Photograph Album: Cartes de visite album of Connecticut State Legislators of 1865, including P.T. Barnum

Victorian-era photograph album containing portraits of members of the Connecticut State Legislature serving in the General Assembly for the 1865 term.  There are about 68 identified cartes de visite photographs of legislators, governors, clerks and a teller, along with a number that are unidentified including several that are likely to be family photographs of the album's creator, presumed to be Thomas W. Wheeler.  P.T. Barnum's photograph along with a photo of Barnum's American Museum attractions poster and a short letter from Barnum to Wheeler are included in the album.  Barnum was undoubtedly the most famous person in the State Legislature at that time. He served four one-year terms: 1865, 1866, 1878, and 1879.  He was elected to represent the town of Fairfield in 1865 and again in 1866, but in his latter two terms, he represented Bridgeport, which had annexed a section of Fairfield in the mid-1870s.  In between, Barnum served as Mayor of Bridgeport for a one-year term in 1875.  Barnum's page in the album is unusual because it includes a letter on stationery with a finely engraved print image of his home, Lindencroft, built about 1860.  This home was technically within the boundaries of Fairfield although its location had a more practical association with Bridgeport.  The hand-written letter has been attached to the page next to Barnum's photo portrait, and covers over another carte-de-visite (CDV) that is a miniature version of a broadside or poster promoting the attractions at his American Museum on Broadway in New York City. Barnum's letter, dated June 30, 1865, is addressed to Thomas W. Wheeler of North Stonington, Connecticut, and it suggests that Wheeler was the person who assembled the album.  The letter reads: "Hon. Tho W. Wheeler Dear Sir:  Please accept the enclosed mementos of our meeting in the Connecticut Legislature this year.  If you can conveniently favor me with a photograph of yourself, I shall esteem it highly. Truly yours, P.T. Barnum" The inscription at the front of the album also supports the idea that Thomas W. Wheeler was responsible for assembling the album.  It reads: "Members of the Connecticut Legislature, 1865 // To Mr. Park B. Maine // With kind regards of Mrs. Thomas W. Wheeler // North Stonington // Dec. 25, 1903."  The apparent Christmas gift with a date many years later than the album's contents suggests Mrs. Wheeler (Emily E. Wheeler) was widowed at that time and wanted to gift the album to someone younger who would preserve it.  In fact, Thomas W. Wheeler had died in 1900, and she herself passed away in January of 1905.  Parker B. Maine was about 52 years old when he was given the album.  There is a Samuel Maine included in the album, however he is not Parker's father; possibly he was a relative serving in the legislature at the same time as Thomas Wheeler. The year 1865 is an important one in American history and in the life of P.T. Barnum.  On a national level, 1865 saw the conclusion of the Civil War with the Union victorious.  It also began the national reckoning of the war's effects, the losses suffered by American families on all sides, and questions about African-American suffrage.  For P.T. Barnum, the highs and lows were no less important.  Having made his name as a showman and the proprietor of the American Museum in New York City, he was elected to the legislature in April of that year, running on the Union or Republican ticket.  In a speech given on May 26, 1865 Barnum stated: "Mr. Speaker: I am no politician, I came to this Legislature simply because I wished to have the honor of voting for the two constitutional amendments--one for driving slavery entirely out of the country; the other to allow men of education and good moral character to vote, regardless of the color of their skins. To give my voice for these two philanthropic, just, and Christian measures is all the glory I ask legislativewise. I care nothing whatever for any sect or party under heaven, as such. I have no axes to grind, no logs to roll, no favors to ask. All I desire is to do what is right, and prevent what is wrong." Barnum was referring to the 13th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, outlawing slavery, which was passed by the U. S. Senate on January 31, 1865 and then put to the States for ratification.  Connecticut was the 22nd state to do so, voting to ratify on May 6th of that year.  But the question of giving African-American males the right to vote was not so readily decided.  The quoted paragraph above is the last portion of a quite long but eloquent speech that Barnum gave seeking support for what was then termed Negro Suffrage.  Barnum's speech was an important one in addressing citizenship rights, although the desired outcome, passage of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution took several more years to achieve (1868 and 1870 respectively). During Barnum's time as the representative for Fairfield (and later for Bridgeport), he also spoke out against the railroad monopolies that were gaining political control in order to serve their own interests. On July 13, 1865, Barnum was giving a speech that exposed the scheming of the railroad magnates when he was handed a telegram, relaying the tragic news that his American Museum was in flames and the fire could not be extinguished.  The fire was intentionally set, in other words, arson.  Barnum gave no indication to his fellow legislators that he had received this terrible news about his beloved museum; instead he continued with his speech.  The next day he went to New York City to survey the damage.   The photograph album has a horizontal format, allowing for two photos per page, side by side.  The pages' "window mat" openings are sized for cartes de visite (often called CDVs), the most popular format for ordinary photographs in the 1860s and 1870s.  The albumen print photos were mounted on cardstock about the size of a modern baseball card.  Tintypes, another popular form of photography, were also commonly produced at that size, and there are a few examples are in this album.  The album is 2 1/4-inches thick and has dark brown covers with a dimensional interlaced geometric design, and two pairs of brass clasps to hold the volume closed. There is an elaborately designed title page with a border surrounding the word  "Photographs," printed in gold ink.  It is worth noting that not every town in Connecticut is represented in the album by the legislators, although a number of unidentified portraits of politicians at the back may account for some additional towns.  Three Connecticut Governors (English, Buckingham, and Ingersoll) are also included. There are also family photographs at the back covering three decades from the 1860s to about 1890.  These images are also unidentified. The identified photographs include: Avery from Groton; Banning from Hartland; Barnum from Fairfield; Beardsley from Trumbull; Beckwith from Waterford; Bradley (Burritt) from Cheshire; Bradley (Charles) from Easton; Bradley (Austin) from Southington; Buck from Ashford; Campbell from Voluntown; Carpenter from Putnam; Case from Bloomfield; Catlin (Lewis) from Harwinton; Catlin (Abijah) from Harwinton; Chaney from New London; Chidsey from East Haven; Clark (Norman) from Columbia; Clark (William) from Woodbridge; Coley from Weston; Cook from Bozrah; Daniels from Salem; Dickerman from Bethany; Dimock from Willington; Doolittle from Hamden; Durkee from Ashford; Eaton from Kent; Ellis from Stafford; Fairman from Newtown; Foster from New Haven; Glover from Newtown; Griswold (Wareham) from Windsor; Hastings from Tolland; Hodge from Roxbury; Hoyt (Joseph) from Stamford; Hoyt (Alfred) from Stamford; Jarvis from Cheshire; Johnson from Wallingford; Kellogg from Vernon; Leland from Union; Maine from North Stonington; Mason from Westport; Maxon from Stonington; Mead from Greenwich; Merritt from Greenwich; Munson from Seymour; Norton from Southington; Pomeroy from Southport; Rice from Farmington; Rogers from Milford; Scott from Sprague; Shailer from Saybrook; Taylor from Stonington; Wheeler (Richard) from New Hartford; Wheeler (Thomas W.) from North Stonington; Whitlock from Monroe; Williams (Harlow) from Canterbury; Wood (Willet) from Montville; and Woodruff from Litchfield.  Governors Thomas Hart Seymour, William Buckingham, James E. English, and Charles Roberts Ingersoll's photographs are included.  Buckingham was Governor from 1858 to 1866, during the period when this album was created.  Other men who are presented in the album as members of the legislature but whose names have not yet been found in records of the members in 1865 include: Marvin Langers (no town given); Nathan Merwin of Milford; Rev. A. Richards of New London; J. R. Rogers of Norwich; and John Rogers of Deep River.  Additional men identified are John R. Buck of Hartford, Clerk; John M. Morris of New Haven, Assistant Clerk; and C. E. Andrews of Thompson, Teller.  Andrews was just 18 years old.