American Historical Ephemera & Photography, including African Americana

2 1/4 x 3 3/4 in. CDV on cardstock mount with Warren's Boston imprint on verso, including the line "Under the Superintendence of Mr. S. B. Heald" (toning and spotting to print, light soiling to mount). Published as Plate 43 in Picturing Frederick Douglass; No. 99 in the catalogue raisonné.

2 3/4 x 3 in. clipped CDV of Horace Greeley (toning, brown residue to right side, wear to edges and corners, significantly clipped). Uncredited.

The remainder of the decorative 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. album is filled with CDVs, cabinet cards, and other mounted photographs credited to a wide variety of Ohio photographers including: Downing of Waynesville, OH (3); J. H. Reinhold, Weckman, J. H. Meyer, Mrs. Charles Waldack, and Young & Carl of Cincinnati, OH; Smith and Zanesville Art Company of Zanesville, OH; F. J. Buckmyer, Baker & Eberly (2), and Urlin of Columbus, OH; Armstrong, Sellers, and J. H. Shell of Miamisburg, OH; P. F. Finch of Lebanon, OH; Chesebro of Toledo, OH; Bell & Cline of Cambridge, OH; and Smith of Wilmington, OH. Other photographers credited include B. Ashbaucher of Bluffton, IN; C. A. Doane of Carrollton, MO; Andrews of Carlisle, PA: Sours of St. Joseph, MO; the Chicago Photo Co. of Chicago, IL; and more. -- Together, 37 images, mostly CDVs and cabinet cards. In generally fair condition, with varying degrees of toning, soiling, and surface wear to most.

A small portion of the subjects are identified by inscriptions, including a Hope Sims, J. N. Lenhart (b. 1868), Hope Styles (described as the "mother of Dora"), Sam Dunwiddie, described as "Will's father," and L. Marian Sprowls. Through an Ancestry search, we were able to find one Hope A. Stiles (1838-1925) working as a housekeeper in Warren County, with a daughter named Dora A. Stiles (ca 1862-1939), who appears to have never married. A 1924 article in the Wilmington News-Journal refers to a "Mrs. Hope Stiles and daughter, Miss Dora, of Corwin" as attendants at a Stiles family reunion at the home of Joseph stiles on Cincinnati Pike near Spring Valley. It appears that Hope's husband, George, fought in the 154th Ohio Infantry during the Civil War.

Through additional Ancestry other searches, we could not find either clear familial connections between the individuals named in this album, nor a direct connection from any of these individuals to the abolitionist movement, though it is possible that someone could find links with further research.

 It is possible the album was put together later than the dates these images were captured, as a compilation of disparate ancestors or community members, including an image of Frederick Douglass that perhaps had been collected by one of the members with an appreciation for Douglass and the abolitionist cause. Ohio was a hotbed of abolitionist and Underground Railroad activity, with numerous Quaker settlements and communities including Waynesville and Wilmington, and non-Quaker abolitionist centers such as Zanesville (where the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society was established).