On October 7, 1860, a 102-year-old man hobbled into the studio of Southworth and Hawes at 19 Tremont Row in Boston. Infirm with age and grasping a wooden cane, he sat before a gray background and glowered at the camera for this ambrotype.
Ralph Farnham was one of the last living veterans of the Revolutionary War. A farmer from Acton, Maine, he served for two months as a private in the 13th Massachusetts Regiment and witnessed the surrender of British General Burgoyne in 1777.
A 102nd birthday party for Farnham in Maine caught the attention of Boston Mayor Frederic Lincoln, who invited the veteran to Boston. Farnham attended a ceremony in his honor at Bunker Hill, where a crowd of 5,000 sat in rapt attention as Farnham shared his memories of the war.
At the Revere House, Farnham met the Prince of Wales, the great-great-grandson of King George III. Farnham considered it crucial to meet the prince and shake his hand, “to show that past animosities were forgotten, which he hoped would never be revived” as the Boston Evening Transcript reported. Farnham’s wish proved poignant for New Englanders in 1860, who could hear the faint drumbeats of war grow louder with each passing year.
Southworth and Hawes sold copies of the Farnham ambrotype out of their studio. Like many veterans, Farnham struggled to survive on a pension of $61 per year; sitting for ambrotypes raised money for his healthcare needs and drew attention to veteran affairs.
A Marblehead shoemaker named Eleazer Doliber purchased one just months before enlisting in the Union Army. It remained in his family until 1910, when his grandniece donated it to the Marblehead Museum.
Jarrett Zeman is the assistant director of the Marblehead Museum. “From the Vault” is a partnership between the Marblehead Museum and the Current.
