New photo of Dr Mudd from Mr Dave Taylor?

[Anita]

Dave has built a good case for the photo being that of Dr. Mudd. I was struck by the physical likeness, in particular his ear. It appears to have the same characteristics as in other photos of Dr. Mudd.
The eyes/gaze also seems right. Lastly, there was a reason this photo was taken. It would have been documentation of Dr. Mudd's release.

[L Verge]

As best as I can see it, I have been focusing on the gentleman's nose, and it is quite close to resembling Dr. Mudd's in the carpentry shop photo. I am leaning more and more to it being a photo of Mudd, and if so, I'm speculating that it was taken as he prepared to leave for home. The only hitch is that it is a very relaxed photo for such an event.

What are the chances of the photo having been taken by a reporter from the mainland who was there to cover the departure of Mudd from the fort? Could this photo have appeared in print somewhere? Or, was it just a photo taken by someone who had been assigned to do the other photos of construction, etc. around the fort?

Very frustrating, this guessing game; but as I posted on Dave's site, this is what historians go through to seek the truth. And, it's nice to think that there are still things out there for us to discover or ponder over.

[Anita]

(05-23-2019 07:29 PM)L Verge Wrote:  As best as I can see it, I have been focusing on the gentleman's nose, and it is quite close to resembling Dr. Mudd's in the carpentry shop photo. I am leaning more and more to it being a photo of Mudd, and if so, I'm speculating that it was taken as he prepared to leave for home. The only hitch is that it is a very relaxed photo for such an event.

What are the chances of the photo having been taken by a reporter from the mainland who was there to cover the departure of Mudd from the fort? Could this photo have appeared in print somewhere? Or, was it just a photo taken by someone who had been assigned to do the other photos of construction, etc. around the fort?

Very frustrating, this guessing game; but as I posted on Dave's site, this is what historians go through to seek the truth. And, it's nice to think that there are still things out there for us to discover or ponder over.

I also thought there should be print coverage of this, if not at the fort, then his arrival home- a newsworthy event. If so he might be wearing the same hat and jacket.

[Steve]

I don't think the photo was taken for a newspaper. More likely it was taken as part of a set of stereoscopic images that could then be sold by photographers, department stores, newspaper ads, etc. The 1870 may reflect the date the set was copyrighted/published and then sold to the merchants, or whoever, who then sold the sets to the public.

Here's a link to a collection from the Library of Congress that has mostly stereoscopic images that date to the Civil War:

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=r...st=gallery

Here's a 1902 copyright dated stereoscopic image of President William McKinley and Booker T. Washington, which obviously can't be the date of the image:



I checked and this image was taken on 16 Dec. 1898 when Pres. McKinley visited the Tuskegee Institute.

[Eva Elisabeth]

If so, Steve - why did they not make it into public (sometime)? Or other photos taken there and then? I wouldn't think it likely a photographer went to Dry Tortugas for just one photo - but I at least couldn't find any other online. This seems strange.

[Steve]

Eva a lot of stereoscopic photographic sets/images have not survived. The Robin Stanford collection (with its extensive collection of Civil War stereoscopic photographs) at the Library of Congress, that I linked to above, was only donated in 2015 - I think, and has photographs of events that we don't seem to have other surviving photographs of.

Link to images:
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=r...st=gallery

Link to catalog description:
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2015645331/

---

Also, Dave mentioned that there were other photos of Fort Jefferson that seemed to be taken at the same time as this one.

[L Verge]

(05-25-2019 03:10 PM)Steve Wrote:  Eva a lot of stereoscopic photographic sets/images have not survived. The Robin Stanford collection (with its extensive collection of Civil War stereoscopic photographs) at the Library of Congress, that I linked to above, was only donated in 2015 - I think, and has photographs of events that we don't seem to have other surviving photographs of.

Link to images:
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=r...st=gallery

Link to catalog description:
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2015645331/

---

Also, Dave mentioned that there were other photos of Fort Jefferson that seemed to be taken at the same time as this one.

I was going to mention that also, Steve. Those photos appear to be documentation of work being done on the fort -- maybe contracted by the U.S. Army for site inspection purposes. The gentleman, Dr, Mudd or someone else, was posed just to represent a civilian amongst military guards?

Also, the digitization record specifically says that the photo is of Dr. Mudd. Does that come from the time of the photograph being taken or at a later time for archival work, where the person guessed at 1870, without knowing Mudd was released a year earlier?

Lots of possibilities, and some looking very good that it is Mudd, but sure wish one final clue would solve it.

[Paul F.]

I have also pondered the possibility of the individual in the photo being Dr. Mudd. I'm not fully convinced myself that it is indeed Mudd. The time frame seems to be correct for his time at Fort Jefferson, but I tend to agree with Rick Smith regarding the clothing question. Clothing tends to wear out much more quickly in hot/humid climates, so it would be unlikely that he would have any clothes that would be able to be stored safely for the duration of his incarceration. Dr. Mudd states in several letters to his wife that his physical appearance has changed to the point that he considers himself scarcely recognizable. He says his hair is falling out and he shaves it weekly. He also states that he keeps his facial hair trimmed short. These could make difficult the task of identifying him positively in a photograph. He does request that his family stop sending him clothes and money unless he asks for them, suggesting that he was adequately clothed for a time. Mudd was pardoned on 2-8-1869, the army order releasing him was given on 2-13-1869, and he wasn't officially released until 3-8-1869. As mentioned earlier, it would probably be unlikely that Mudd would have a nice suit of clothes that stayed in good condition during his time in prison, and given the time between his pardon and ultimate release added with the occasional sporadic nature of the mail delivery to the Tortugas, it would be a stretch to think that his family could send him a new suit of clothes that would arrive in time for his release. All this, of course, assuming that the picture is of Mudd waiting for his passage to freedom. I unfortunately have rambled a bit, but the Mudd story has so many different angles and facets to explore. One easily gets bogged down! If references for anything I have listed are desired, let me know and I beg your patience. I pulled most of this from memory, and I will need to leaf through about 700 pages of text from Bob Summers's book "The Assassin's Doctor", which I consider to be the finest source of Mudd material. Let the discussion continue!