Photo Investigation: Not Frank and Jesse James: By G.C. Stevens

 

   Not Frank & Jesse; An RPPC (Real Place Post Card) published by AZUSA Post Card Co. Original Photo in the collection of the Denver Public  Library.

 Card from the authors collection.

Correct Photos of Frank and Jesse James from the authors collection

    While writing my first book on Jesse James, "A Fiendish Crime" I went in search some verifiable photos and artwork for my book. I searched Ebay and found a grouping of several post cards published by AZUSA postcard company. The grouping of cards memorialized the James gang infamous great Northfield Minnesota bank robbery which occurred on September 7, 1876. The grouping was comprised of eight post cards (see photos below) that covered members of the gang and the posse who captured some of the outlaws, with the exception of Frank and Jesse James. The James brothers escaped and blazed a trail through Minnesota and Iowa during their flight back into Missouri. During my research, I ran into a photo, (which is posted at the top this article.) It was on the website of the Denver Public Library and was said to be in their collection. I immediately inquired about the photo of Frank & Jesse James on their website and its provenance. A photo of two men sitting together with pistols drawn, which appeared to be a tintype. 

I received a prompt email response from Kellen Cutsforth, who is currently the executive director of the Western Writers Association, he told me:

 "So we do not have any provenance for this particular photo. It was acquired long before any of our current staff came on board. When it was acquired, the staff did not sign any agreements nor retain any receipts detailing whether it was purchased or a donation."  

This photo is but one of many photos that have surfaced over the years that have purported to be Jesse James. But what was unique about this photo was that it was part of a published set, alongside other photos which were confirmed to be members of the James - Younger gang who were involved in the Great Northfield Minnesota Raid in 1876. There were however, also some inconsistencies with the descriptions of other parties involved.  

Top card labeled (more likely mislabeled) Oscar Suborn, probably Asle (Axle) Sorbel.

Bottom Photo: Posse who captured the Youngers (unverified).

"Two weeks after the James–Younger Gang raided Northfield, the gang appeared at the farm of Ole Sorbel on Lake Linden near Hanska. Ole spoke to the men briefly and his wife, Guri, provided the men with bread and butter for breakfast. The gang told the family that they were hunting in the area, but 17-year-old Asle Sorbel didn’t believe them. He had a hunch they were the Northfield robbers that authorities had been chasing around the area for weeks."

-Forgotten Minnesota

Well known photos of the Younger gang, Bill Chadwell and Clell Miller (Top Left)

Cole Younger (Top right), Bob Younger (Right Center), Jim Younger (Bottom Left) 

Charlie Pitz (Bottom left).All photos from the authors collection.

Photographic Evidence

Every photograph and caption must be assessed and evaluated just as you would textual documents in your genealogical research. These tips will help to classify and date the images you locate to determine if the pictured subject is appropriate to the date, place, and context observed in the photograph. As researchers, we must always do our own evaluation, seek out original records, weigh the evidence, and come to our own conclusions.

-Library of Congress

  

19th Century Photographic Resources: By G.C. Stevens

 

Biographies of Western Photographers by Carl Mautz, is a highly detailed exhaustive document / listing of frontier photographers of the 19th century. It is 604 pages and belongs in the library of people who are serious researchers.

I have been collecting cart de visite's, tintypes, ambrotypes and RPPCs for over 30 years. In recent years, I've had the unique pleasure of investigating, identifying and connecting antique photos to their home locations and donating them to their respective state historic societies. I've also been able to identify other photos of people and updated their grave profiles on Find a Grave. This aspect has added to my genealogical pursuits and helped me to sharpen my research skills and to develop an eye for the backstory on many photos that have come into my possession.  It is, however, not an exact science, and it sometimes requires the hunch of a gumshoe. It's also an endeavor which requires some financial investment, though there are many free resources available. For those interested in early American frontier photographers like me, should pick up a copy of the book "Biographies of Frontier Photographers" by Carl Mautz. This publication is a 604-page exhaustive document with the names and locations of hundreds of frontier photographers. I've also listed some resources here, this is by no means an exhaustive list and true photo investigations sometimes take a state by state, county by county search for documentation and it may also require finding family members that are connected to the photos. It's worth noting, as a warning, that photo investigations can also have a controversial, and emotional edge when it comes to family members and protective owners who assume control of certain photos that come into their possession. In my personal experiences, and I have encounter many, emotions can run high in this area, and sometimes reactions include, hostility, protectionism, rejection and even threats. But for me, it's still worth those pitfalls when it comes to revealing the stories that old photos can tell.

 

Correcting Morgan Earps Photo

(I corrected Morgan Earps photo on Find a Grave)

Frontier Photographers

(Article on this blog)

Photo Investigations

(Articles on this blog about my photo investigations)

G.C. Stevens Photographer

(My studio)

RESOURCES

Find A Grave

(Great resource)

Ancestry.com

(Requires a subscription)

19th Century Card Photographers

(Good listing, very basic)

LDS Genealogical Records

(A time- honored resource for genealogists)

Massie's Antiques

(Dealer of antique photos)

GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY RESOURCES

Library of Congress

Carlisle Barracks

(Military Photos)

National Portrait Gallery

Augustana College

(Upper Mississippi collection)

GLOSSARY OF PHOTO PROCESSES 

​ALBUMEN PRINT

Positive photographic print made on paper coated with eggwhite and salt solution which is sensitized with silver nitrate solution. Prints were made by exposing the paper to sunlight through a negative.

​AMBROTYPE

A glass collodion positive patented in the United States in 1854 by James Cutting.

​CABINET CARD

Essentially a larger (4 1/2" x 6 1/2") version of the carte-de-visite, this popular format supplanted the carte-de-visite by the late 1870s, although the first cabinet card photographs appeared in 1866 in England. Primarily a medium for portraiture, the cabinet card dominated commercial photography until the turn-of-the-century.

​CALOTYPE (also called TALBOTYPE)

The first successful negative/positive process invented by William Henry Fox Talbot and patented by him in 1841. This process entailed exposing paper sensitized with potassium iodide and silver nitrate in a camera and developing the negative in gallic acid and silver nitrate. Prints were made by the contact method in daylight on paper sensitized with salt and silver nitrate.

​CARBON PRINT

Prints produced by exposing a negative against a pigmented gelatin tissue sensitized with potassium bichromate. The surface of the tissue hardens in relation to the amount of light received and when washed, leaves a positive image which is permanent.

​CARTE-DE-VISITE

A format developed by Disderi in Paris and patented in 1854 consisting of a 2 1/2" by 4 1/2" mounted photographic print. The primary format for portraiture from the beginning of the Civil War to the late 1870s, the carte-de-visite is referred to often as "cdv" by collectors today. The format continued to be made up to the turn-of-the-century, but was eclipsed in popularity by the larger cabinet card.

​COLLODION PROCESS

A process for making negatives involving a glass plate coated with a light sensitive emulsion of gun cotton dissolved in alcohol and ether and mixed with potassium iodide and potassium bromide. Also known as the wet plate collodion process.

​CYANOTYPE

A print made with a paper impregnated with iron salts and potassium ferricyanide, creating an image where the darks are blue. Popular paper from the 1890s to WWI.

​DAGUERREOTYPE

The first practical photographic process introduced in Paris in 1839 by one of it's inventors, Louis Jaques Mande' Daguerre. The process required a silver coated copper plate which was sensitized with vapors of iodine and developed in mercury fumes after exposure in a camera. The images produced were one-of-a-kind and often beautiful although reflective like a mirror. Being very delicate to touch or the atmosphere, they were sealed and encased in glass, brass mat and leather case.

​DRY PLATE

The successor to the wet plate collodion process, dry plates were glass sheets coated with silver halides suspended in gelatin. These pre-prepared negative plates supplanted the wet plate process by the 1880s.

​FERROTYPE (also TINTYPE or MELAINOTYPE)

A positive photographic image appearing on a thin sheet of varnished iron which has been sensitized with collodion. A very popular format which competed with the carte-de-visite from the late 1850s through the 1870s, finally becoming a novelty format in use at fairs and amusement parks to the 1930s.

​POSTCARD

The photographic postcard became common just after the turn of the century. Beginning in 1902, Eastman Kodak and other manufacturers marketed postcard format photographic paper that was sensitive enough to print under artificial light. This simplified the process of printing photographic negatives and further encouraged both amateur and commercial production of photographic postcards. It was the widespread use of the postcard format in the hands of both professionals and amateurs that continued the visual recording of culture begun by stereoviews.

​STEREOVIEW (also STEREOGRAPH)

A pair of views taken at slightly different angles and mounted side by side. Viewed separately by each eye in a stereoviewer, the two images merge to create the illusion of three dimensions. This format was used early in the daguerreotype era and increased in popularity when paper prints became the standard, eventually becoming an item of amusement in virtually every household in America. It is through this format that 19th century culture can be visually witnessed.

Editorial: Preserving History, Collaborations, Cooperation and Problem Solving.

 

BREAKING BREAD

No Man Is An Island

-John Donne

No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own

Or of thine friend's were.

Each man's death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

How do we grow a tree, how to reap the meal from the garden? How do we raise a family? How to we bring food to the table? How do we grow ourselves? How do we create anything without the hands of other beings? Are we always alone in our endeavors? None of what we do or create is done alone.  That's a hard lesson for many to learn, but it's a reality. Where history or the historic genre is concerned, it would not exist with cooperative people to bring it all together. Centralized and controlling organizations and individuals stifle the flow of information and stand in the way of new information and new stories, Irrational control of narratives and artifacts lay waste to research and healthy inquiry. Certain social media sites should display risk warnings when overzealous individuals with agendas attack people with threats, false accusations and disinformation are allowed to terrorize anyone asking simple questions, especially when the people asking the questions are engaged in true research. I welcome all inquiries and anyone who wishes to collaborate.

G.C. Stevens

                  

2700 Identified Carte de Visits of Iowa Civil War Soldiers By O.J. Fargo & Edited by G.C. Stevens

Identified photo courtesy of O.J. Fargo, Army of the Southwest.

O.J. Fargo Army of the Southwest, Photo by the author

LEGACY

I've only known O.J. Fargo for a short time, about three years to be exact. We became acquainted when I joined the Army of the Southwest (ASW), which is a civil war reenactment group based in Iowa. We both got into civil war reenacting around the same time in the 1990's. O'J. was one of the founding members of the ASW, and, like myself, he is an avid researcher.  At a recent event in Zearing Iowa, I saw O.J. had a laptop and folder with a cover that said something about locating peoples civil war ancestors, and he mentioned a project that he was working on to create a searchable database of Iowa civil war soldiers. He also mentioned something about legacy, I heard what he said, and I thought I knew exactly what he was talking about. I answered him in my own mind and didn't say it out loud, but in recent months I had been thinking the exact same thing. I didn't exactly understand the depth of what his project was about until he put out and additional email explaining what he had been working on. When I read his email, I sat up in my chair, because he went on to explain that he had compiled a database of approximately 2700 identified Cart de visit photos of civil war soldiers from Iowa units that served in the conflict. To the best of my knowledge, besides large, organized collections in various military museums and historical societies, this was quite the endeavor. 

"I have just finished another lengthy project to supplement my Iowa Civil War soldiers searchable database. Tilting at windmills is my specialty. I have 2700+ CDVs (Carte de Visits)/pictures of Iowa soldiers with at least 2 from each regiment That doesn’t make a dent in the 72,000+ that served but it is a one-of-a-kind collection. I thought that might be of interest to you as a curiosity. I can call them up alphabetically or by regiment. Coupled with the database there could also be specialty searches e. g. everyone who was wounded in the 4th Iowa, those born in Denmark etc. All of the 2000+ photos are identified and matched to my searchable database. I can tell someone everything Civil War-ish about each person in the picture. 

Attached are 3 pictures I just have handy. Two are labeled the third one is Amos Rawley of the 4th Cavalry. He is a relative of Mike Rowley who didn’t know he existed until I sent him the picture." 

-O.J. Fargo 

ASW

Amos Rawley of the 4th Cavalry

Hammer, Horseshoe and Invention, The Story of an Iowa Renaissance Man

MATTHEW EDEL's 

BLACKSMITH SHOP 

                                 

The sign points the way to Edel's Blacksmith Shop in Haverhill Iowa. Photo by the author

The stories of the true west aren't just about lawman and outlaws. The west could have never been tamed without the steel and grit of hard work and innovation.

-G.C. Stevens

                    HAVERHILL IOWA

On a bright and fair summer day, I took an Iowa road less traveled. I exited the black top and hit the gravel road. I heard my wives voice in my head, say "roll up the windows, or dust will get in the truck, this is Iowa," I heeded the voice, hit the button and as the window slid up, I left a dirty contrail behind me, heading into the Kelly-green hills of a summertime Iowa. I was looking for a small town in Central Iowa called Haverhill. I had seen an informational sign on highway 330 multiple times over the years indicating that there was a historic blacksmiths shop somewhere in the area. I had traveled this route many times, but today, I felt compelled to finally take a look at what was out there. As I tracked the GPS on my phone, I suddenly found myself the small, quaint historic town of Haverhill Iowa. Upon entering Haverhill, I was greeted by rolling cornfields, old buildings and a prominent church steeple, which dominated the landscape. The surroundings were serene and beautiful. I pulled up across the street from old blacksmith's shop which was an old period building with faded wooded siding and a wooden shingle roof. I noticed that the door was open, so I walked in and saw that there was a man sitting on a chair. He greeted me and welcomed me to the Matthew Edel's blacksmith shop. I immediately noticed that this place was not a recreation, but the real thing. It glowed with the patina of days gone by. There was no flooring, only a dirt floor, rusty horseshoes hung from the ceiling, tools still laid where they were left back in 1940 when the doors were locked and the smell of metal and must hung in the air. My tour guide Pat Kopsa guided me through every inch of the Mathew Edel's world and showed me the fruits of his labor. During the tour it became apparent that Matthew Edel was a resourceful innovator, who served the farming community well during his life. The things that he created were carefully left in place for all to see, hand made pliers, horseshoes, gardening tools, and self styled tools invented by Matthew for use on local farms were all present.

                            Matthew Edel & Family: Photo courtesy of the Edel historic site

His hands forged steal, the callus and blackened hands that swung the hammer, the man who toils in the forge, purveyor of goods and services, blacksmith, wheelwright, Ferrier, Inventor and jack of all trades, a rural renaissance man. Strong, resourceful, proud. That was Matthew Edel.

-G.C. Stevens

  Edel Blackmith shop, built 1883  Photo by the author

Matthews was an immigrant from Germany, who settled in Haverhill in 1883 where he built this shop and the house behind on a half-city block. Edel was an entrepreneur, operating a successful business and manufacturer operation.  His hands forged steal: The callus and blackened hands that swung the hammer, a man who toiled in the forge, purveyor of goods and services, blacksmith, wheelwright, Ferrier, Inventor and jack of all trades, a rural renaissance man who was strong, resourceful, proud. That was Matthew Edel. During World War I, Edel also added an automobile service garage to the west end of the blacksmith shop. When Edel died in 1940, his family closed the blacksmith shop and left it intact but idle until the Edel family donated it to the state of Iowa in 1986. It remains a rare example of an authentic 19th-century blacksmith shop. A new building to the west is a working blacksmith shop constructed in 1996 with the help of volunteer blacksmiths. The State Historical Society of Iowa owns and manages the site which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

                            

 Tour Guide: Pat Kopsa gave me a highly detailed and informative tour of the Edel Blacksmith shop and property. Photo by the author.

DUSTY TRAILS OF THE OLD WEST BOOKS

Monuments and plaques greet visitors at the front door

Photos by the author

Tools of all kinds and metal parts lay in organized sections

throughout the shop, Photo by the author

The original foot operated bellows which still works hangs from the ceiling

above the forge photo by the author

The original forge which was eventually converted with an electric blower when electricity came to Haverhill Iowa

110th Meskwaki Pow Wow Tama Iowa: Veterans Day 2026

 

Photo cover from the 2026 Meskwaki Pow Wow program.

2026 Meskwaki Pow Wow

VETERANS DAY!

It was a great honor to take part in the 2026 110th Meskwaki Pow Wow Grand Entry. At 1:00 PM, Veterans from the different branches of service formed you and escorted the color guard of the Robert Morgan Post 701 Of the American Legion, onto the Pow Wow grounds and danced to the beat of the drums and song. 

The Color Guard Makes the Grand Entry, Photo by Vicki Stevens

All photos by the author unless otherwise stated.

Frontier Photographers: C.M. Flanders: By G.C. Stevens

 

All photos are from the authors collection

Photo collecting is like another form of archaeology, in that some photos have their own type of cuneiform etched into them by the Photographic Artists who created them. If we are lucky, some of these artifacts have the names of the subjects in the photo written on the back. If we're really lucky, additional information could also appears on the back of the photo if another person, such as a relative took some due diligence to record more data on the photo. Though in most cases the antique photos are as blank as the face of the sphinx in Egypt, and all we are left with is the faces of the person(s), who sat for the picture. But luckily many cabinet cards bare the names, logos and artworks of the photographers and the companies who employed them embossed on the front of each photo, and many of them are from the early days of the frontier (1860's-1890s) Photographers. Author, Carl Mautz, captured the names and the essence of the frontier "Shadow Catchers" in his book, "Biographies of Western Photographers". One of the Photographers listed was Charles M. Flanders, who was active in Corydon Iowa from 1889-1892. This towns name conjures up images of outlaws because eighteen years prior in 1871, the famed outlaw Jesse James had robbed the Ocobock Bank in Corydon, as I looked at the pictures, I wonder if any of the people in the in the photos below were old enough to remember when that happened? But alas... We may never know.

CM Flanders:

Name appears in the book "Biographies of Western Photographer", by Carl Mautz (Pg# 225)

Flanders, Charles M. 

Flanders had a studio in Glenwood, Mills County, in the 1890s. NSA reports a single view seen of a group of women posed by piano in studio. Burgess lists Humeston (1887–1892), Corydon (1889–1892), and Glenwood (1895–1897) 

ref  IOWA STEREOGRAPHS 

LIBRARY & ARCHIVES RESEARCH CENTERS 

(515)281-6200

History.Research@iowa.

Jesse James Robbery Corydon Robbery

Member 

102084 Visitors, a Major Milestone! By G.C. Stevens

 

                                               

 ANOTHER MILESTONE! 

The Central States Lawman and                Outlaw Historic Association blog, breaking records!

 102084 visitors!

I'm very proud of the CSL&OHA blog and what we have accomplished here! The success here was easy, 

because it's a labor of love and collaboration with many other writers, artists, genealogists and reenactors.

Central States, Lawman and Outlaws Historic Association: Dusty Trails Books

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