Early View of New York Goes Big

An early daguereotype of a country road, fence line and home - along with a telling handwritten note - sold at auction this week for $62,500 in, where else? - New York.

The proud new owners are Billy and Jennifer Frist of Nashville. “It’s a very unique, historically significant daguerreotype,” Mr. Frist, who has been collecting photos since 1993 and is a nephew of Bill Frist, the Tennessee Republican and former Senate majority leader, told the New York Times.

The picture, believed to date from October 1848 or earlier, shows a white house on a hill with a white picket fence, next to what is believed to be the old Bloomingdale Road, the continuation of Broadway, in what is now the Upper West Side.

The New York Times "Discovers" Sgt. Humiston

Those of us who have steeped ourselves in Civil War lore and pivotal battles of the conflict in particular, are constantly amazed when battlefield legends that have lingered through the decades are "discovered," told in a new way, and mulled as if they are artifacts first seeing the light of day.

One of those tales made it into one of our favorite newspapers today. The New York Times is carrying a serialized (five parts, no less) account of Sgt. Amos Humiston - Gettysburg's so-called "Unknown Soldier."

Sgt. Humiston was felled by a Confederate bullet shortly after his 154th New York Volunteers were overrun by superior forces and hurled back toward Cemetery Hill during the battle of Gettysburg.

That would not be counted as unusual, given the number of good men who died during those three days in Pennsylvania, and his story may have gone untold forever were it not for the small ambrotype of his three children a battlefield forager found clutched in his hand.

Like a good many of the men killed during the battle, Sgt. Humiston wore no corps badge, pinned no note to the back of his battle dress, and was not carrying the letters his wife, Philinda, had sent him and he had read in camp until they tattered.

As did many similar stories created by the fickle travails of war, Sgt. Humiston's story was not revealed for many years after his death, when a concerted - some say opportunistic - search to find his identity and locate the children in the ambrotype, turned up his family.

We won't ruin the ending. Suffice to say it was not a happy one. That this tale has been resurrected for public viewing by so widespread an audience is both confusing and reassuring, as it is our heartfelt belief that this tale - and so many others born out of the War Between the States - should have been given more emphasis in our nation's schools and perhaps not left to individuals, amateur historians, and buffs to ferret out for themselves.

But then, that's just our opinion, an opinion Sgt. Humiston, and several hundred thousand just like him - either knowingly or unintentionally sought to protect through his service to the Union.

Old Guns and Buffalo Bill!

More items coming in via consignment as everyone still seems very much on the hunt for neat old things.

We've got some interesting American Indian items in as well as some antique guns and other neat old things, including a sally port reportedly from Yuma Prison and a bandsman's costume from the Buffalo Bill Wild West Shows.

Drop me a line if you're buying or selling, we're doing plenty of both at the moment and we're always looking for new friends.

Good hunting!

Ute Wearing Blanket... A Beauty

"Pocket Time Capsule" Opened, Lincoln's Watchsmith Was Grateful

For nearly 150 years, a story has circulated about a hidden Civil War message engraved inside one of Abraham Lincoln's pocket watches.

On Tuesday at the National Museum of American History, a watchmaker opened the case and found watchmaker Jonathan Dillon's thoughts scratched neatly inside:


The first line says: "April 13 - 1861. Fort (sic) Sumpter was attacked by the rebels on the above date. J. Dillon." A second line reads, in part: "Thank God we have a government."

The story circulated around Dillon's family and friends, eventually reaching a New York Times reporter. In a 1906 article in the paper, Dillon said he was moved to engrave a message after the first shots of the Civil War were fired in South Carolina.

One hundred and fifty years later, his reaction again saw the light of day.

Of Cons and Coins

If you get into this game you are reminded every so often that many people covet what you have, and some are willing to try and take what they want.

It’s the not-so-gentile side of antique collecting. We don’t talk about it much, but it’s there. There are a lot of unsavory types in the world, particularly in these tough financial times, who are looking for “soft” targets.

Antique dealers are considered “soft targets.”

That’s why a colleague here in Northern California left his home one day to find a man waiting for him outside. There was an altercation, a stun gun was produced (not by our colleague) and the man was pushed back into his apartment, bound with duct tape and forced to stand by while this miscreant pillaged the dealer’s coin collection.

This appears to be happening more and more frequently as dealers advertise to meet buyers are lured to remote locations and are robbed, usually of money (why doesn’t that hurt as much as when they take our antiques?).

So, we’re getting cautious and taking steps to protect ourselves, our homes looking like armed camps even though we don’t keep anything of any real value there. I have a small safe in my place. I like it for its California feel and keep my scotch in it, and that’s all.

Many of us are loners, single men or women who like old things and perhaps don’t relate well to the modern world. It can be a problem.

We buy the cameras and the safes and all the rest, and try not to think about what can go wrong – until it does. Until then we share our love for old things with others we hope are likeminded.

It’s all we can do.

Scotch, a Good (Antique) Book and Firelight

Rainy in Northern California this past week and the sales have been dampened a bit, to say the least. I hate cliches but we do need the rain and being a city boy, I love it and say, "Keep it Coming."

So far, the Big Guy In the Sky With His Hand on the Spigot is obliging so maybe we'll be able to avoid a drought this summer.

When it gets like this the wife and I like to head inside for a change, she to her murder mysteries and me to my Civil War regimental histories. Hot chocolate or a good scotch (for me, she won't touch the stuff) and passing a little time reading and listening to the fire and tick-tock of the mantle clock.

Nothing better.

The rain killed a big outdoor show this past weekend that has been good to me in the past, but the phone calls are picking up again as people look to sell their wares. Call or write if you have a story to share, and if you have some good Scotch to share... even better.

Cheers.