“Thanks to … Maureen A. Taylor for her help in trying to get me over the brick wall with my third-great-grandfather Levi Williams, who served in the Legion of the United States from 1792 to 1794 under Gen. Anthony Wayne. I just got though with Ms. Taylor’s Brick Wall Busters article (Family Tree Magazine, May 2007), and it opened a couple of other windows for me to investigate. You can be sure I will pursue the directions she’s given and go back over all the information I’ve accumulated for additional clues.”
Roger L. Johnson, Temecula, Calif.

Test Your Photo IQ

Each week, Photo Detective Maureen Taylor challenges your “photographic memory” with photo-related trivia questions. See how much you know about photo identification, history, and preservation—and learn more about what you don’t.


True or False: It’s possible that your Revolutionary War-era ancestors were photographed.

Answer: True


Many of the men, women and children who experienced the Revolutionary War (1775–1783) first-hand lived beyond the advent of photography (1839). If an image in your photo collection fits the following criteria, it could depict a member of the Revolutionary War generation. Read more in Maureen Taylor's current projects.

Type of photograph Look for these types of images:

  • Daguerreotypes (1839 to 1860s): The first photographs, daguerreotypes have reflective surfaces. You must hold the photos at an angle to see their images. Daguerreotypes are often found in cases.
  • Ambrotypes (invented in 1854): Often placed in cases because of their fragility, these glass images are backed with dark material.
  • Tintypes or ferrotypes (invented in 1856): This third type of cased image is produced on thin sheets of iron.
  • Cartes de visite (CDVs) (introduced in 1854): Inspired by 19th-century visiting cards, these small paper prints usually measured 2x4 inches.

The subjects' ages

Are the people in your pictures old enough to be part of the Revolutionary War generation?

  • Patriots, soldiers, and loyalist adults: Anyone who was an adult during the American Revolution would have been at least 80 years old by the advent of photography.
  • Children: Anyone who was a child during the American Revolution would have been in his late 50s or older when he had his picture taken.
  • Wives and widows: The last surviving widow of a Revolutionary soldier died in 1906! Esther Sumner married Noah Damon when she was 21 and he was 75. Finding pictures of wives and widows means looking at pictures taken between 1840 and the early 1900s.

Want to know more about Maureen's Revolutionary War project?
Visit The Last Muster Blog


The Last Muster
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