Mystery Solved

cablecarclothiers.com

Parnassus wins my virtual deerstalker cap for guessing the inscription on the very first try. And Carol P. also wins my virtual deerstalker cap for suggesting the higher dpi, which allowed me to verify that Parnassus' guess was correct. Steve of The Urban Cottage gets a virtual deerstalker cap, as well. Congratulations!

This is my tracing over the 1200dpi scan. One note of interest: in graphology, the shape of the "A" in "Austin" is called a "Star T," and is a sign of doggedness, or persistence. Writers using that mark tend to finish whatever they start. It's interesting that Stewart's cousin used that shape for "A"s, and not "T's. Perhaps later in life he or she did.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to solving my conundrum. You are all History Detectives, and you each receive your very own virtual Ruffnerian Decoder Ring. Congratulations!

I did a quick search through census records from 1900 and 1910 and found three S. A. Austins, all born in the 1840s (which would probably be the correct birth date for this teenager with late 1850s attire):

S. A. Austin   St. Clair, Alabama   1842

S. A. Austin   St. Joseph, Michigan   1842

S. A. Austin   Leflore, Mississippi   1846

Perhaps the sitter for my ambrotype is one of these three people, and lived into the beginning of the 20th century.

.

Calling All History Detectives!

I recently purchased an ambrotype of an 1850's teenager. The case in which it came was unremarkable, but the ambrotype was in fine condition, and the earnest young face was appealing — a blank clean slate, if I ever saw one!

Isn't that vest great?

There was a piece of paper in the case that was so faded that at first, I didn't even realize that there was writing on it. So I opened this image in Adobe PhotoShop and played around with filters, trying to accentuate the handwriting and fade the background.

At first it looked like it might read "E_______ L," but I wasn't sure. Some more work, and then I came up with this:

I believe that the young man's name is written on two lines and that "Stewart" is his first name. But what is the rest of the inscription? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

After mulling it over with a cup of coffee, contributer Carol P. suggested that I scan the inscription with a higher dpi (dots per inch).  Exhibit D is the result, scanned at 1200dpi (or four times more detailed than the original scan).  Now can you decipher it?

.

.