May 07, 2020 - Sale 2534

Sale 2534 - Lot 317

Price Realized: $ 32,500
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
(MILITARY--CIVIL WAR.) Newell, Lafayette V.; photographer. Photograph of a contraband family at Point Lookout. Albumen photograph, 3 1/2 x 2 inches, on original mount with photographer's backmark on verso; minor wear including light abrasions in upper area of image. [Point Lookout, MD], circa 1863-65
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Additional Details

Lafayette V. Newell (1833-1914) was a New Hampshire photographer who during the Civil War established himself at the large Union military base in Point Lookout, Maryland (see above). Numerous African-American families, having escaped from slavery in nearby Virginia, streamed into Point Lookout (and other union camps), where they were declared free as "contraband of war." This photograph shows an older man with a cane dressed in rags, accompanied by two children--very likely contrabands who had made their way to Point Lookout.