Throwback Thursday : Ambrotype

Recently I discovered what type of photograph a particular photo was. Now this photo was not really a photo as we know them today. For starters one of my grandfather's second cousins had a small square "piece of glass;" but when you put a dark color behind it, voila, an image appears. Almost like an old negative, however the image was very sharp. This type of photograph is known as an Ambrotype. This type of photo first appeared around 1854; its type peaked in popularity between 1856 and 1860, and faded away between 1861 and 1866.

If my recollection is correct, this piece of glass was actually two pieces of "glass" put together with the image sandwiched in between the glass panes. According to PhotoTree.com, this early type of Ambrotype was used from 1855 and 1857.

Michael Behrhof & wife Theresa Franz
Children Magadelena (left) & Stephen (right)
circa 1857

With this new found piece of information I feel confident that I can identify the adults in the photo. My grandfather Joe's grandfather and his cousin Charles' grandfather were siblings. Henry and Charles Koreman, respectively. Now the Koreman brothers married two sisters, Margaret and Magdalena Behrhof. Henry and Margaret did not begin a family until the late 1860s. Charles and Magdalena started their families in the 1870s. So the Ambrotype predates them.

Using my known genealogical data, Magdalena Behrhof was born circa 1854 and her brother Stephen was born circa 1856 to Michael Behrhof and Theresa Franz. The children definitely fit the age range for the Ambrotype time period. And they are the only children born in that vintage in the Koreman / Behrhof lines.

Years ago my grandfather mentioned to me that the family lived in Rondout, New York; just outside of Kingston before coming to Albany. I asked; which family but he did not know. But we knew it was either the Koreman's or the Behrhof's. A few years later, still researching the tree, I ended up at the home of another of my grandfather's cousins, Elizabeth and Florence. They pulled out two photo albums that belonged to their grandfather, Henry Koreman. Between the two albums there must have been at least 60 to 70 photos. Tin types, Carte de Visite, and Cabinet Card photos. The album dated to the 1860s and unfortunately they could not identify very many of the individuals in the photos. On the reverse of two Carte de Visite photos was the name and location of the photographer who took the photos. Now comparing the man in the Ambrotype picture to the man below in the Carte de Viste photo; we believe the man to be the same man.

Photographer: Vallaha, Division Street, Rondout

Below is a photo from Rondout of two unidentified children. Most likely Behrhof children.

Photographer: DJ Auchmoody, Garden & Ferry Streets, Rondout, NY
Most likely Magdalena & Stephen

Now the next photo below was also in Henry Koreman's family album and again we believe him to be the same man from the pictures above. We believe this to be Michael Behrhof, one of my great great great grandfathers, who was an immigrant from Bayern. Part of the reasoning behind this is aside from the Koreman's the common family shared between Charles' ancestors and Elizabeth and Florence's ancestors were the Behrhof's.

Michael Behrhof

Below is a copy of a tin type photo of Magdelena Behrhof as an adult. I see a resemblance. Do you?

Magdalena Behrhof Koreman

Below is Stephen Behrhof.