Lens on the Texas Frontier

Cased Images—Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, and Tintypes

Photographs from the฀ Lawrence T. Jones III Collection฀ cAsed ImAges—dAguerreotyPes, AmbrotyPes, And tIntyPes t ennessee฀native฀William฀P.฀Hardeman฀moved฀to฀Matagorda,฀ Texas,฀with฀his฀father฀in฀1835.฀He฀fought฀in฀the฀Texas฀Revolution ฀and฀took฀part฀in฀numerous฀Indian฀campaigns฀during฀the฀ 1830s฀and฀1840s.฀Taken฀in฀either฀Texas฀or฀Mexico,฀this฀daguerreotype ฀of฀Hardeman฀shows฀him฀at฀the฀time฀he฀was฀serving฀as฀a฀scout฀ with฀Benjamin฀McCulloch’s฀company฀of฀Jack฀Hays’s฀Texas฀Rangers ฀during฀the฀Mexican฀War฀of฀1846–1848. ฀ Hardeman฀is฀dressed฀in฀a฀surplus฀US฀Army฀uniform฀jacket฀with฀ US฀Army–style฀rank฀insignia฀worn฀on฀each฀shoulder.฀The฀two฀ circular฀objects฀next฀to฀the฀rank฀insignia฀straps฀are฀curious,฀but฀ they฀have฀not฀been฀identified฀c nclusively฀to฀date.฀They฀are฀not฀ standard฀US฀Army฀insignia,฀and฀each฀appears฀to฀be฀a฀device฀showing ฀a฀star฀within฀a฀wreath.฀If฀so,฀they฀may฀serve฀to฀identify฀him฀ as฀a฀volunteer฀Texas฀Ranger฀officer฀se ving฀with฀Zachary฀Taylor’s฀ Army. ฀ When฀he฀was฀finished฀with฀his฀Mexi an฀War฀service,฀ ฀ Hardeman฀returned฀to฀Guadalupe฀County,฀Texas,฀and฀farmed฀ on฀his฀plantation.฀During฀the฀American฀Civil฀War฀barely฀fi teen฀ years฀later,฀Hardeman฀served฀as฀a฀successful฀Texas฀cavalry฀commander ฀and฀eventually฀was฀promoted฀to฀the฀rank฀of฀brigadier฀ general฀in฀the฀Confederate฀Army.฀At฀the฀end฀of฀the฀war,฀he฀moved฀ to฀Mexico,฀where฀he฀served฀briefly฀as฀a฀battali n฀commander฀in฀ Maximilian’s฀doomed฀Imperial฀Army.฀Hardeman฀returned฀to฀ Texas฀in฀1866฀and฀worked฀as฀a฀public฀servant.฀He฀was฀one฀of฀the฀ founders฀of฀what฀is฀now฀Texas฀A&M฀University.฀Hardeman฀is฀ buried฀in฀the฀Texas฀State฀Cemetery฀in฀Austin. Sixth฀Plate฀Daguerreotype฀by฀Unknown฀Artist,฀ca.฀1846 First฀Lieutenant William Polk Hardeman฀(1816–1898), Company A, First Regiment Texas Mounted Volunteers (John C. Hay’s Texas Rangers) Jones฀Collection,฀DeGolyer฀Library,฀SMU •฀Photographs฀from฀the฀Lawrence฀T.฀Jones฀III฀Collection฀• •฀18฀• F resh฀out฀of฀West฀Point฀at฀the฀beginning฀of฀the฀Mexican฀ War,฀Second฀Lieutenant฀Samuel฀Bell฀Maxey฀was฀assigned฀to฀ the฀7th฀US฀Infantry฀Regiment,฀in฀Monterrey,฀Mexico.฀Maxey฀ stopped฀in฀New฀Orleans฀while฀traveling฀to฀Mexico.฀There฀he฀had฀ his฀daguerreotype฀made฀by฀James฀Maguire,฀one฀of฀New฀Orleans’s฀ pioneer฀photographers.฀During฀the฀American฀Civil฀War,฀Maxey฀ sided฀with฀the฀Confederacy฀and฀eventually฀was฀promoted฀to฀major฀ general฀in฀the฀Confederate฀Army.฀After฀the฀war,฀he฀became฀an฀ important฀political฀figu e฀in฀Texas฀politics฀and฀served฀two฀terms฀ as฀a฀Texas฀US฀Senator฀during฀the฀1880s.฀This฀is฀the฀earliest฀known฀ photographic฀likeness฀of฀Maxey฀and฀is฀previously฀unpublished. Sixth฀Plate฀ Daguerreotype ฀by฀James฀ Maguire,฀ New฀Orleans,฀ Louisiana,฀฀ ca.฀1846 Brevet Second Lieutenant Samuel Bell Maxey, 7th US Infantry Regiment, US Army Jones฀Collection ,฀DeGolyer฀ Library,฀SMU t his฀Texas฀daguerreotype ฀presents฀a฀curious฀ problem฀of฀identifi ation.฀ Inscribed฀in฀period฀ink฀manuscript ฀on฀the฀silk฀pad฀are฀the฀ surname฀“Mr.฀Robie”฀and฀the฀ location฀“Austin,฀Texas.” ฀ Is฀Mr.฀Robie฀the฀subject฀of฀ the฀daguerreotype,฀or฀is฀this฀ an฀early฀signed฀photographer’s฀ imprint?฀There฀is฀no฀record฀ of฀anybody฀with฀that฀surname฀ living฀in฀Austin฀during฀the฀ late฀1840s,฀but฀record฀keeping฀ at฀that฀time฀was฀problematic.฀ One฀Hiram฀Bliss฀Robie฀served฀ with฀the฀US฀Army฀during฀ the฀Mexican฀War,฀and฀in฀1847฀ he฀was฀stationed฀in฀Matamoros ,฀Mexico,฀just฀across฀the฀ Rio฀Grande฀from฀Brownsville ,฀Texas.฀In฀1857฀this฀same฀man฀is฀listed฀in฀Craig’s Daguerreian Registry฀(vol.฀3)฀as฀a฀daguerreotypist฀in฀Lawrence,฀Massachusetts.฀ Although฀the฀evidence฀is฀circumstantial,฀it฀is฀possible฀that฀after฀his฀ discharge฀from฀the฀army,฀Hiram฀Robie฀operated฀for฀a฀short฀time฀ as฀an฀itinerant฀daguerreotypist฀in฀Texas฀before฀returning฀to฀his฀ home฀in฀New฀England. Sixth฀Plate฀Daguerreotype฀by฀Unknown฀Artist,฀Austin,฀Texas,฀ca.฀1848 “Mr. Robie, Austin, Texas” Jones฀Collection,฀DeGolyer฀Library,฀SMU •฀Cased฀Images฀• •฀19฀• F rancis฀S.฀K.฀Russell฀was฀a฀cadet฀at฀the฀United฀States฀Military ฀Academy฀from฀1841฀to฀1843.฀He฀was฀appointed฀second฀ lieutenant฀in฀the฀newly฀formed฀US฀Mounted฀Rifles฀in 1846฀ and฀promoted฀to฀first฀lieutenant฀in 1848.฀During฀the฀Mexican฀War,฀ Russell฀was฀brevetted฀for฀gallant฀and฀meritorious฀conduct฀at฀the฀ Battle฀of฀Chapultepec฀in฀Mexico฀City.฀His฀later฀military฀service฀ was฀less฀than฀stellar.฀Lieutenant฀Russell,฀“known฀to฀be฀intemperate฀ in฀his฀habits,”฀was฀dismissed฀from฀the฀army฀by฀President฀Millard฀ Fillmore฀in฀1852฀for฀failing฀to฀account฀for฀thirty฀thousand฀dollars...