This colorful chromolithograph contains an animated scene of the Union volunteer refreshment saloon located near the Navy Yard at Swanson and Washington Avenues in Philadelphia, as it appeared in November of 1863. Located on a railroad hub linking the North and the South, the saloon was staffed by volunteers and provided relief for Union troops to soldiers on their way to or returning from battlefields in the South. Its services included warm meals, temporary housing, medical services, and washing facilities. From its opening on May 27, 1861, to its closing on December 1, 1865, over 800,000 men were assisted in this saloon and served over 1,025,000 meals. In the print, a crowd of civilians and a few wounded soldiers line the street to welcome a formation of soldiers who parade down the road towards the saloon. At the right, men another unit depart the saloon and board a Philadelphia, Wilmington, & Baltimore railroad car, bound for the battlefront. A band dressed in road uniforms performs patriotic songs while American flags are waved in the crowd and dot the skyline of the scene. The names of men who were involved in collecting donations for the saloon are listed in the lower margin along with the names of its committee members.
The Philadelphia saloons received support from the United States Sanitary Commission, a relief agency approved by the War Department on June 18, 1861 to provide assistance to sick, wounded, and travelling Union soldiers. Although the leaders of the Commission were men, the agency depended on thousands of women, who collected donations, volunteered as nurses in hospitals, and offered assistance at rest stations and refreshment saloons. They also sponsored Sanitary Fairs in Northern cities, raising millions of dollars used to send food, clothing, and medicine to Union soldiers.
The print was created by James Fuller Queen, a pioneering chromolithographer active in Philadelphia, who served in a Civil War militia between 1862 and 1863. Its printer, Thomas S. Sinclair, was a Scottish immigrant to Philadelphia who worked in the lithographic shop of John Collins, before taking over the business the next year. His firm was profitable into the 1880s, producing maps, city views, certificates, book illustrations, political cartoons, sheet music covers, and fashion advertisements.
Equine art was a popular subset of sporting art in 19th century America, and attracted many artists seeking to capture the nostalgia of great sporting achievements. Racehorses were popular subjects for lithographs because they were virtual “celebrities” of their day; top harness racing horses were immediately recognizable to the public. Because lithography could be mass-produced relatively cheaply and replaced much more quickly than paintings with each new crop of winners, so sporting prints became a popular choice of wall decoration in gentlemen clubs and male dominated offices. This form of art can still be seen in taverns and dining clubs. As Harry T. Peters was himself a sportsman, Master of Fox Hounds, and noted equestrian, it is not surprising that this collection would contain so many prints featuring
In North America, trotting began as a favored leisure past-time for rural communities at the end of the 18th century as well as a means of transportation. In the 19th century, the first harness racing tracks were established as the sport became incorporated into county fairs. Early trotting horses were raced under saddle in the same fashion as flat-track thoroughbreds. “Under saddle” racing was said to be faster for trotting horses than when attached to a cart. As practical transportation began to favor sleeker, improved wagons, harness racers moved away from saddle horses and trotters became more popular than thoroughbreds as middle and upper class men engaged in amateur trotting races with their transportation horses. The sport became a “great equalizer” because horses of modest origins became heroes. By the end of the Civil War, harness racing had evolved into a horse pulling a two-wheeled cart, called a sulky, along a mile-long track in less than 2 minutes 30 seconds. The trotting Grand Circuit was founded in 1871 to showcase the best horses in metropolitan areas of the East Coast and then slowly the sport moved inland across the country. The popularity of the sport gave way to new breeding techniques. In 1788, an English thoroughbred named Messenger was brought to America to stand for stud. His offspring were labeled Standardbred horses in 1879, because they are able to meet the “standard” of trotting a mile in 2 minutes 30 seconds, averaging 30 mph. They are shorter and more muscular than thoroughbreds, allowing them to easily move attached to a cart.
Messenger’s great-grandson was the stallion Hambletonian 10, who sired so many foals that nearly every American Standardbred can trace their lineage back to him.
This is a color print of old man with long white beard holding the bridle of the bay stallion Hambletonian. They stand in gravel yard beside a red Dutch stable. The man wears wide pants, a rumpled sports jacket, and a brimmed hat. A mare and colt stand in a grassy meadow in the background, and stable boys lounge in the doorways.
Hambletonian was bred in Sugar Loaf, NY on May 5, 1849 by Jonas Seely. He was registered as Hambletonian 10 but commonly known as Rysdyk’s Hambletonian, named after the British thoroughbred of the same name. His dam was the Charles Kent Mare, or “Kent Mare”, a descendant of the Norfolk Trotter breed known for its smooth gate; and his sire, Abdullah was known for being both mean and ugly, and had been bought for only $5. Nevertheless, William Rysdyk, one of the farm hands, purchased Hambletonian for $125. Hambletonian’s unusual build allowed for his long hind legs that were the key to his success, providing more length for every push. His first race took place at the Orange County Fair in Goshen, NY and immediately stirred public attention for his appearance and his competition with his half-brother Abdallah Chief. The rivalry was finally settled in 1852 at the Union Course on Long Island when Hambletonian trotted the mile in 2:48 ¼ seconds, a full seven seconds before Abdallah Chief. Rysdyk put Hambletonian to stud for the first time at age two, when he mated with four mares for $25 a mating. During the height of his career, Hambletonian earned $500 per mating, and his Rysdyk’s total stud earnings came to $200,000. Hambletonian fathered 1,331 foals with 1,900 mares by the end of his life on March 27, 1876, and at least 40 of his progeny were able to trot the mile in less than 2:30. Hambletonian’s blood runs through most of today’s Standardbred trotters and several Morgans, earning him the title of “Father of the American Trotter.” He was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame as an “Immortal” in 1953 and the prestigious harness race, the Hambletonian Stakes, is named after him.
Considered to be the last formal image of Lincoln from life, this lithograph depicts the President in an ornate White House ballroom. Here, on March 4, 1865 from 8 to 11 P.M., over 6,000 people celebrated the second inauguration of President Lincoln. Prominent guests greeted by Lincoln and the First Lady include Vice President Andrew Johnson, General and Mrs. Grant, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, Gen. Joseph Hooker, Gen. George Gordon Meade, and Sen. Charles Sumner.
This well-known image was issued as an incentive for subscribers of Frank Leslie’s Chimney Corner Family Newspaper, but could also be purchased separately for $3.00. Frank Leslie (1821-1880) was a British-born publisher and engraver, who produced several newspapers and journals in the mid-19th century. Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper was popular during the Civil War for its detailed battlefield illustrations. This print was copyrighted April 8, 1865, a week prior to Lincoln’s assassination, and was dedicated to the First Lady, Mary Todd Lincoln. As an added incentive, a key indicating the identity of 37 prominent guests was issued in Volume 4 of the paper, although the assassination occurred before that issue appeared. After Lincoln’s death, the great demand for Lincoln images led rival printers to pirate the scene, altering it slightly before publishing it as their own. Lithographer Anton Hohenstein and publisher John Smith titled their controversial copy, “Abraham Lincoln’s Last Reception.”
This print was produced by Sarony, Major, & Knapp. Napoleon Sarony (1821–1896) was born in Quebec and trained under several lithography firms including Currier & Ives and H.R. Robinson. Sarony was also known for his successful experiments in early photography, developing his own cabinet-sized camera. In 1846, he partnered with another former apprentice of Nathaniel Currier, Henry B. Major, and the duo created lithography firm of Sarony & Major. Joseph F. Knapp joined the firm in 1857. Sarony, Major & Knapp earned a solid reputation for lithography and the company was especially known for its fine art chromolithography. Sarony departed the business in the mid-1860s to pursue photography fulltime and by the 1870s, the firm shifted it production from decorative prints to the more profitable field of advertising. It expanded to become the conglomerate known as the American Lithographic Company, which produced calendars, advertising cards, and posters. In 1930, it was bought out by Consolidated Graphics.
One of the earliest images of baseball is this hand colored lithograph of Union prisoners at Salisbury Confederate Prison. It is part of the Harry T. Peters “America on Stone” Lithography Collection at the National Museum of American History. Though various forms of baseball were played in England and America for over a century prior to the Civil War, modern rules of the game were not developed and employed until the 1850s. The evolving Knickerbocker Code or rules had its origins in metropolitan New York in 1845. Union soldiers, more familiar with the game, introduced others, including Southerners and Westerners to baseball throughout the Civil War, resulting in thousands of soldiers learning the game. Upon returning home, the game spread to friends and neighbors and soon the sport was played in every region of the country, solidifying its title as “The National Pastime."
The baseball game pictured in this print was played at Salisbury Confederate Prison in North Carolina. Between December 9, 1861 and February 17, 1865, the prison housed 10,000-15,000 Union prisoners of war and other assorted detainees. The compound was designed to temporarily hold Union officers until they could be exchanged for Confederate troops. The facility was constructed around an empty 20 year-old brick three story cotton factory on 16 acres of land near a railroad line and the town of Salisbury. For the first couple of years of its existence, the prison had wells of sweet water, adequate medical facilities and sufficient food.
Soldiers’ diaries document the detainees’ daily routines and pastimes. Prisoners from the first half of 1862 noted that baseball games were played nearly every day, weather permitting. For the first couple of years, prisoners were also permitted to whittle, read, write letters, attend lectures, perform “theatrics,” play cards such as poker, and go fishing. Prisoners also gambled as is evidenced by the dice game underway in the lower right corner of the print. Prisoners even published their own newspaper. Some prisoners were given town visitation privileges, so it was not uncommon for POWs to trade buttons and barter small personal items for fresh fruits and vegetables.
As the war continued, conditions began to deteriorate. After the summer of 1862, prisoner exchanges ceased. Records indicate that few Union prisoners were held in the prison in 1863 and early 1864, but the facility was used for Southern political prisoners, conscientious objectors, Confederate deserters and Southern civilians that ran afoul with the authorities. As the war dragged on, food and medicine became scarce for both prisoners and guards. By mid 1864, the prison filled up with Union POWs of every rank. Later that year, the camp exceeded its capacity and become overcrowded. Living conditions deteriorated further and life in Salisbury prison became as miserable as other prison camps. The mortality rate jumped from a low 2% to devastating 28%; an estimated four to five thousand men died. Finally, on February 17, 1865, the Confederate and Union governments announced a general POW exchange and more than five thousand prisoners left Salisbury.
The baseball game pictured in the print was played during the late spring or summer of 1862, before living conditions deteriorated and when prisoners still had a good chance of leaving through a prisoner exchange. The baseball players on both teams are POWs, possibly men previously held in New Orleans and Tuscaloosa, as they were known to have played at the camp during this time. Although guards occasionally joined in the games, it is not reflected in this print. Spectators included townspeople as well as guards and one seated figure with a cigar that looks suspiciously like Grant. Two guards (center and center far left) are pictured with guns. The town is depicted in the background beyond the stockade or wooden fence. A red, white and blue flag flying overhead in the center of the print is probably a Confederate regimental flag, though it could possibly be an error on the artist’s part with a reversal in the colors of the North Carolina Confederate flag. The prison compound included small cottages, a meat packing plant for the Confederate Army, a blacksmith shop and a small hospital.
The artist of the original watercolor sketch used for the lithograph was Otto Botticher or Boetticher (1811-1886). Botticher was a Prussian immigrant and held the rank of a Union captain when he was captured on March 29, 1862 around Manassas, Virginia. Prior to the war, Botticher had been a portrait painter in New York and New Jersey. He produced several paintings and lithographic plates of military subjects with the aid of early photography using daguerreotypes and ambrotypes. His work displays precision and excellent attention to detail, indicating he likely had formal draftsmanship training. Botticher may also have attended a military school and/or been a member of the army in Prussia, according to his biographer, Seward R. Osborne. He was known as Major Otto Botticher prior to the Civil War. In July 1861, Botticher joined the 68th New York Volunteer Infantry, known as the Cameron Rifles and was given the rank of captain. After his capture, he was sent first to Libby Prison near Richmond, where he sketched “Libby Prison- Union Prisoners at Richmond, Va.,” also produced by Sarony, Major & Knapp and Goupil, Co.. When he was transferred to Salisbury Prison, he produced the watercolor that was used to create this lithograph. He was released as a result of a prisoner exchange on September 30, 1862 at Aiken's Landing, Virginia, when he was exchanged for a Confederate captain from Virginia’s 7th army. Botticher rejoined his regiment, serving as captain of Company B at the Battle of Chancellorsville. He was wounded at Gettysburg while serving with his regiment in the 11th Army Corps, and was discharged in June 1864, but achieved a brevet rank of lieutenant colonel with the New York State Volunteers in September 1865. After the war, Botticher continued as an artist, illustrator, and lithographer. He also worked as a consulate agent for the North German Union before dying in 1886.
Botticher’s watercolor sketch of the Salisbury Confederate Prison baseball game was used to create the lithographic print in 1863. The lithographic firm was Sarony, Major & Knapp of 449 Broadway, New York City. The firm was founded by Napoleon Sarony and Henry B. Major in 1846; Joseph F. Knapp joined the firm in 1857. Sarony, Major & Knapp earned a solid reputation for lithography and the company was especially known for its fine art chromolithography. Unfortunately, by the 1870s, the firm shifted focus to the more profitable area of advertising. It also expanded to become the conglomerate known as the American Lithographic Company, successfully producing calendars, advertising cards, and posters. In 1930 they were bought out by Consolidated Graphics.
This print was produced and promoted 1863 by Goupil & Co. or Gouipil & Cie, a leading international publisher, printer, and fine art dealer. The company was founded in Paris by Jean Baptiste Michel Adolphe Goupil (1806-1893) and his wife Victorine Brincard. The Goupils widely promoted art and owned exclusive galleries as well as common sales rooms in New York, Paris, London, The Hague, Brussels, Berlin, and Vienna. Through various partners they had considerable resources and were able to capitalize on the interest in the newly popular American game. This ready-made market proved lucrative as the print sold well overseas. While the print does picture a pro-Southern view of leisure in a Confederate prison camp, it was also popular in the North for the images of Union officers and of course for the depiction of a baseball game in progress.
This handmade wooden trunk has a hinged wooden lid, a metal keyhole plate, and rope handles on the sides. The top and front of the trunk are decorated with hand-painted red and white tulips and roses. The initials “ABAD” are painted in white scrollwork above the date “1867” on the face of the trunk. The trunk was found around 1910 in the attic of the donor’s grandparents in Jamestown, New York. An elderly Swedish couple, who had been renting the upstairs, left the trunk behind when they moved out of the house.
Although the Swedes who came to the United States with their belongings in this trunk are not known, they were part of a mass migration out of Sweden that began in the 1860s. A combination of population pressure, limited agricultural land, and political and religious unrest had driven many Swedes to the United States since the 1840s. But disease and famine beginning in the late 1860s forced many more to leave Sweden. Between 1868 and 1914, more than a million Swedes emigrated, mostly to America. After arriving in New York, many went west to farmland in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Swedes also settled in urban areas such as Chicago and Minneapolis.
