Faces of our Ancestors
Over 25,000 men and women were killed in the War for Independence. This may seem a small number, but 25,000 lives in 1776 totaled 1 percent of the population. In today's numbers, this would mean more than 3 million dead to achieve American independence.
"So how do we know them," says McCullough in "Faces," "without photographs, with nothing but stagy paintings to look at, no film clips, no recorded voices. How do we know what they thought of their endeavor and the 'times that tried men's souls.' How can we know what they looked like?"
McCullough drew his portrayals in 1776 primarily from first hand accounts - diaries, letters to and from home, memoirs, military records, official reports and correspondence, and newspapers. These all tell a bit about the people and the conditions of their daily lives during that time. As for the faces, McCullough says that "some of the best, most vivid accounts of their appearance, even the way they talked, are to be found in the deserter notices posted in public places or printed in the newspapers."
A reminder that history is much more than dates and facts, and that re-creating the "faces" of our ancestors should, perhaps, be the greatest focus of our family history research.
Related:
Researching Your Revolutionary War Ancestor
Putting the "History" in Family History
Comments
Runs through my mind there were some pretty good illustrators back then who drew illustrations of battles and men who participated? Have I got the wrong war?
While we will never have photographs of the Revolutionary War generation at the time of the war itself, there is a project in process to find and publish photographs of those people who lived during that time. Photography as we know it was invented in 1839, and many of the Revolution generation were photographed as seniors and elderly citizens. See Maureen Taylor’s blog, The Last Muster for more information.
Yes, there are quite a number of illustrations and paintings from Revolutionary times. David McCullough goes into it in more detail in “Faces” than the little bit I covered. Essentially he is speaking more of the little details of the individual people - the pockmarks, the lazy eyes, the color of the hair, the missing teeth. Much of that rich detail is missing in the illustrations and paintings, many of which display quite a bit of “artistic license.”
My point was actually less about the lack of photos from that time period, and more about learning what we can about who our ancestors were as people. Looking for sources such as the deserter reports that McCullough mentioned in the newspaper, or WWI draft registrations, where physical or character descriptions can be found.
I actually saw a post about Maureen’s quest to collect photographs of people who lived during the Revolutionary War on another blog after my post. Thanks for sharing the link with everyone!