Earliest Lincoln Photo

[Donna McCreary]

(02-10-2015 01:35 PM)Houmes Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 11:37 AM)Donna McCreary Wrote:  My opinion is that it resembles neither Lincoln nor Joshua Speed. Since it was suppose to have been taken at the Ormsby House, I can not help but wonder if it is a member of the Ormsby family. The point is not to confuse history, or to make false statments, but to just wonder who the gentleman was and his true connection (if any) to the photographer who stayed at the Ormsby home.

Google Stephen Benson Ormsby (1789-1844) under "findagrave.com." He was the judge allegedly visited by Lincoln and Speed, although I found no reference to Judge Ormsby in Lincoln Day by Day. Compare the face of Ormsby with the Kaplan image. The Ormsby image is an artist's drawing, but the eyebrows and the nose are the same.

Interesting -- however, there is one major flaw in this listing. Judge Ormsby was not a Colonel. His son was a colonel during the Mexican War. And his son was also named Stephen Ormsby. But yes -- I do see the similarity. However, as someone else commented, there is still no proof that the photograph has anything to do with Louisville.