Civil War Era Photographic Portraiture No. 2
Originally Published in American Civil War Chronicles
Half-plate ambrotype of Confederate officer Captain William F. McRorie of Co. A, 4th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, Richmond, Virginia.—C. R. Rees & Co.
Cased images by Rees included in the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs at the Library of Congress show a studio setting identical to this ambrotype.
According to the Gorgas Library at the University of Alabama, “Born to German immigrants in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Rees first established a photographic studio in Richmond, Virginia in 1851. After a brief attempt in the mid-1850s to open a gallery in New York City, Rees and his family returned to the area and established themselves as fixtures in Richmond and nearby Petersburg. After his studio burned in April 1865 along with the rest of Richmond, Rees reopened and continued working in the area until at least 1880.”
Recently sold at auction at Swann Galleries for $13,000 with–A Confederate States America Twenty Dollar bill, with the handwritten number 38392. Circa 1862.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9795989/william-f-mcrorie
