Found an 1850s Daguerreotype!

[UnderMiner]

Found an 1850's Daguerreotype!

Never in a hundred years did I ever expect to find something like this! An 1850's daguerreotype!
This is the oldest form of photography, first invented in 1839! This example depicts a well dressed child standing on a fancy chair.
The case is leather lined with felt, the "preserver" is thin brass, and the mat is a plain oval.
My research indicates this style dates to the 1850's, pre-Civil War! So cool!

Had so much fun researching this today.

Anyone who's ever tried to take a picture of a daguerreotype could attest to how difficult this can be.
The daguerreotype literally acts as a mirror and at some angles the picture cannot even be seen!
So I had a hard time taking these pictures, but eventually it worked out :





Apparently there was sometimes information stamped on the back of the glass plate but in order to access this I'd have to take the plate out of the case.
I don't want to damage it so I won't be doing this anytime soon. So cool to know this kid grew up during the Lincoln administration and probably had older siblings/relatives who fought in the Civil War.
Also cool to know this photo was likely taken during the time of Franklin Pierce or James Buchanan's presidency. I love history

Update: Just delicately removed the photo plate out of the case and discovered an inscription!
Maybe the first to see it in over 165 years! Any ideas as to what this trasnlates too? It doesn't appear to be English?

 

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[DocBeav]

search on the third word thinking it may be a place, it is, a small area in Albania.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Mirdita

 

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[Erik in NJ]

I don't think the last word is Mirdita b/c of the extra hump after what I thought was an "r"--I think it's more reasonable to assume that is a sloppily written "n". So it might spell Mindita. The "t" is also poorly formed and may be another letter, but the long line drawn across it appears to make it the letter "t".

Here's some more info on the name Calkins. It's of Irish origin.

Calkins Name Meaning & Calkins Family History at Ancestry.com

 

[Erik in NJ]

Poor soul, perhaps long forgotten--her picture ending up in the trash in NYC. Could she ever have imagined in her wildest dreams that hundreds perhaps thousands would see her face again in 2015 on the Internet and bring her memory alive on Treasure Net by trying to decipher her name?

I'm surprised no one has located her census records yet...I'm not good at that, but many here are. I'm sure we'll have an ID soon.

 

[Davers]

Trash raid. Someone tossed it. Still got a whole bunch of stuff still waiting to be sorted through.
Different place from the one that netted me the gold and silver yesterday. It's been a real literal gold mine these last couple days

COOL!
Like old trash pit's , New ones Have Great Treasures as well.

I missed your other finds but that Pic, is the BOMB!!

 

[Davers]

Here's OldDude today at 165!

Well he still has his since of Humor.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Apparently it's a photo of a little girl named Ida Culkins or Calkins...I believe it's the latter as the lower case a's are not fully closed. The last word is Mir_dita. I can't decipher the fourth letter, but it might be an "i", giving us Miridita? Maybe someone here can better decipher this handwriting, it's not sloppy, but not totally well formed and quite old fashioned.

It could also be Meridita, as the person writing seems to leave the bases of their "i"s open. What looks like a dot on the paper might be discoloration in the paper -- there are lots of flecks. According to ILST's timeframe on the dag, the little girl would have been born ca. 1845. Maybe Meridita was the place the dag was taken, and maybe it was the nickname she was known by. I may have also been her surname.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Nice save ! Congrats!

 

[Erik in NJ]

Putting this on page one hoping that someone might be able to locate the name in census records etc.

 

[Curious The George]

I'm reading, "Mnirrdeka" or "Minerrdeka". Perhaps the name of the photgrapher?

 

[OutdoorAdv]

UnderMiner,
I just did a quick search on U.S. Census Records ? Free Genealogy Database and I think I found some potential ladies for you! ha
"Ida Culkins" returned no results in the date range that this daguerreotype was supposedly made.
However, "Ida Calkins" returned many hits in the NY area where you found this.

Ida Calkins Census Record in 1870
Ida Calkins Census Record in 1870
Ida Calkins Census Record in 1870



I don't have subscriptions to any of the genealogy sites... so this is the extent of my abilities. I like to search for a bit of family history on the sites I detect, so I use that us census site often.

EDIT: Awesome find BTW! You never cease to amaze me at the things you pull out of the garbage. When I explain metal detecting to friends and they ask questions about hunting, I have explained "There are other types of hunting without metal detectors too. There is this guy on this forum that finds the most incredible things that people throw out......" So well done, you've made it into a story or two!

 

[Erik in NJ]

OutdoorAdv,

I'm sure that must be her! The time frame is virtually a perfect match. She looks to be 3 - 5 years old in that picture, in my opinion.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

OutdoorAdv,

I'm sure that must be her! The time frame is virtually a perfect match. She looks to be 3 - 5 years old in that picture, in my opinion.

So Yeah, I was thinking she might be the last one that I linked Ida Calkins Census Record in 1870 I know NOTHING about daguerreotype, other than they are pretty awesome... but iloveshinythings seems to know a lot and she said early to mid 1850's. So that last Ida Calkins was born around 1852 and that should put her right around the date range of that daguerreotype. Also, in the 1870 census she was 17 and it shows a 23 yr old "Oliver Calkins" and a 0 yr old "William Calkins" in the same house. I would guess Oliver was her husband and it has his birthplace as Connecticut. Ida's is New York. So I would guess based on his birthplace that they were in NYC... and UnderMiner is in that area... so hopefully thats the match.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Calkins must be her maiden name due to it appearing on the dag, so Oliver was probably a brother, not her husband. Oliver may have been father to William. Any other household members listed like Oliver's wife?

CuriousGeorge, though I disagree with his reading of the third name, is probably correct that the third name is the last name of the photographer. ILST as a collector should be able to verify if this was common practice. Most professional portraits over the ages bears the photographer's name. Now look for a photographer in NYC with that surname! Love this!

 

[UnderMiner]

So Yeah, I was thinking she might be the last one that I linked Ida Calkins Census Record in 1870 I know NOTHING about daguerreotype, other than they are pretty awesome... but iloveshinythings seems to know a lot and she said early to mid 1850's. So that last Ida Calkins was born around 1852 and that should put her right around the date range of that daguerreotype. Also, in the 1870 census she was 17 and it shows a 23 yr old "Oliver Calkins" and a 0 yr old "William Calkins" in the same house. I would guess Oliver was her husband and it has his birthplace as Connecticut. Ida's is New York. So I would guess based on his birthplace that they were in NYC... and UnderMiner is in that area... so hopefully thats the match.

OutdoorAdv,

I'm sure that must be her! The time frame is virtually a perfect match. She looks to be 3 - 5 years old in that picture, in my opinion.

Very impressive! If she is 3 years old in the picture that would mean the pic is from 1855, perfectly within the time frame of when this style Daguerreotype would have been used. Thanks for all you've both done! My research indicates that "Calkins" was a very common Irish surname that exploded into the American scene in the 1840's and 50's. From 1845-1852 the potato famine ravaged Ireland and many families fled to the USA - particularly New York City's lower Manhattan (the notorious Five Points). In my opinion Ida Calkins is highly likely a child born to an Irish immigrant family who fled the famine and moved to NYC. This girl and her family would have had to deal with Tammany Hall politics, constant gang warfare in their streets, "Irish Need not Apply", and would have personally witnessed the New York Draft riots in 1863 that devastated the city (since this photo is still in NYC even today I assume the family stayed here too).

OutdoorAdv, glad to hear you're telling stories about my treasure hunting methods, just don't convince your friends to quit their jobs and do the same and expect to get rich

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Calkins must be her maiden name due to it appearing on the dag, so Oliver was probably a brother, not her husband. Oliver may have been father to William. Any other household members listed like Oliver's wife?

CuriousGeorge, though I disagree with his reading of the third name, is probably correct that the third name is the last name of the photographer. ILST as a collector should be able to verify if this was common practice. Most professional portraits over the ages bears the photographer's name. Now look for a photographer in NYC with that surname! Love this!

Erik,
Great point about the maiden name... I didn't even think of that.
This search is to a site that gives a little more info on spouses.
https://familysearch.org/search/rec...irth_place:"New York"~ +birth_year:1852-1854~

The 1870 census has Ida and Oliver in the same house. The 1880 census has them married. So, this might not be the correct Ida...or......!!! haha. Also, Ida's birth year is a little unsure... fluctuating a couple years, but that 1870 and 1880 Ida's are definitely the same person. I think they got the kid "William"s name wrong in the 1870, since in 1880 its "Wayland" It could have just been bad handwriting on either of the two census and it was read wrong when it was digitized.

At the age of 3-5, the name on the daguerreotype would certainly be her maiden name. (unless that name was written in at a later date after she got married)

First two records:

Very impressive! If she is 3 years old in the picture that would mean the pic is from 1855, perfectly within the time frame of when this style Daguerreotype would have been used. Thanks for all you've both done! My research indicates that "Calkins" was a very common Irish surname that exploded into the American scene in the 1840's and 50's. From 1845-1852 the potato famine ravaged Ireland and many families fled to the USA - particularly New York City's lower Manhattan (the notorious Five Points). In my opinion Ida Calkins is highly likely a child born to an Irish immigrant family who fled the famine and moved to NYC. This girl and her family would have had to deal with Tammany Hall politics, constant gang warfare in their streets, "Irish Need not Apply", and would have personally witnessed the New York Draft riots in 1863 that devastated the city (since this photo is still in NYC even today I assume the family stayed here too).

OutdoorAdv, glad to hear you're telling stories about my treasure hunting methods, just don't convince your friends to quit their jobs and do the same and expect to get rich

I was just driving with a buddy the other day and we passed a BUNCH of stuff on the curb in front of a house. At 50mph I said "see anything good" and without even glancing to look at the pile, he said "naaa, thats all junk". I thought to my self (if he only knew)!!

 

[Erik in NJ]

I'm having a late lunch with my family right now and reading this on my iPhone and I can't see the census records clearly, but looking forward to this thread when we get back to the house. I was thinking it may have been written in later, but that's less likely. Any luck with the "photographer's" name?? Great job on the census search! This kind of research fascinates me ... I'm sure we can piece her story together!

 

[Argentium]

Another fine save ! , I'm fascinated to watch this identity unfold - Very Cool to think you might be able to find living relations .

 

[Erik in NJ]

My wife who's better at this than I am, estimated Ida's age in this dag at 2-1/2 to 3 years of age.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Name: Ida W Patterson Caulkins
Maiden Name: Patterson
Event Type: Burial
Event Date: 1922
Event Place: East Marion, Suffolk, New York, United States of America
Photograph Included: Yes
Birth Date: 1854
Death Date: 1922
Affiliate Record Identifier: 21903820
Cemetery: East Marion Cemetery



Citing this Record:
"Find A Grave Index," , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV2-1QCR : accessed 11 August 2015), Ida W Patterson Caulkins, 1922; Burial, East Marion, Suffolk, New York, United States of America, East Marion Cemetery; citing record ID 21903820, Find a Grave, Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Her name may indeed have been written on that dag after the fact. If UnderMiner can tell us where he found it in NYC....was it Suffolk County??, it might be a clue. I saw Ida in the 1920 census, but it appears she died in 1922. Her grave is in East Marion.