The Carte de Visite was a type of photograph popular during the Civil War in the United States, mainly because it was relatively inexpensive to produce. It came in particularly handy for those with friends and family serving in the war, as they were produced in multiples and could be sent in the mail to loved ones.
Looking through the archive materials I have for my grandfather’s first cousin Robert Gere Vosler (1904-1968), I recently found an old Carte de Visite that I hadn’t noticed before. Robert Vosler grew up in Elwood City, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, and his ancestors were largely from that area of Western Pennsylvania. I have a number of photographs of people I can’t identify, but this one caught my eye because of its obvious age, and two inscriptions on the back, reading:”Bob’s great great grandmother Jones”, and “my mother’s great grandmother”. The photographer was S. M. Gillespie of New Castle, Pennsylvania.
Following back deeper into Robert’s family tree, his mother was named Eva Louise Gere (sometimes spelled Gear or Geer). Her mother was Nancy Jane Rutter (born about 1842, died 1924). I have several formal photos of Nancy Jane with her grandson Robert. But where does the surname Jones come in?
Nancy Jane’s father was Jesse Brooks Rutter (c. 1814 – 1880). His parents were William Rutter and Nancy Jones. Bingo – Nancy Jones was indeed Robert’s great great grandmother, and Eva Louise Gere’s great grandmother. It appears that she was born in the 1770s, and died in 1862 in Butler County, Pennsylvania. This means that she was one of those unusual people who lived during the Revolutionary War that we have an actual photograph of. As the Carte de Visite technology was introduced in the United States at the end of 1859, and Nancy Jones Rutter died in 1862, that places the image in the 1860 to 1862 range. The white “mob cap” that she wears in the picture fits with the time period and the old-fashioned attire for a lady of her age.
Nancy’s father was John Aike Jones, a Revolutionary War veteran with an interesting story. His obituary in The Franklin Telegraph and Democratic Advertiser dated July 13, 1840 (Franklin County, Pennsylvania), read as follows:
“At his residence, in Metal township, in this county, on Wednesday the 24th ultimo, Mr. John Jones, Sen’r, aged 110 years and 6 months. He was born on the 24th of December, 1729. The place of his nativity was Worcestershire, England, but he resided in the city of London for many years, from which place he was impressed on board of a British man of war that was aiding in the blockade on the American coast during the war of the Revolution, from which he made his escape, and entered the American army in the company of Captail [sic] Alexander. He was subsequently taken prisoner by the British, but not being recognized, was exchanged, and again entered the service, where he remained until honorably discharged. He resided fifty seven years on the property he obtained when he came to this country, and left a widow now 85 years of age, ten children, one hundred grand children, and about the same number of great grand children.
The death age of 110 may be something of an exaggeration (calculated from a supposed birth year of 1729), but what a story – forced to join the British navy, escaping the British military and joining the American colonist forces twice is quite a record. No doubt our Nancy Jones was entertained at the foot of her father, hearing tales of his days in the army and navy of two nations, with daring escapes and (hopefully) happy endings.
Sources
- The New York Times, The Cartes de Visite Craze by Andrea L. Volpe, 2013
- Ancestry.com, Biographical annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania : containing genealogical records of representative families, including many of the early settlers, and biographical sketches of prominent citizens.. Chicago: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1905
- American Revolutionary soldiers of Franklin County, Pennnsylvania. Chambersburg, Pa.: Historical Works Committee of the Franklin County Chapter, c1944
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