James A. Pugh Facsimile Album, circa 1860s

File — Box: WP003.008, item: WP-003-016

Identifier: WP-003-016

Scope and Contents

One photographic album containing facsimiles of an original James A. Pugh album, containing forty-seven laser color copied cartes de visite. After selling his images to E. & H. T. Anthony, Mr. Pugh convinced them to create an album of Confederate Generals utilizing his images along with those of Matthew Brady and other photographers. Mr. Pugh gifted this particular album to Major T. O. Chestney upon the birth of his first son, Piercy, with the intention of preserving the memory of the men who fought for the Confederate States of America. The album also contains biographical information about James A. Pugh and an index of the images.

Dates

circa 1860s

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.

Biographical / Historical

James A. Pugh (1838-1887) was born in North Carolina, and moved to Macon, Georgia, in 1850. He grew up working as a factory boy, and in his spare time learned the art of daguerrean photography, eventually going into business with R. L. Wood in 1858. Mr. Pugh actively engaged in photography during the Civil War, taking many photographs of Confederate officers, soldiers, battles, and home-front scenes. Shortly after the end of the war, Mr. Pugh travelled to New York and sold a significant number of his original plates and negatives to E. & H. T. Anthony, a firm that published albums and cartes de visite for a number of other photographers. Using his proceeds from the sale of his images, Mr. Pugh travelled Europe for a year, returning to Macon, Georgia, in 1867. In addition to resuming his work as a photographer, he also published a book, Leaves of a Wanderer. Mr. Pugh died January 23, 1887 in his sleep.