Presidents, Politicians, Famous Personages CDV's

CDV Edwin Booth

(1833-93) The son of Junius Brutus Booth and brother of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth. He established himself as the foremost American actor of his day. After 1863 he co-managed the Winter Garden Theatre in NYC where he staged Shakespearian tragedies including Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth and Othello. The production of Julius Caesar starring him and his two brothers, Junius Booth and John Wilkes Booth, as well as his 100 night appearance as Hamlet, were milestones in American theatre history. After the assassination of President Lincoln by his brother...  

CDV General Francis P. Blair, Jr.

(1821-75) The son of an advisor to presidents and the brother of Montgomery Blair, Abraham Lincoln's first postmaster general. From secession to reconstruction, Francis P. Blair, Jr. made a series of major contributions to the Union cause. No man did more to block Missouri's joining the Confederacy in 1861; as a U.S. Congressman he battled for Lincoln's early war programs; he was a distinguished divisional and corps commander in the Vicksburg and Atlanta campaigns; and as a post war senator battled the Radical Republicans in an attempt to bring...  

CDV Mrs. Julia Dent Grant

First Lady of the United States

(1826-1902) Wife of General and President Ulysses S. Grant. Born at White Haven plantation near St. Louis, Mo. She was the daughter of slaveholding planter and merchant, Colonel Frederick Dent, and the brother of Union General Frederick T. Dent. It was her brother who introduced her to his friend and West Point classmate, Ulysses S. Grant. They were married at White Haven on August 22, 1848. Julia served as First Lady of the United States, 1869-77.

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted...  

CDV John Lothrop Motley

U.S. Minister to the Austrian Empire

U.S. Minister to Great Britain

(1814-77) Historian, author and diplomat. Born at Dorchester, Mass., he studied under the noted historian George Bancroft at the Round Hill School in Northampton, Mass., and then went on to Harvard graduating in 1831. He served as the Secretary of Legation in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1841. He was the author of, "Causes of the Civil War in America" published in 1861, which made a very favorable impression on President Lincoln. Shortly afterwards, Lincoln...  

CDV Henry S. Sanford

U.S. Minister to Belgium during the Civil War

(1823-91) Secretary of the U.S. legation in Paris, 1849-53, and charge d'affaires, 1854. He was appointed U.S. Minister to Belgium by President Abraham Lincoln in 1861, this being Lincoln's first diplomatic appointment. Sanford served in this post until 1869 during which time he negotiated and signed the Scheldt treaty, dealing with commerce, navigation, naturalization and trademarks. He was one of the founders of the International African association, now the independent state of the Congo. He...  

CDV Edward Everett

Gave the keynote speech at dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery in 1863!

(1794-1865) Famous American orator and statesman. He made many famous speeches for the Union cause, the best known being his 2 hour oration preceeding President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Nov. 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery. He also served as U.S. Congressman, Governor of Massachusetts, Minister to Great Britain, President of Harvard University, Secretary of State and U.S. Senator.

Wet plate, albumen carte de...  

CDV General John A. Rawlins

(1831-69) Born at Galena, Illinois, he was a lawyer by occupation, and was admitted to the state bar in 1854. A young man named U.S. Grant clerked in Rawlins' brother's leather store in Galena. When the Civil War broke out, Grant asked Rawlins to be his aide de camp, and on Aug. 30, 1861, Rawlins was appointed assistant adjutant general on Grant's staff, and brigadier general on Aug. 11, 1863. During his brief life, Rawlins was Grant's alter ego and very intimate friend. He was one of the officers inside of the McLean house during Lee's surrender at...  

CDV General Leslie Coombs

(1793-1881) Born near Boonesboro, Clark County, Kentucky. During his distinguished career, Coombs was a lawyer, soldier, trustee of Transylvania University, a state legislator, state auditor, president of the Kentucky Central Railroad, and close friend and confidant of President William Henry Harrison, and Statesman Henry Clay. He was also associated with Vice President U.S.A., and Confederate General John C. Breckenridge, and the Crittenden family, and the Marshall family of Kentucky.

His father was a Virginian, who served as an officer...  

CDV President Andrew Johnson

(1808-75) Congressman, Senator and Governor of Tennessee. He was nominated and elected vice president on the Union Republican ticket in 1864. Upon Abraham Lincoln's assassination in April 1865, he became our 17th president and resolved to follow Lincoln's plans for reconstruction without bitterness or malice. His reconstruction plan clashed drastically with that of the Radical Republicans in congress, and Johnson's term was one humiliation after another, culminating on Feb. 24, 1868 with a resolution of impeachment against him. This failed by one vote to...  

CDV William H. Russell

"Bull Run" Russell

(1820-1907) Prominent English war correspondent who developed a reputation as Britain's finest military reporter. He came to America in 1861 to cover the American Civil War for the London Times. When General Irvin McDowell marched his inexperienced troops to the 1st battle of Bull Run, Va., Russell termed them a "rabble" army. Ironically, he was given the nickname "Bull Run" Russell for his panic stricken skedaddle from that battlefield. He published his Civil War experiences, which were...  

CDV General John C. Fremont & Mrs. Jessie Fremont

(1813-90) Known as the "Pathfinder," he played a leading part in the conquest of California. In 1850 he was elected as U. S. Senator from the newly admitted state and in 1856, Fremont was selected as the presidential candidate of the newly formed Republican party. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln appointed him major general in the Regular Army in command of the Department of the West with headquarters at St. Louis. His forces were defeated at the battle of Wilson's Creek, Mo., and he later was sent east to take command of the...  

CDV General Duncan Lamont Clinch

Hero of the Florida Seminole War of the 1830's. A fort in Florida is named for him. A native of North Carolina, he served in the U.S. Army from 1808-36. Died in 1849. His son, Duncan Lamont Clinch, Jr., fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, as Colonel of the 4th Georgia Cavalry.

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 4 card. Bust view in uniform with rank of brigadier general. Backmark: E. Anthony. Excellent condition.