This Cabinet card is a portrait of a beautiful woman named Effe May Blanachard-Walter. Effe was from Newark, New Jersey where her father, Noah Farwell Blanchard ran a successful leather business. His company made knapsacks, haversacks and other leather goods for the Union Army during the civil war. In 1879 he became the President of a start-up company that became Prudential Life Insurance Company. He also was a religious man who served as President of the Board of Trustee at Trinity Church in Newark, New Jersey. Effe married Julian Hazelhurst Walter in about 1896. Interestingly, a book on the history of Newark, New Jersey, spells her name as Affie rather than Effe. Another source reveals that Julian H Walter (1870 – ?) was born in New Jersey but at age 2 he and his family returned to their native South Carolina. As a young adult he worked in his fathers cotton business and then at age 26 moved to New York where be became a prominent businessman. He worked in the seed business founding the firm Stumpp and Walter Company. Now, back to the Cabinet Card. This photograph captures Effe in a beautiful white dress with much lace and puffed sleeves. The photographer is Leidloff of Charleston, South Carolina. Herman Leidloff came to the United States from Berlin, Germany in 1872. After living in New York, Boston and Baltimore he came to Charleston in the late 1870’s and by 1881 had begun operating his photographic studio.
This Cabinet card is a terrific image of a union army Civil War Veteran. He is wearing three medals. One medal identifies him as J. W. Plummer, a member of company G in the 29th Indiana Infantry Regiment. The second medal represents his membership in the Civil War Veterans Group, the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.). Further research reveals that Mr Plummer, is John W. Plummer and entered his unit as a private and left with the same rank. His regiment was organized in 1861 and fought at Shiloh, Corinth, Stones River, and the Battle of Chickamauga. The unit suffered 304 dead during the course of the war. The photographer is Tussey of Schell City, Missouri.
Benjamin Wade (1800-1878)) was born in Massachusetts. He worked as a laborer on the Erie Canal, taught school and then studied and practiced law in Ohio. As a member of the Whig Party he was elected to the Ohio State Senate and served two terms. He later became an Ohio court judge. Wade joined the Republican Party and in 1851 was elected to the US Senate. He became a Radical Republican along with Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner. He fouhgt against the Fugitive Slave Act and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. He was very radical and supported women suffrage, trade union rights and equality for African Americans. In 1861 as chairman of the Committee on Territories he witnessed the defeat of the Union Army at the First Bull Run and was nearly captured by the confederates. During the American Civil War, Wade was extremely critical of Lincoln. After the war he pushed for African American units in the Regular Army. He was also instrumental in the impeachment of American President Andrew Johnson. Wade was considered by some as a good choice for Ulysses S Grant’s running mate but Grant refused. This cabinet card is from Matthew Brady’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C..
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 