Paul Selleck’s picture depicts a man in uniform with a US on his belt buckle. US military service, right? Wrong. Selleck’s ancestor, James T. Selleck appears to have never served his country. So why the uniform? That’s only part of the mystery.
The likely date for this picture is 1893. Paul thinks it depicts James T. Selleck. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy died in 1889. In 1893 his widow requested that his remains be moved from New Orleans to Richmond, Virginia. Paul thinks it possible that James father, a city councilman obtained an honor guard position for the event.
A newspaper account of the funeral train confirmed that there was an honor guard. You can read “Jefferson Davis” the article about it on page 2 of The Times Picayune (New Orleans) 29 May 1893 (available on GenealogyBank.com). The key to identifying the uniform was the name of the organization that supplied the honor guard. They were members of The Washington Artillery.
Sometimes connecting with the right expert makes all the difference. A historian with the organization said that enlisted men wore red and gold fine tassel epaulettes. You can view examples of the uniforms on their website (including one that looks like the one worn in this photo.)
While James T. Selleck didn’t serve in the military, he or his father may have been members The Washington Artillery. Further research is being done to determine this.
Follow the Address
Selleck’s photo is actually a two sided problem. In fact, the reverse of the image was even more of a pictorial challenge.
Look closely and you’ll see both a name and address in pencil. Also on the back near the writing is a green stamped “12×16 Orico.” This refers to a size and type of picture. Sometimes studios created product names to differentiate their pictures from their competition. This appears to be the case with the Orico. The 12 x 16 suggests that someone had an oversize copy made of this picture, perhaps even a handcolored one. It’s likely that the customer was J.T. Selleck, possibly the son of the man depicted.
It seemed like it would be simple to determine who was living at that address, but once again it wasn’t. According to the local history librarian at the New Orleans Public Library, that part of the city wasn’t developed until at least the 1940s. It is in the West End close to Jefferson Parish. It doesn’t appear in the 1940 index to a Sanborn Insurance Atlas for New Orleans, but is there in the 1952 map.
This suggests that whoever ordered the Orico copy did so in the mid-twentieth century. Paul has never seen an enlargement of this man in uniform, so he has a new mystery. Where is the copy?
A good first step is to track down descendants of either James T. or his father Joshua. Photos aren’t inherited in a direct line, most times they pass to a relative interested in preserving them. When that doesn’t happen pictures go missing, get destroyed or are sold.
I’m hoping for a happy ending.