Figure 1.--This studio CDV portrait shows a boy about 8-9 years old wearing what looks like a bow tie. He is John Schwensusen. That was not a very common name. The studio was Smith's Gallery of Covington, Kentucky. The portrait was probably in the late-1860s. John wears a cut-away jacket which doesn't match his trousers. His pants apparently button-on to his shirt. He has white stockings and hight-top shoes. Note his rounded-crown hat.

John Schwennesen (United States, 1860s)

This studio CDV portrait shows a boy about 8-9 years old wearing what looks like a bow tie. We are not entirely sure if this is a bow or bowtie. The boy's name is written on the back of the CDV. We thought John's family name might be, "Schwensusen". A name we have never seen before. A German reader tells us that the name is is Schwennesen. Perhaps written in the presence of the parents of the boy in the picture. They were spelling it and since it was a foreign name, the photographer paused a minute. That's why there is a small gap between the two n's." Our reader tells us that the name is not an unusual name in northwestern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein) and in Denmark. Given the fact that many more Germans emigrated to America than Danes, German seems more likely. But given depending on when the family emigrated, modern concepts of nationality may not have been as pronounced. And of course the Prussians annexed much of southern Denmark in the Danish War (1864). Thus the family could be either Danish or German. The studio was Smith's Gallery of Photography at the Motch's Building, Madison and Pike, Covington, Kentucky. There is no Federal tax stamp. This means that the portrait could have been taken in the early-1960s. Given the elaboate lettering on the back and the pose, we believe it was taken after the Civil War, probably in the late-1860s. John wears a cut-away jacket which doesn't match his trousers. His pants apparently button-on to his shirt. He has white long stockings and high-top shoes. Note his rounded-crown hat. That was a major hat style for boys.








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Created: 1:53 AM 3/23/2009
Last edited: 6:37 PM 3/24/2009