American Historical Ephemera and Photography

Archive of letters, documents, photographs, and ephemera related to daguerreotypist John Adams ("J.A.") Whipple and extended family members from both the Whipple family and that of his wife, Elizabeth Tufts Mann (1819-1898). Dozens of items, spanning ca 1775-1900 (bulk 1800s). Archive is highlighted by the following: an undated, printed poem "The Daguerreotype" which describes photographer John A. Whipple at work; an October 1828 letter from Aaron Tufts (1793-1840) to his mother Margaret Rich Tufts (1758-1846) describing Ohio and Kentucky as well as the political sentiment surrounding the 1828 Presidential Election; a printed advertising card for the Boston and Worcester Rail Road, ca July 1834; and an assortment of photographs and other ephemera related primarily to children of John and Elizabeth Whipple.

"The Daguerreotype." N.d. [ca 1846?], N.p. [Boston?]. 1p, printed recto and verso, 7 3/4 x 9 3/4 in. A light-hearted rhyming poem in which the unidentified author describes the boisterous portrait-sitting of a family with fourteen children and a photographer identified as "Whipple." The author identifies all 14 children by name, relates their efforts to remain still, relays the relief when they believe the sitting is over, and conveys the dismay experienced when the photographer informs them that two children moved and the image must be retaken. The poem reads, in small part: "Now, ans'ring to our parents' call, / We muster in the artist's hall. / O, what a set of laughing faces! / What an array of shining graces ! / See, Whipple hastes with anxious care, / All things in order to prepare, / That Sol may all our faces fix, / Just as we look in forty-six." "But once more now our breath we hold / 'Till sixty seconds could be told. / Once more, we brace ourselves, and try / Firmly to keep the watery eye; / Resolved, this time, at least, we will / If it is possible, be still. 'Tis done! and to our glad surprise, The artist now, with glowing eyes / Holds up to our delighted view / The pictured group; so strictly true!"

TUFTS, Aaron. Autograph letter signed ("Aaron Tufts") to his mother in Boston. "Greenup County [Kentucky]," 26 October 1828. 4pp including integral address leaf, 8 x 12 1/4 in. Aaron Tufts describes his life in Kentucky, including the lack of teachers, as well as the city of Cincinnati ("the New York of the West"). He then describes the political sentiment regarding the upcoming Presidential election between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson: "We view the question as one of awful import as being in truth a question whether a man who has wallowed in vice from his youth from whose private character challenges an equal from states prisons, New Gates, or Botny Bay shall leap into the Presidential Chair[?] and supplant the the present incumbent and whose private virtues is an ornament to human nature as his transcendent talents are an honor to his country...." -- Additional correspondence includes: a letter from Jonathan Francis "Frank" Whipple (1827-1895) to his brother John Adams Whipple, 17 April 1850, referencing the "stiff business" that the photographer is doing as mentioned in the Boston papers; and a letter from Army Officer and Union General Fitz John Porter (1822-1901) to Medal of Honor recipient General Horatio C. King (1837-1918) regarding his departure from NYC, his health, and other matters, Morristown, NJ, 4 June 1897. -- A clipped signature "John A Whipple" Cambridge, 13 April 1865. -- Other documents and family correspondence.

[With:] Photographs of various formats featuring identified images of Annie Adams Whipple (1853-1930) and her husband Henry Lyman Shaw (1837-1911), Mary Frances Whipple (1875-1874), Lucy Warren Whipple (1857-1944), and Margaret Tufts Mann. -- Photographs of other unidentified subjects and events include a group of 10 celluloid negatives of 19th century photographs, possibly J.A. Whipple's works. -- Group of 10 contact sheets of 20th-century photographs depicting early auto races, beach scenes, a cityscape, and other views.

[Also with:] Ephemera spanning generations and various branches of the families including a wedding invitation, calling cards, newspapers, and an early advertising card for the "Boston and Worcester Rail Road." The first nine miles of the Boston & Worcester was completed between Boston and Newton, Massachusetts, in April 1832. Though not the first railroad in Massachusetts, it was the first common carrier of freight and passengers.

[Also with:] Small amount of modern genealogical notes and research related to the families and family members represented in the archive.

John Adams Whipple is described by the Smithsonian American Art Museum as "an innovative member of photography's first generation." He attempted his first daguerreotype in the winter of 1840 and experimented widely with the photographic process. He became one of the first manufacturers and suppliers of chemicals necessary for American daguerreotypists. Whipple is perhaps most recognized for his work alongside Harvard astronomer William Cranch Bond to produce views of the moon through a telescope at Harvard College Observatory between 1849-1851.