Can you help identify uniform?

[major bill]

Perhaps this will help.

West Point ca. 1874. West Point cadets typifies the latest uniform fashion style and cut for fashionable officers. Note here the medium length sleeves with no cuff flash (white shirt cuff showing at the wrists) and the white shirt is worn over the uniform collar.

A West Point cadet from 1899. Note the very short sleeves with one inch flack of the white shirt. Note the shirt collar is now inside the uniform collar and is flashing above the uniform coatee by about one inch (The cadets wore the white shirt over the collar until the late 1880s). Note the trousers are tight through the upper part and become very tight at the knee.The trousers are tight a short distance below the knee some what flared at the ankle. Trousers ca. late 1880s early 1890s were less tight below the knee. These uniform details help me place your photo in the very late 180s to late 1890s. by 1903 the White shirt flashed higher above the uniform collar between one and a half inches or even two inches.

Campare your photo with the photo of the West Point cadet from 1899 and the cut and style of the uniforms are very similar.

 

[major bill]

Fashionable women 1895. Note dress style and short hair style hair style.

 

[major bill]

Fashionable women from 1879, note the longer hair and note the style of the dress. The dress from 1895 had wider sleeves and the same style waist as the women in your photo. In my opinion your photo is more mid 1890s than 1879.

 

[Legion Para]

Cadet dress and militia uniforms varied greatly during the 1860's to 1890's. I don't think we can date this image by the young man's dress.

Citadel Cadet 1890.

 

[AnitaGib]

I would hope that one could trust the Archives to have properly identified this picture, but we all know there is human error. The family "folklore" has always been lacking and mysterious concerning him. Grand stories concerning his civil war exploits but no evidence has been found. Leaving 1st family in Arkansas, returning to "Indian Territory" to marry a Native American woman and had a 2nd family but no divorce or marriage records. I am missing a big piece of the puzzle. If you are correct, he was already deceased a good 5 years before the photo was taken. Much to think about!

 

[AnitaGib]

Cadet dress and militia uniforms varied greatly during the 1860's to 1890's. I don't think we can date this image by the young man's dress.

Citadel Cadet 1890.

View attachment 95646

That's good news, it gives me reason to keep looking rather than dismiss the family folklore as poppycock! Thank you.

 

[major bill]

The man might be the age of your ancestor's son, if he had one. This is rater common in that some one in the family found a man in uniform and mis identified the man to an ancestor a whole generation off. I had one women very upset when I tried to tell her the photo was not Civil War era, but Spanish American War era. She said I should lean more about uniforms before I try to identify them as she was positive this was her great grand father in his Civil War uniform. I told her one of my issues is the man looked to be 6 foot tall and had a huge handlebar mustache and that her great grand father was 6 years old when the Civil War ended. Not only was he tall for his age but must have started shaving when he was 3 years old to have been able to grow that mustache. She sent back a rude reply about my lack of knowledge of military uniforms. She had found his name on some military record, the fact he would have only been 2 years old when he enlisted did not seem to phase her.

 

[Legion Para]

The man might be the age of your ancestor's son, if he had one. This is rater common in that some one in the family found a man in uniform and mis identified the man to an ancestor a whole generation off. I had one women very upset when I tried to tell her the photo was not Civil War era, but Spanish American War era. She said I should lean more about uniforms before I try to identify them as she was positive this was her great grand father in his Civil War uniform. I told her one of my issues is the man looked to be 6 foot tall and had a huge handlebar mustache and that her great grand father was 6 years old when the Civil War ended. Not only was he tall for his age but must have started shaving when he was 3 years old to have been able to grow that mustache. She sent back a rude reply about my lack of knowledge of military uniforms.

Researching one's past can be a slow tedious process. Family history passed down through generations can get twisted and confused. Sometimes when donations are made to museums the history provided isn't always correct. Be patient AnitaGib.

 

[AnitaGib]

Researching one's past can be a slow tedious process. Family history passed down through generations can get twisted and confused. Sometimes when donations are made to museums the history provided isn't always correct. Be patient AnitaGib.

Will do. I searched 21 years to find my great grandmothers grave and in the process found that my grandmother had an older sister that died in infancy that she never knew about in her 93 years on this earth. Family secrets and misinformation seem to run rampant in my family. I'll get it untangled eventually!