Picker’s Karma
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The Delaware State Archive
I had an unexpected history lesson about 10 years ago. We were still living in Charleston, SC, and we went to Ed Roumillat’s Auction every two weeks for 6 or 7 years ( http://www.a-a.com/ ) . One Saturday, when I arrived the sale was almost over. They were selling the last of the table lots, my favorite part of the sale.
I joined a friend at the table lots as most of the other buyers began to wander off to pack up their days’ work. The auctioneer was on the last table lot when I stepped up and bid, wanting the glassware. Into my ear, my friend said “I’ll split it with you, I want the Reader’s Digest books.” So, I bid $10 and we got the whole 8 foot long table of clutter.
There were a few pieces of Depression Era Glass by Paden City Glass. The pattern was Crow’s Foot and it was Amber. There were some tea cups, saucers and plates. My companion was getting ready to throw some stuff in the trash when I stopped her. She handed me a yellowed stack of card stock folders, 3 – two larger and a smaller one. In one large folder, I saw 3 copies of a rather creepy picture, each mounted on heavy card stock similar to a cabinet card but much larger. It was a Civil War Era likeness of a man with whiskers; he is wearing a coat with tails as he stands on the porch of a small mansion, with his wife nearby. She may be in mourning. Her dress is very dark or black, and it has a full hoop skirt. She is standing off to the side of the man, which I thought was strange. The other large photo consisted of a modern portrait taken in color, in front of the same house but about 110 years later! A handsome woman, probably in her 60’s or 70’s stood in front of the house, which looked much the same as it had the century before except the large plant urns on either side of the front door had been swapped out for a pair of lions. The last folder, a small one, held three blown up images of the Civil War era photo with the image enlarged to show just the couple on the porch. It was fuzzy for the camera was too far away to make a good close up portrait. (Sadly, this is the only image I still have a copy of. After having computers crash, hard drives freeze, and domains moved around, I can’t find any of the other pictures.)
On the outside of one folder, someone had written in red ink, “Du Pont’s”. There was a photographer mentioned in the margin of the prints. The civil war era print had the name Jason Torbert/Talbot in the margin. With this limited information, I listed and sold one of the larger old portraits on eBay. It brought $150! This prompted me to look for more background regarding that image – after I took the lady who bought the lot with me out for dinner.
All the folders came from a prominent studio in Wilmington, Delaware, that of Willard Stewart. Stewart was also known for his work with the WPA in the 1930’s. He took about 246 of the photos in the Delaware portion of the Historical American Buildings Survey, now digitized and available on line. Most of those photos were taken in New Castle County, and surrounding area. He included some additional photos from around the state. I cannot recall where I found the information on Jason Torbert or Talbot, the name included in the margin of the older photo. I think he worked in the Wilmington, DE area during the Civil War Era. At any rate, I took the information about Willard Stewart and The name ‘Du Pont’ on the outside of one folder and began to ask questions, make calls, and search the internet. I tried to find the house in the photos on the HABS website with no luck. I searched for photos of the Du Ponts, with no luck. The auction house where I found the photos told me they had sold part of an estate for a Du Pont family member who had a place in down town Charleston, Alice Du Pont. I tried to find something on her name but couldn’t. Finally, I called the Wilmington, DE Historic Society. I sent them a digital copy of the image, asking if they knew the house or the people in the photo as I thought it was a Du Pont family member. Wilmington was quite rude, told me the Du Ponts were very private people and she knew nothing about the house or the couple in the photo. In retrospect, perhaps she was so rude because I called from Charleston, SC, and she thought I wanted to send her the photo wrapped in a Confederate Battle Flag, or maybe my accent put her off.
Admiral Du Pont and Wife
For a few weeks I was stumped, not knowing where I could turn, then read something online about the Delaware State Archive. I gave them a call, spoke with a gentleman who was mildly interested in the photo when I mentioned Willard Stewart had probably made the photos from Jason Torbert’s negatives. I sent him a link to the photos and he told me he would get back to me. Later that day, he called to tell me he knew the subjects of the photo and where the photo was taken. The lady and gentleman in the photo were Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont with his wife, on the porch of their home – called Upper Louviers, which is still standing. The photograph must have been taken right after Admiral Du Pont retired from the U. S. Navy in a state of disgrace following a crippling defeat in Charleston Harbor. Perhaps that (and her wide hoop skirt) is the reason his wife is standing so far away from him. I asked the man at the State Archive why the people in Wilmington were so rude and he lead me to believe he had also observed some ‘attitude’ when dealing with that organization. I further learned that ‘no one’ seemed to have a copy of this photo. In fact, the state had no image of Upper Louviers at all.
Armed with fresh information, I listed the second print on eBay, including what I had learned about the home and the people. This print sold for over $250! I listed two of the smaller prints and made another $100. I still had one copy of the large print, the large print of the older lady taken in the 1970’s, and one small print of just Admiral Du Pont and his wife. I had made many times what I paid for the images, not including what I made off the glassware, plus I learned some things about the people who were involved in the Civil War that made it feel very real and very close –as it often did in Charleston. Prior to that time, I knew very little about the Civil War battles fought in Charleston and nothing about the contribution Admiral Du Pont made in developing the U. S. Navy into a modern fighting force. My husband, Rodney, served 20 years in the U. S. Navy and he didn’t know anything about Admiral Du Pont and how he influenced the U. S. Navy.
I debated selling the rest of the images in one lot, then I remembered how nice the man at the Delaware Archive was. I decided to call him and asked again if the archive had copies of these images and he confirmed they didn’t, so I offered to donate them to the Delaware State Archive and requested a tag on the images “Donated by Rodney and Wanda Jones of Charleston, SC”. With a small pang of regret, I packed the photos up, knowing they would be safer and better cared for out of the Lowcountry heat and humidity. I felt a sense of satisfaction deeper than the money I made, for those photos gave me an unforgettable memory and a great story to tell. That’s when Picking begins to mean more than making money. Sometimes it’s about saving elements of our history, or reuniting artifacts with their people or homes. And that’s the story about how I became a contributor to the Delaware State Archive, and it’s also how Wilmington, DE Historical Society missed out on a chance to have a potentially rare local photo in their collection.