Mary Todd Lincoln

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Mary Todd Lincoln (1818‒82) was the wife of President Abraham Lincoln and first lady of the United States during the Civil War. Born into a large and influential family in Kentucky, she moved to Springfield, Illinois in 1837, where she met Lincoln. As first lady, Mary Lincoln renovated the White House, established a salon where political and literary figures could meet, nursed wounded soldiers in hospitals, and raised money for impoverished former slaves who were flooding into Washington. She helped to define the role of the modern first lady that was emulated in different forms by her successors. She and Lincoln had four sons, Robert Todd (1843‒1926), Edward Baker (1846‒50), William Wallace (1850‒62), and Thomas “Tad” (1853‒71), three of whom died during her lifetime. She was especially hard hit by the death of William (“Willie”), who was stricken by typhoid fever in the second year of Lincoln’s first term. She was with Lincoln when he was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre on the night of April 14, 1865. As a widow, Mary Lincoln sought out spiritualists who she hoped could enable her to communicate with her sons, and in 1875 she was consigned to an insane asylum at the initiative of her son Robert. With the help of Myra Bradwell, one of the first female lawyers in the United States, she won her release and lived most of the rest of her life in France. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

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Senator John Slidell of Louisiana

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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John Slidell (1793-1871) was a United States senator and a Confederate diplomat, best remembered for his involvement in the Trent affair, which in 1861 nearly brought war between the United States and Great Britain. Slidell was born in New York City into a wealthy merchant family and graduated from Columbia College. He worked for a time in Europe and then as a lawyer in New York. In 1819 he moved to New Orleans, where he married Marie Mathilde Deslonde, from a distinguished French family. Slidell served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845 and in the Senate from 1853 to 1861. With the outbreak of the Civil War, he was chosen to represent the Confederacy in France. He was on his way to Europe on the British mail steamer Trent when the ship was intercepted by U.S. naval forces. Slidell and fellow passenger James Mason were detained for a time at Fort Warren in Boston harbor, but eventually allowed to continue their journey. Slidell worked to build the Confederate navy by purchasing ships in France and acquired French loans using cotton as collateral, but he was never able to achieve his chief goal, formal recognition by a European power of the Confederacy as an independent state. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Caleb Cushing

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Caleb Cushing (1800‒1879) was born in Salisbury, Massachusetts, the son of a shipmaster and merchant. In 1802 he moved with his family to Newburyport, Massachusetts, a town with which he had a lifelong association. He was educated at Harvard College and Harvard Law School, practiced law, wrote several books, and became a close associate of Daniel Webster, a prominent lawyer and future secretary of state. After several unsuccessful tries, Cushing was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1834, where he served four terms. In 1843‒44 he undertook a mission to China, where he negotiated the Treaty of Wanghia (1844), the first bilateral agreement between the United States and China. In addition to holding various state and local posts, he was attorney general of the United States during the presidency of Franklin Pierce, 1853‒57. Although Cushing was, for a Massachusetts politician, relatively sympathetic to the South and its position on the constitutionality of slavery, he backed Lincoln during the Civil War. In 1874 he was appointed minister to Spain by President Ulysses S. Grant, and he held that post until 1877. At different stages of his career Cushing was a Whig, a Democrat, and a Republican. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

President Jefferson Davis, Confederate States of America

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Jefferson Davis (1808-89) was the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, the nation formed in 1861 by the secession from the Union of 11 southern states. Born on the Mississippi frontier, Davis graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and became a slaveholding landowner on a plantation given to him by a wealthy older brother. He served in Congress and the Senate in the 1840s, fought with distinction in the Mexican War of 1846‒48, and in 1853 was appointed secretary of war by President Franklin Pierce. He returned to the Senate in 1857, where he advocated the spread of slavery to new territories. He was the unanimous choice of the seceding states to head the Confederacy. Davis worked hard at his presidential duties, but he was far less successful than his northern rival, Abraham Lincoln, either in inspiring the public or in mastering the enormous military and political challenges brought by the long Civil War. After the war, Davis was charged with treason, although not tried for it, and served two years in prison at Fort Monroe, Virginia. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Secretary of the Navy Judah P. Benjamin, Confederate States of America

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Judah P. Benjamin (1811−84) was a wealthy lawyer who served as attorney general, secretary of war, and secretary of state in the cabinet of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy. (In this photograph he is misidentified as secretary of the navy). Born in Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands, he was raised in Charleston, South Carolina, and attended law school at Yale. He practiced law in New Orleans and became a planter who at one point owned 140 slaves. Benjamin was elected to the U.S. Senate from Louisiana in 1852 and served until early 1861 when, with the secession of the southern states, Davis appointed him attorney general, making him the first Jew to hold a cabinet-level office in an American government. After the war, he fled to England, where he practiced law and wrote a book regarded as a legal classic, The Sale of Personal Property (1868). His face appeared on the Confederate two-dollar bill, although in a different image from the one shown here. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Charles Sumner (1811−74) was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1851 as a member of the Free-Soil Party, which he had helped to found to oppose the extension of slavery into newly acquired U.S. territories. A forceful orator, Sumner campaigned tirelessly for the abolition of slavery. He gained particular fame in May 1856 when he was assaulted on the floor of the Senate by Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina, whose cousin, Senator Andrew P. Butler of South Carolina, Sumner had lambasted over southern efforts to extend slavery into the territory of Kansas. Sumner took years to recover from the beating he received from Brooks. Sumner remained in the Senate after the Civil War. During the Reconstruction era he favored a harsh policy toward the South and campaigned for the establishment of full equality and civil rights for emancipated slaves. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Brigadier General Joseph E. Johnston, Confederate States of America

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Joseph E. Johnston (1807−91) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. Born at Cherry Grove, near Farmville, Virginia, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1829 and fought in the Black Hawk, Seminole, and Mexican Wars. Early in the Civil War he commanded the Army of the Shenandoah and in that capacity led Confederate forces at the First Battle of Bull Run (1861). He later took command of the Army of the Tennessee and opposed Union general William Tecumseh Sherman during the Atlanta Campaign of 1864. After trying to block Sherman’s advance through the Carolinas, he surrendered his army near Durham’s Station, North Carolina on April 26, 1865, more than two weeks after General Robert E. Lee had surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard, Confederate States of America

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard (1818‒93) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. Born near New Orleans, Louisiana, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1838. He served with distinction in the Mexican War (1846‒48). With the outbreak of the Civil War, he resigned his commission in the United States Army and entered the Confederate army. In June 1861 he was given command of the Army of the Potomac and led Confederate forces at the first Battle of Bull Run. At the Battle of Shiloh, in April 1862, he assumed command after General Albert Sidney Johnston was mortally wounded. He later commanded the Army of the Mississippi and was part of the southern effort to block General William Tecumseh Sherman’s march through the Carolinas. At the end of the war he surrendered his army to Sherman. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

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Captain David Farragut

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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David Farragut (1801‒70) was a Union naval officer in the American Civil War. He entered the U.S. Navy in 1810, at the age of nine, and fought against the British in the War of 1812 and later against pirates in the Caribbean. During the Civil War, he led the Union forces that captured New Orleans in April 1862, and worked closely with the army of General Ulysses S. Grant in the siege and capture of Vicksburg in July 1863. He was promoted to admiral in 1866 and remained on active duty until his death. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Major General William Rosecrans

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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William Rosecrans (1819‒98) was a general on the Union side in the American Civil War. Born in Kingston, Ohio, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1842. After serving in the Engineer Corps and as assistant professor at West Point, he left the army in 1854 to take up a career in architecture and civil engineering. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, he rejoined the army, commanded the Department of Western Virginia, and later commanded the Army of the Mississippi and the Army of the Cumberland. His most significant victories were at Corinth and Iuka, Mississippi. After the war he served as U.S. minister to Mexico and as a member of Congress. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Brigadier General Joseph Hooker

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Joseph Hooker (1814‒79) was a Union general in the American Civil War. Born in Hadley, Massachusetts, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served in the Mexican War (1846‒48). During the Civil War, he commanded a division in the Peninsular Campaign of 1862 and as a corps commander led the initial Union attacks at the Battle of Antietam. In January 1863 he replaced Ambrose Everett Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac, but he was relieved of his command by President Abraham Lincoln in June of that year after suffering a serious defeat at Chancellorsville. He later served under General Ulysses S. Grant in the western theater of operations and was with General William Tecumseh Sherman when he entered Atlanta in September 1864. His nickname was “Fighting Joe” Hooker. In this photograph, taken in 1861 or 1862, he is identified as a brigadier general. He was later promoted to major general. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Brigadier General George Washington Cullum

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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George Washington Cullum (1809–92) was a Union general in the American Civil War. Born in New York City, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1833 and served in the Army Corps of Engineers developing fortifications along the New England coast and in the Mexican War (1846–48). Prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and aide-de-camp to Commanding General of the Army Winfield Scott. In 1861 he became a member of the U.S. Sanitation Commission and was promoted to brigadier general. He served as chief of staff and chief engineer to Henry Wager Halleck, commander of the Department of Missouri. He supported the siege of Corinth, an offensive in Mississippi which resulted in the capture of a strategic Confederate railroad station. Cullum was appointed as superintendent of the United States Military Academy in 1864, where he remained for two years. He married Elizabeth Hamilton Halleck in 1875, the widow of General Halleck. Cullum is known for publishing the Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Brigadier General Henry Washington Benham

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Henry Washington Benham (1813–84) was a Union general in the American Civil War. Born in Connecticut, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1837. Benham served in the Army Corps of Engineers developing fortifications along the Eastern seaboard and was wounded in the Mexican War (1846–48). During the Civil War, he led the troops which defeated Confederate General Robert S. Garnett at Corrick’s Ford, resulting in the death of the first general officer of the war and his own promotion to brigadier general. Benham led an unsuccessful attack in Secessionville, South Carolina, which led to his demotion to lieutenant general and reassignment to the engineer brigade of the Army of the Potomac. He is known for inventing the picket-shovel, a portable entrenching tool. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Varina Howell Davis

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Varina Howell Davis (1826‒1906) was the second wife of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America, and thus the only first lady of the Confederacy. Born in rural Louisiana to a family with roots in both the North and the South, she was educated at a boarding school in Philadelphia. She married Davis, a widower, in 1845. She is known to have been skeptical about the South’s ability to win a war with the North and about her husband’s suitability as a national leader, but she graciously played her role as hostess at the Confederate White House in Richmond. She was the mother of six surviving children. In 1890, after Jefferson Davis’s death, she moved to New York City, where she spent the remainder of her life. In an article that appeared in the New York World in April 1901, Varina Davis wrote that it was God's will that the North had won the Civil War. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Brigadier General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Confederate States of America

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Simon Bolivar Buckner (1823−1914) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. Born in the border state of Kentucky, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he later taught, and served with the U.S. Army in the Mexican War (1846−48). He resigned from the army in 1855 to practice law in Kentucky. He entered the service of the Confederacy in September 1861 and was given command of a division of the Central Army of Kentucky. On February 16, 1862, he surrendered the fort and garrison of Fort Donelson to the Union, giving the then-obscure General Ulysses S. Grant his first important victory of the war. Taken as a prisoner of war, Buckner was released in a prisoner exchange in August of that year. He went on to hold a variety of commands for the remainder of the war. Buckner served one term as governor of Kentucky in 1887−91. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

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General Leonidas Polk, Confederate States of America

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Leonidas Polk (1806−64) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1827. He later left the army for the church, and became the first Episcopal bishop of Louisiana in 1841. With the outbreak of the Civil War, he offered his services to the Confederate army and in June 1861 was made a major general. He commanded troops at the Battles of Belmont and Shiloh and in the unsuccessful southern effort to repulse General William Tecumseh Sherman’s advance on Atlanta. He was killed at the Battle of Pine Mountain, near Kennesaw, Georgia, on June 14, 1864. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Salmon P. Chase (1808‒73) was secretary of the treasury in the administration of President Abraham Lincoln. Born in New Hampshire, as a child he was sent to live with an uncle in Ohio after the death of his father. Chase was a deeply religious man who throughout his life sought to reconcile his personal and political ambitions with his faith and sense of obligation to society. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1826, he studied law in Washington, DC, but then returned to Ohio where he developed a successful law career. He became involved with the American Sunday School Union, defended the rights of former slaves in the courts, worked to establish the Free Soil Party, and in 1849 was elected to the U.S. Senate from Ohio by a combination of Free Soil and Democratic votes. In 1855 he was elected governor of Ohio on the ticket of the newly established Republican Party. The following year he played a prominent role in organizing the national Republican Party. As secretary of the treasury, Chase’s great achievement was to organize the financing of the Civil War, which he did through reforms that included the introduction of paper money and the establishment of a national banking system. He resigned his position in June 1864, but later that year Lincoln appointed him chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In that capacity Chase presided over the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson and was involved in important decisions relating to Reconstruction. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

William H. Seward

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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William H. Seward (1801‒72) was a prominent New York politician who served as secretary of state to Abraham Lincoln and emerged as Lincoln’s closest cabinet adviser. A graduate of Union College, he studied law and was admitted to the bar but soon entered politics, serving first in the New York state senate. A member of the Whig Party, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, in which he served 1849‒61. By the late 1850s, he was the most prominent figure in the newly formed Republican Party. As secretary of state during the Civil War, he succeeded in heading off recognition of the Confederate States of America by the European powers. He remained in office after Lincoln’s death and, as secretary of state to President Andrew Johnson, negotiated the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Vice President Hannibal Hamlin

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Hannibal Hamlin (1809‒91) of Maine served as vice president to President Abraham Lincoln in 1861‒65 and was the first U.S. vice president from the Republican Party. He served in the U.S. Senate as a Democrat from 1848 to 1857, but broke with his party over the issue of slavery. He was replaced by Andrew Johnson on the Republican ticket for the election of 1864, and thus did not become president when Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865. After the war, Hamlin returned to the Senate (1869‒81) and was U.S. minister to Spain. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

President Abraham Lincoln

December 29, 2015, 6:23 am

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Abraham Lincoln (1809‒65) was the 16th president of the United States. He was born in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky, and grew up in southwestern Indiana. He had little formal schooling. Largely self-educated, he became a lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, and was elected to the Illinois State Assembly in 1836 and in 1846 to a single term in the U.S. Congress. In the 1850s he became a leader in the new Republican Party and a national spokesman against the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which opened up the entire territory of the Louisiana Purchase to slavery. Lincoln’s election to the presidency in 1860 precipitated the secession of the southern states from the Union in early 1861. In the ensuing Civil War, Lincoln defeated the South, saved the Union from dissolution, and ended slavery in the United States. His domestic achievements included the Morrill Act (1862) creating the land-grant colleges and universities; the Homestead Act (1862), which enabled settlers to obtain 160 acres (65 hectares) of farmland by residing on and cultivating it for five years; and the Pacific Railroad Act (1862) authorizing the building of the first transcontinental railroad. Lincoln was assassinated by a Confederate sympathizer on April 14, 1865, five days after the effective end of the Civil War. This photograph, one of several of Lincoln by Matthew Brady, was taken in New York City on Monday morning, February 27, 1860, several hours before Lincoln delivered his famous Cooper Union address. In this speech, Lincoln, drawing upon his own careful analysis, examined the views of the 39 signers of the Constitution and argued that at least 21 of them—a clear majority—believed that Congress should control the expansion of slavery into the territories. Lincoln was later reported to have said that it was the speech and the portrait—the most famous of Lincoln’s beardless poses—that made him president. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.