Tad photo?

[STS Lincolnite]

This may be end up being a bit of a lengthy post (and I do hope somewhat coherent). So my apologies up front.

As Roger mentioned, Blaine Houmes had posted on photo identification in the past (and I had as well). The posts were included in the threads titled: “Willie?” and “Earliest Photo of Lincoln”

The web address I referred readers to in one of the earlier threads is no longer active but here is a replacement: https://www.facecomparisons.com/index.html

Blaine (first) and I both mentioned a book entitled: Face to Face: Analysis Comparison of Facial Features to Authenticate Identities of People in Photographs, by Joelle Steele. Ms. Steele runs the website that I linked to above (as well as the ones I had linked to in one of the previous posts). Subsequent to the original threads/posts about this book, Ms. Steele has written and published 3 more books on facial identification/anatomy, etc. They are all listed on the site linked above. I don’t have the 3 new books so I don’t know much about them, but I do recommend the original. It looks like all the books can be purchased from her website.

Now on to the supposed photo of Tad.

The lack of a solid provenance is of great concern to me. Heritage Auctions seems to make LOTS of assumptions in their item description and there is a lack of any real solid evidence detail. As has been mentioned, the times that a photo could have been gifted is questionable, the fact there is not reference to a photo of Tad (or it sounds like any gift from the Lincoln family) in related writings of the supposed recipient is worrisome, and the fact this item is split from a larger collection is problematic. I did a general online viewing of civil war era photos of children. A number of the children (more than I expected) were uniformed. Many were as drummers or buglers and there were even some dressed in little zouave style uniforms. So just because the photo depicts a boy in a soldier’s uniform, is no evidence that the subject is Tad Lincoln. Just like a 19th century image that depicts a handsome man with a mustache doesn’t mean the subject is John Wilkes Booth (although it often seems many people believe that to be the case).

The description on Heritage Auctions website regarding the photo in question states: “A comparison with known images of Tad demonstrates the many striking similarities.”

Hmm. “many striking similarities..” Paired with the lack of solid evidence, that does not seem nearly enough to me to put this item forward as a photo of Tad Lincoln.

There are definitely some facial and other similarities – the most notable to me being the general shape of the ear when compared to the known image of Tad that Roger posted (as others have commented on). However with a more extreme close up examination (when I get a chance, I will try to get some more close up photos and ask Roger to post) , there does seem to be some subtle differences in some details. Some difference in ear shape shows up just above the lobe with the tintype subject having a somewhat different contour than what appears in the photo of Tad. Also, the cheeks don’t match up for me. Tad always had sort of full cheeks (especially just under the eyes). This does not seem to be the case with the subject in the tintype. I looked at other photos of Tad and that fullness of his cheeks seems to me to present in all (both when he is younger and when he is older). Further the shape of the tip of Tad’s nose seems different that the subject of the tintype. Of course those things are as it appears to my eyes (and very subjective) and it is hard to be certain in cases of photos (especially old ones) due to image quality and other issues such as the potential that the photo(s) was/were “touched up” at some point.

For me at least, there is just not yet enough here for me to conclude the image is question depicts Tad Lincoln. I do concede that I am an amateur and that there are some similarities in images. If there is a different opinion based on a more extensive and informed photo analysis performed by a real expert I suppose I might tip the other way.

I considered sending the images to Ms. Steele for analysis, and though I am interested in this, I am not sure I am $50-$75 dollars interested (the fee she charges for analysis). That being said, if some other people are interested enough to chip in on cost, I would be willing to connect with her and have her do an analysis. If we have a relatively few people willing to chip in five or 10 dollars each we could get this done without much difficulty.