File talk:Samuel wilson portrait.jpg
Use in children's nonfiction
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This file has been used in:
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Pretty funny to see my name on a copyright page. Arlo James Barnes 00:27, 17 February 2019 (UTC)
Description of physical ferrotype from auction lot
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This historically important tintype image of Samuel Wilson, the creator of America's Uncle Sam character, depicts a half length quarter plate portrait of a bearded Sam Wilson in dark waist coat, vest, white shirt and tie and mounted in the original black Union case with photographers imprint of velvet pad and inked manuscript on the back plate "Sam'l Wilson, St. Mary's Str., Troy, N.Y. 1852".
This is the only known photograph of Sam Wilson, the official progenitor of one of America's most iconic national characters "Uncle Sam". Samuel Wilson (1766-1854) was born in then Menotomy, Massachusetts, now a part of Arlington. He was the owner of a meat packing company and during the War of 1812 one or more of his workers declared that the meat they were packing was stamped "U.S." because it belonged to "Uncle Sam Wilson". Army regulations of the time required that all meat purchased for the army had to be stamped with the initials of the contractor and the initials "U.S." for the United States. The workers at Wilson Brothers meat packing company jokingly stated that as all the meat was stamped "U.S." this made Sam Wilson a man of wealth and importance in the country.
These early stories of Wilson's workers and company were extensively researched and documents by Colonel Edgar T. Noyes of San Antonio, Alton Ketchum of N.Y.C. and Thomas I Gerson of Schenectady, N.Y. This research and documentation was considered so well-done and detailed that Samuel Wilson was officially declared as the progenitor of the national symbol of Uncle Sam by the 87th Congress of the United States on Sept. 15, 1961. This quarter-plate ferrotype portrait of Samuel Wilson was a part of the collection of Col. Noyes material relating to Uncle Sam and was one of the pieces presented to the U.S. Congress as part of the documentation leading up to their official act recognizing Wilson as the origin of this important American symbol.
This ferrotype (tintype) portrait was taken by the early Troy, N.Y. photographer Christopher Schoonmaker at his studio in 282 River Street in 1852, shortly before Sam Wilson's death in Troy in 1854. This lot includes the complete documented chain of ownership from Col. Noyes to the current owner. The complete story of the origin and history of Uncle Sam was published in the Nov., 1966 issue of the American Legion Magazine. A digital copy of this photograph is used in the 2016 Wikipedia entry under Uncle Sam.
http://forsythesauctions.com/auction042416_08.htm#262 Arlo James Barnes 00:52, 17 February 2019 (UTC)
