You're looking at a photograph of Samuel T. Busey we have in our collection here at the Champaign County Historical Archives. Busey, of course, was the Colonel of the 76th Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War, and would later co-found Busey Bank with his brother Simeon. He then went on to serve as a five-term mayor of the City of Urbana and as a Representative from the 15th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. This image is a portrait of him in his uniform during the war.
We were curious as to what type of image we had on our hands. Ambrotypes and ferrotypes (also commonly called "tintypes") both use a similar process - a silver based emulsion that produces a positive image on a dark, non-reflective support. The major difference: ambrotypes have a glass support, while ferrotypes, as the name suggests, are supported by a thin sheet of iron. The problem is that when ambrotypes and ferrotypes are placed in a case, they are virtually indistinguishable. So, how to tell? Carefully place a small magnet on the center of the case - if you get a response, you have a ferrotype! And our Col. Busey? A ferrotype it is.
Here are some other Samuel T. Busey materials indexed on our Local History Online index.
