Uniforms Uniforms of the Seventh Regiment New York State Militia" July 1860 Harper's Weekly engraving

bobinwmass

Sergeant
Joined
Jul 14, 2019
Location
Western Massachusetts
Not as spectacular as most of the artifacts posted here, but I just bought this engraving off of Ebay for $14.99 plus shipping. I just loved the detail it provided about the pre-Civil War uniform of the NY 7th Regiment, especially since I have been working on such a uniform display over the past year. I've also included a photo of where I am at on that project so far. I introduced the Shako to you in a thread last November. It has the maker label of John Baker, 162 Fulton Street. Baker was at this address from 1853 to 1858. The owner's name is written inside, and I found him on the Regiment's 1858 member Roll. I found a vintage white pom pom to complete the hat. I did not post a specific thread when I found the jacket, but did post a photo of it, displayed with the shako, this past spring in the thread "Post a photo of your favorite display or treasure." The jacket has no maker label but can be dated to the late 1850's to 1860 by the Scovill "raised mark depressed channel" backmark on the coat buttons, and the smaller W. H. Smith & Co buttons on the collar. The most recent addition is the 1839 pattern white shoulder bayonet belt, with the top of a 1828 bayonet scabbard still stuck in the frog. While the holes in the belt have been modified for the 1868 style 7th Regiment crossbelt plate it now displays, the belt itself is earlier and also has a John Baker maker mark, this time the address 63 Walker Street. Baker started at this address in 1858. He died in 1862 and in 1864 the name changed to Baker & McKenney. I'm still looking for the proper pre-war crossbelt plate, a cartridge box and belt, and waistbelt.

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I was rereading this magazine this week.
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There are articles that mostly concentrate on the 7th New York uniforms and many reproductions of color images of the of the uniforms worn by the 7th New York.
 
I was rereading this magazine this week.
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There are articles that mostly concentrate on the 7th New York uniforms and many reproductions of color images of the of the uniforms worn by the 7th New York.
Coincidentally, I just purchased off Ebay last night an 1886 first edition History of the 7th Regiment, only volume 1 of 2 volume set but covers 1806 to 1861, the period I am interested in. Think a good buy at $29.99.
 
Coincidentally, I just purchased off Ebay last night an 1886 first edition History of the 7th Regiment, only volume 1 of 2 volume set but covers 1806 to 1861, the period I am interested in. Think a good buy at $29.99.

That does sound like a good deal.
 
Not as spectacular as most of the artifacts posted here, but I just bought this engraving off of Ebay for $14.99 plus shipping. I just loved the detail it provided about the pre-Civil War uniform of the NY 7th Regiment, especially since I have been working on such a uniform display over the past year. I've also included a photo of where I am at on that project so far. I introduced the Shako to you in a thread last November. It has the maker label of John Baker, 162 Fulton Street. Baker was at this address from 1853 to 1858. The owner's name is written inside, and I found him on the Regiment's 1858 member Roll. I found a vintage white pom pom to complete the hat. I did not post a specific thread when I found the jacket, but did post a photo of it, displayed with the shako, this past spring in the thread "Post a photo of your favorite display or treasure." The jacket has no maker label but can be dated to the late 1850's to 1860 by the Scovill "raised mark depressed channel" backmark on the coat buttons, and the smaller W. H. Smith & Co buttons on the collar. The most recent addition is the 1839 pattern white shoulder bayonet belt, with the top of a 1828 bayonet scabbard still stuck in the frog. While the holes in the belt have been modified for the 1868 style 7th Regiment crossbelt plate it now displays, the belt itself is earlier and also has a John Baker maker mark, this time the address 63 Walker Street. Baker started at this address in 1858. He died in 1862 and in 1864 the name changed to Baker & McKenney. I'm still looking for the proper pre-war crossbelt plate, a cartridge box and belt, and waistbelt.

View attachment 384726

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As a man of cloth and notice I said "of" and not "of the", I put buttons on the list towards the bottom in period identification as they are transportable, that said they do play an important part (always look to see if they are sewn with the original thread and in the period manner). I look at the construction of the collar, button holes, sleeve width at the elbow and internal lining structure. Your jacket does appear to be original to the pre and war period, I would ask you to inspect the button holes for hand sewing, the collar for hand sewing (top of the collar edge), the sleeves look to be the proper width at the elbows. Unfortunately there are so many of these out there, from many different states, that I am always leery; back in the 40s & 50s so many things happened with collectors innocently "improving pieces" that when I look at a piece for my own collection, it is guilty until proven innocent!
 
Not as spectacular as most of the artifacts posted here, but I just bought this engraving off of Ebay for $14.99 plus shipping. I just loved the detail it provided about the pre-Civil War uniform of the NY 7th Regiment, especially since I have been working on such a uniform display over the past year. I've also included a photo of where I am at on that project so far. I introduced the Shako to you in a thread last November. It has the maker label of John Baker, 162 Fulton Street. Baker was at this address from 1853 to 1858. The owner's name is written inside, and I found him on the Regiment's 1858 member Roll. I found a vintage white pom pom to complete the hat. I did not post a specific thread when I found the jacket, but did post a photo of it, displayed with the shako, this past spring in the thread "Post a photo of your favorite display or treasure." The jacket has no maker label but can be dated to the late 1850's to 1860 by the Scovill "raised mark depressed channel" backmark on the coat buttons, and the smaller W. H. Smith & Co buttons on the collar. The most recent addition is the 1839 pattern white shoulder bayonet belt, with the top of a 1828 bayonet scabbard still stuck in the frog. While the holes in the belt have been modified for the 1868 style 7th Regiment crossbelt plate it now displays, the belt itself is earlier and also has a John Baker maker mark, this time the address 63 Walker Street. Baker started at this address in 1858. He died in 1862 and in 1864 the name changed to Baker & McKenney. I'm still looking for the proper pre-war crossbelt plate, a cartridge box and belt, and waistbelt.

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View attachment 384727
By the way there is an identified 7th cartridge box and sling running around, I’ll see if I can find who has it. Love the display and the shako!
 
As a man of cloth and notice I said "of" and not "of the", I put buttons on the list towards the bottom in period identification as they are transportable, that said they do play an important part (always look to see if they are sewn with the original thread and in the period manner). I look at the construction of the collar, button holes, sleeve width at the elbow and internal lining structure. Your jacket does appear to be original to the pre and war period, I would ask you to inspect the button holes for hand sewing, the collar for hand sewing (top of the collar edge), the sleeves look to be the proper width at the elbows. Unfortunately there are so many of these out there, from many different states, that I am always leery; back in the 40s & 50s so many things happened with collectors innocently "improving pieces" that when I look at a piece for my own collection, it is guilty until proven innocent!
Thank you. Yes, I am aware that you have to watch out for these uniforms, especially since the 7th used this uniform style up until almost WWII (except from April 1861 to 1867). The button holes do appear to be hand sewn to me. You can see the individual stitches that wrap around, and despite them being very close together, you can see a variance in distances. Definitely different than the button holes on my 1872 style Massachusetts jacket, which I assume was machine made. I was told the jacket was deaccesioned from a museum in New York, and that it came into their possession in the 1920's. There was a still tag on it with numbers and pencil notation saying 1861 NY 7th Militia jacket that I was told was the curators tag. I was comfortable enough buying it as the price was well less than what the buttons alone would retail for.
 
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