New York or Washington circa 1844-1851. "General Hugh Brady, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing three-quarters left, in military uniform." Half-plate daguerreotype from the studio of Mathew Brady. View full size.
Submitted by Sonfjourn on Mon, 05/12/2008 - 10:31am.
The "Jersey Centenarian" was photographed in 1848 sitting beside his great-grandson (a toddler) in 1848 aged 103. I saw this in a book and have never been able to find the picture on the Web.
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 8:35pm.
http://www.historicamericanprints.com/history.htm has a photograph of Conrad Heyer, born in 1749. He died in 1856 (107 years old!) can you imagine? A photograph of a man who knew people born in the 1600s!
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 7:59pm.
He is wearing the shoulder scales of a Major General (note the star), to which rank he was commissioned in 1848, three years before he died in 1851. I'm guessing the photo was made right after his promotion in 1848.
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 7:56pm.
Amazing -- that we are looking at a face that breathed the same air as George Washington, for example--the portraits all seem a bit stuffy and so remote. But this is living history.
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 7:32pm.
Wow, one of the best photos yet, great history speaks from this portrait, mnnn, that nose, slightly bent to his left, perhaps, a political skirmish, or a good old-fashioned saloon disagreement?
Submitted by Girl Friday on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 7:04pm.
Ol' Hugh has quite a resume. Seems that this early American war hero was done in by modern technology: he was thrown from his carriage when it became entangled in telegraph wires.
I don't believe General Brady is the oldest person to be photographed - but I wonder who is.
[Hugh, born in 1768, died in 1851 at age 82. If you mean who is the person with the earliest birth year ever to be photographed, probably someone born in the 1740s. - Dave]
