Cabinet Cards & Carte de Visite's by Ypsilanti Photographer J. J. Stephenson

I bought these first two carte de visites, among a lot of nine, from an eBay dealer who apparently purchased them from a Livonia or Plymouth, Michigan estate sale. They have a possible relation to a man named P. Galt Miller. Beyond that they remain unnamed.

A short biography of Stephenson along with some example of his other work gleaned from across the internet will follow this next CDV.

"Jerome J. Stephenson was born in 1847 in Michigan. He married Betsy Frazier in 1871 and bought Edwin P. Baker’s studio in 1872. He operated his studio in Ypsilanti until he sold it to Frank P. Ford in 1903. At one point during his operations, for a limited time he offered a free cabinet card photograph to anyone over sixty years of age. It seems like he was a man before his time by being one of the pioneers of 'senior discounts'."

"This cabinet card portrait features a young girl intensely staring at
the camera in a studio in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The child is wearing a
dark dress accented by lace. She is also wearing earrings and a necklace
with a cross."

"This next photograph is a cabinet card from an earlier period, the mid-1890s, and shows a trombonist in what I believe is a US Army regimental band uniform but I have not found a confirmation yet. The eagle on the helmet is usually the official emblem but sometimes there were bands that imitated the military styles. And many regiments had independent styles that were not consistent with the ordinary soldier's uniform.

The musician has a piston valve trombone instead of a slide trombone. It was the more common form of trombone in 19th century bands, valves being easier to play in tune than the infinitely adjustable slide, and more practical in close quarters. Many a musician has lost an eye to a 7th position stretch from a clumsy slide trombone player. "

The next shot is a cabinet card of Frank Silva from the Ypsilanti Historical Society Photo Archives:

The next "CDV is of a young man wearing a fur hat and fringed buckskin suit, holding an 1868 Springfield percussion rifle and with a Colt 1860 Army revolver and Ames percussion pistol tucked into his belt with US buckle. Singed in the recto margin, Yours &c./ Bob Mason."

It's from a 2018 auction and sold for $156.

And a slew of CDVs taken from eBay:

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A Dudley Randall Poem in Milestone 2

I bought this Milestone 2 poetry Magazine at a Livonia estate sale this week. Milestone was the literary publication of Wayne (State) University and this second issue dates to 1949. While I don't recognize most of the names, Dudley Randall was both a nationally known poet and the librarian for the Wayne County General Hospital at Eloise via the Wayne County Library System. The poem featured is The Southern Road which was a revised version of the completed poem from 1948 that h as a handful or two of word differences between the two. I don't know if Randall edited the poem for later collected works editions or earlier but this link features it in its likely final form in 2009. Neither version particularly enchants me but the block print in the magazine is an added bonus.

A Cabinet Card of a Dead Man Lying in Repose From Wayne Photographer Susan Doolittle

The City of Wayne, Michigan was not a large village at the turn of the 20th century so it stands to reason that there wasn't a glut of photographers practicing their trade there. As such, the 3 cabinet cards and carte de visites that I own represents roughly a quarter of the early ones. Considering that the wives of Frank Hickok and William Corlett, first Village President of Wayne, took over after Frank's death in 1892 the list grows smaller beyond those two families. Had I snagged the Doolittle dead man cabinet card I'd be even that much more Wayne-rich in photographs. Speaking of Susan Doolittle, of whom I have learned very little about, it is interesting to note that Wayne had three women photographers in an era oft dominated by men in that very field. This photograph of a corpse is a startling example of her work.

Frederick Soop: Not An Equal Opportunity Restraunteer

Detroit Free Press , March 28, 1890 If you don't want to hear a racist tale of a suburban namesake then close your eyes now. As early as 1876 Frederick Soop had left his Belleville farm once again, having done a stint at the Hawkins House in Ypsilanti during the Civil War and the City Hotel in Detroit thereafter, and ventured off to Chatham, Ontario to run the Rutley Hotel , which was conducted as a Temperance House. Detroit Free Press , August 17, 1879 In 1879 he was searching for a good restaurant or small hotel to operate. Eventually he ended up on Washington Avenue near State Street running a dining hall which he ran until around 1890. Detroit Free Press , April 16, 1890 It was in 1888 when the aforementioned racial incident occurred at his dining establishment. It was then that William H. Haynes, a black doctor, sat down with his former classmate S. W. Barkwell for dinner. The men ordered but when the food was served none was placed before Mr. Haynes who, ironically, ha...

The Nankin Township Historical Society

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