I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island: Life in a Civil War Prison

6. Hard Rubber and Hard Times: (September 19, 1864–March 12, 1865)

124 s S ix Hard Rubber and Hard Times (September 19, 1864–March 12, 1865) The shell cross I want you or Lill to have, and the necklace I made myself expressly for Lill, and had a hart made for it, . . . Wesley Makely to Kate, December 7, 1864 Wesley enhanced contact with his family by providing numerous examples of hard rubber jewelry. He was not a gifted jeweler but did have a discerning eye for purchasing fine examples for his Kate and Lillie. Hard rubber jewelry was about the only thing Wesley provided his family beyond the letters he wrote. He probably achieved some satisfaction of purpose in pursuit of the finest jewelry made at Johnson’s Island. Hard rubber jewelry was a constant topic in Kate’s and Wesley’s letters . Some prisoners mentioned hard rubber or gutta-percha jewelry in their diaries or letters, and others referred to presents sent to family members without the specifics noted by Wesley. Prisoners like Lieutenant Robert Smith and Captain William Peel discussed making jewelry, but these two were among those few prisoners paid to produce the finest quality items (Smith 1864; Wilds 2005). Wesley appeared to have become obsessed with finding Kate better and better examples of a variety of jewelry. The motivations behind his continued bestowment of jewelry on Kate can only be speculated upon. Perhaps it was a means of providing some enjoyment to Kate in the uncertain times. Possibly Wesley felt Kate wanted these items to share with her family and friends, reminding them of his own fate. It could be that Kate exhibited her status in society with these prisoner-carved pieces. Possibly Wesley gained status as a preferred customer of Lieutenant Waesche and others. Whatever the reasons, Wesley must have gained some pleasure through this activity. Hard Rubber and Hard Times (September 19, 1864–March 12, 1865) r 125 His pursuit of the finest of jewelry items kept him constantly thinking about Kate’s reaction to the next item sent. Although Wesley and Kate talk of using gutta-percha in the making of jewelry, the material was actually hard rubber. Woshner explains the differences between these materials, noting that the majority of manufactured buttons, chart rules, and combs used during the Civil War were made of hard rubber (Woshner 1999:48–49). Patented in 1851 by Nelson Goodyear, hard rubber was molded into a variety of things useful to soldiers. The India Rubber Company, the Novelty Rubber Company, and the American Rubber Company were the main producers of hard rubber items (Woshner 1999:54). Prisoners used their carving skills to alter these hard rubber items into fashionable jewelry. Archaeologically recovered from the Johnson’s Island prison site are hundreds of examples of waste material from the jewelry industry. The most common items converted into jewelry were hard rubber buttons and chart rules, skillfully carved into finger rings, crosses, brooches, or other items desired by the prisoners and their families. Fig. 29. Carved hard rubber “badge,”broken and missing the inlays for three sets (FS4593, length 16.7 mm). (CHMA. Photograph by author.) 126 s I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island Sets of gold, silver, gem stones, mother of pearl, copper, and iron were liberally used for decorating the jewelry made at Johnson’s Island. The master jewelers carved the exquisite pieces sought after by many prisoners , and even some of the guard. The archaeological record provides some common symbols, including the cross, heart, hand with pointing finger, shield, acorn, fish, diamond, and various forms of scrolls. Many gold and silver sets also sported initials. Every stage of the jewelry-making process has been discovered at Johnson’s Island. Excavations at Block 4, a regular housing block, produced hundreds of pieces of hard rubber waste and abandoned pieces from this work. The prisoners’ writings talk of hundreds trying their hand at jewelry making, and the evidence confirms both the numbers (a) (c) (b) Fig. 30. Hard rubber chart rule pieces as raw material for jewelry: (a) example of complete hard rubber rule (by permission of Mike Woshner, length 30 cm); (b) edge fragment of hard rubber rule (FS0708, length 16.1 mm); (c) larger chart rule waste piece with melted edge (FS1605, length 36.4 mm). (CHMA. Photographs by author.) Hard Rubber and Hard Times (September 19, 1864–March 12, 1865) r 127 making hard rubber items and their varied artistic ability. “Some...