharpe's unit - I think Jacob Sharpe was related to George Sharpe...2nd cousin or similar). Although I haven't worked out the exact relationship, I think Linderman was also a distant cousin of George H Sharpe, as the families from there were all inter-related.
 
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The Nebraska State Historical Society (where these photos live), have kindly given me permission to post them. So these are the photos I mentioned above, that I hoped will give clues to Severyn Bruyn Linderman's possible Union Army service (despite there being no official record of it that I can find).
RG1183-15-small.jpg

and Severyn's son also donated this photo below of Brevet General Jacob Sharpe (I'll confirm this when I get scans of the backs of the photos next week, but I believe that's who this is).
RG1183-01.jpg

and below is Severyn after the war
RG1183-29-small.jpg

a GAR veteran's medal?
RG1183-29badge.jpg
 
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Whoa. What excellent stories, got a little lost in John Hartwell's- one of the worst things that happens clicking on a thread is this terrible tendency for side tracking, do it all the time. What an incredible story all by itself, how does anyone not go off poking around on that island for a few hours? Then of course George Sharp is a favorite, down to his horse- while others were talking a big game Sharp was doing it. He's a heck of a story, anyway.

Thanks very much for getting permission on the photo, makes you wonder how many era photos are still floating around out there. This has nothing to do with the thread, just an observation- so many photos feature an fairly unkempt building. Seems so odd, you'd have thought some kind of order would be required of areas attached to the army.

Do you belong to Ancestry? Asking because it tends to be a very easy method of tracking how people are related. Easiest way is seeing where on the tree they shared a set of grandparents. I dislike poking around in other people's trees without asking, seems a little like going into their attic while they're not home. If you do not have Ancestry, happy to go see what the connection might be.

Does anyone know if Secret Service records at the time were kept, well, secret? Makes sense. It's tough finding information that isn't tied up in Pinkerton and Sharp didn't work with him. Pinkerton is such a legendary post war name ( unfortunately ) it can be tough using ' Secret Service ' in a Google search without getting him.

You really did come to the right place for a lot of these questions. We have some amazing experts on pretty much everything. The medal for instance- if no one see this thread who knows, maybe start a new thread using the photograph and asking for help? I'm not an expert, except at being a big buttinski, smitten by other people's stories. Yours is terrific and cannot help but think Severyn was indeed with Sharp at City Point in '64. Everything but some dratted, elusive official document points to it.
 
JPK - I had to chuckle when I read your last post. The same thing happens to me. I get lost down so many rabbit holes it's amazing I ever get back to where I started. I do the family history/genealogy stuff because I love history. So it's natural to follow divergent threads. Example...I was reading about William P. Martin who stayed in that house in the photo. He had been in the Mexican war, and joined a Rhode Island artillery unit when the Civil War broke out. From the artillery unit history:
"First Lieutenant and Quartermaster William P. Martin, commissioned Aug. 21, 1861, a very able and excellent officer, resigned his place amongst us and accepted an appointment from President Lincoln as Commissary of Subsistence of Volunteers in our Department. He was formerly in the Regular Army, where he lost his leg in one of the battles
of the Mexican war. The colors presented to us at Fort Hamilton by his wife gave her also a good record in our esteem. On account of his wooden limb, but without the least tinge of disrespect, the worthy and beloved Lieutenant was familiarly styled " Old Peg Leg.'' He is now serving as military store-keeper in the Regular Army."
and from General Terry,
"I have known him for the last twenty years, and I have never known a more faithful and efficient soldier. He is the only man I have ever known whose efficiency was increased by the loss of a leg. This may seem paradoxical, but it is, I think, nevertheless true; for the loss of his leg led him to make such extraordinary efforts to do his duty and his whole duty, notwithstanding the disadvantage under which he labored, that the disadvantage was even more than overcome, and whether on foot or on horseback, he has been one of the most active of men."

I think I'll eventually get Severyn's story, but it's probably hidden in undigitized records. I discovered he was Adjutant General of the Nebraska GAR for a time in its very early history (he was at Lincoln Nebraska around its founding, having gone there immediately after the war), so those GAR records may hold some new information.
 
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