A Where's Waldo? Washington, D.C. CityScape, April 1865, Find The Hearse

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
cs hearse.JPG

Blocks strewn in front of the Capitol evidence of construction there. Far too many landmarks to name including government buildings- that wide street, for instance, know what we're looking at? Yes, I do, just wanted to see if they're familiar to anyone. Life. Washington D.C., 1865. A map overlay would blow your mind. One piece of war, maybe, is making a lonely trip. Could be to one of those churches for a funeral. A hearse, two men on the seat is headed towards the main thoroughfare. Where is it?


Taken from the Capitol building, this series of cityscapes is invaluable. Thanks to the magic of LoC, they're ours. It's a little thrilling- we're looking at someone's, a lot of someone's day- it's our backdrop to war. Have endlessly walked these streets, alleys, back yards and empty lots. Walked around my great great grandparent's home, a public house they ran across from the Capitol- poked around in their back yard toboot. It's crazy.

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Caspari's, thank goodness the sign is there. Great grandmother born in that house, Dec., 1863. Lincoln bowled there, a hospital in that house from Bull Run to Appomattox.

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Think that's Campbell, of Whitman fame, not Armory Square Hospital, DC had around a zillion. Harewood's view of the Capitol too distant, not Harewood, and Armory Square was closer to the now-defunct canal.

Crazy cool stuff- the neighborhood my great great grandparents knew- bet the corner grocer's is where she shopped. Drawing a thread through time, one of the twin babies she took with her, helped raise my mother when my grandmother died of TB. That was JPK's niece.

Yes, already have threads on these but every day you see someone else's life unfolding. Host the period photo forum? Locked and loaded. Can never get enough! Men resting from work, laundry on the line, carts and carriages and cows and business signs- found a hearse. Not uncommon those awful years. Soldier's? We'll never know. So find it. And name those streets. :angel:

cs casp navy yard.JPG
 
Here is the summary for the LOC about the photo (3c27630).

Southeast view with New Jersey Ave. on the right and A Street and B Street (i.e., Independence Ave.) in the foreground; view includes the Washington Navy Yard, the Eastern Branch (i.e., Anacostia River), the Ebenezer United Methodist Church (i.e., Mount Joy Baptist Church), "Duddington" house, temporary government(?) wooden buildings, the Casparis House, Capitol Hill Restaurant and the Holmes Restaurant.
 
Large view. I wonder why would cotton bales be left laying around and what are the large blocks for?
capitol-1863-nww.jpg


Northwest view with 1st and 2nd streets and building materials for the U.S. Capitol in the foreground, and Indiana Ave. in the upper right; view includes the Patent Office, old Post Office Building, City Hall, and various churches, such as Trinity Episcopal Church and First Presbyterian Church.

https://ghostsofdc.org/2013/02/20/capitol-dome-1863-panorama/
 
Is it just above the water, by the house with the flat, slanted roof, where the road runs into the crossroad. To the lower left of the picture? A white horse?
Are those bales of cotton at the bottom of the picture? There seem to be come cows in amongst them!
 
@Lubliner , before I could walk. ( That's a joke, just read a few copies to tatters then bought a Kindle ) It's funny. Since joining here, still recommend it hugely- but a few things make me wince.

@Mike Serpa , you'll forehead slap. Blocks- construction was under way. They were really untidy about it! Like deliveries got stuck in traffic, gave up and randomly left those things wherever the wagon turned around. @uvrelics, there are ( I think? ) 5 images from that day? You can see these things in 3? Blocks, from the construction. Guessing cotton would have been wayyyy too valuable to leave laying around anyway no? Wish I knew more about it- just always gathered cotton was a kind of white gold.
 
Is it just above the water, by the house with the flat, slanted roof, where the road runs into the crossroad. To the lower left of the picture? A white horse?
Are those bales of cotton at the bottom of the picture? There seem to be come cows in amongst them!


Yep. You know, been combing through these by the inch for years just through fascination and only saw it last week. You got it first time- what do they feed children in Canada? Hang on- enlarged here somewhere.
 
Gee whiz NL! Very nice! This series is kinda a hobby ( terrible knitter, crochet defeats me, stamps make you squint, FB a yawn and everything else I do for a living ) for me- can tell you what crimes were committed in which hotel, where local coal brokers were, what signs say- only ascertained that horse/wagon was a hearse a few days ago. Will never pat myself on the back for sharp eyes again. Sending the images to you.

Yes, of course we'll never know whose funeral but it's a little sobering. Easily could have been a soldier's.

cart hearse.jpg
 
Those are very interesting photos. I never would have found the hearse if you hadn't pointed it out. I'm relieved that you did. It would have nagged at me for hours!
 
Yep. You know, been combing through these by the inch for years just through fascination and only saw it last week. You got it first time- what do they feed children in Canada? Hang on- enlarged here somewhere.
Wasn't a small space found this century that was Clara Barton's, somewhere in Washington on a second floor, (a revelation of ecstasy for you?). I believe she was located there after she helped catalog the numerous dead at Andersonville. She was working for some Government Agency, but I cannot remember which.
 
Wasn't a small space found this century that was Clara Barton's, somewhere in Washington on a second floor, (a revelation of ecstasy for you?). I believe she was located there after she helped catalog the numerous dead at Andersonville. She was working for some Government Agency, but I cannot remember which.

The Missing Soldiers office. There was a thread on this the other day. /civilwartalk.com/threads/the-discovery-of-clara-bartons-missing-soldiers-office.154755/#post-1987878
 
@Lubliner , before I could walk. ( That's a joke, just read a few copies to tatters then bought a Kindle ) It's funny. Since joining here, still recommend it hugely- but a few things make me wince.

@Mike Serpa , you'll forehead slap. Blocks- construction was under way. They were really untidy about it! Like deliveries got stuck in traffic, gave up and randomly left those things wherever the wagon turned around. @uvrelics, there are ( I think? ) 5 images from that day? You can see these things in 3? Blocks, from the construction. Guessing cotton would have been wayyyy too valuable to leave laying around anyway no? Wish I knew more about it- just always gathered cotton was a kind of white gold.
Ha! You actually think I didn't know they were construction blocks? it is because of my great magnanimity I pretended to not know what they were. This allowed for someone else to get credit for recognizing them. Or not. Good call, JPK!
 
The Missing Soldiers office. There was a thread on this the other day. /civilwartalk.com/threads/the-discovery-of-clara-bartons-missing-soldiers-office.154755/#post-1987878
Having to admit my own ineptitude, I cannot locate a thread that is not highlighted. But many may wonder how a small office space could remain hidden for a century, preserving the artifacts to our present time. This is where @Mike Serpa scores a direct hit. I have my suspicions that many details we research and discover are previously known but remain hidden gems, like a good waterhole does to a fisherman, or a mother lode of gold is to the treasure seeker. Then again it may be a promotion to inspire interest for those of us that want fresh material. But whether it drew enough attention would require a reprint, for the sake of our own, God bless their ways.
Lubliner.
 
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