Central Illinois Gazette, April 17, 1861

The news from 150 years ago:



...The Governor will call the Legislature of the State together in a few days (on the 23rd); appropriations in money, and demands for men will be made, to meet our share of this much is to be lamented necessity; but let it be done with a liberal hand. Illinois can furnish twenty-five thousand men that will be willing to lead the van to crush out secession and hang the Yanceys, Toombses, and Wigfalls [Southern secessionists]. This number would not be noticed out of the real bone and sinew of the State, but enough would be left to raise corn to feed the poor of Missisippi [sic] and the other secession states. We will whip the rebels with the one hand and feed their poor with the other.

Samuel T. Busey: Ambrotype or Ferrotype?

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.