yourmostobedientservant

Jeremy Green “Your Most Ob’t Servant” 10/29/22

My family fought on the Union side during the Civil War, and one family member died in that conflict. The “carte de visite” was a popular sort of calling card, in the 1860’s. They were traded among friends and acquaintances socially, and this one ended up in a trunk in the attic of my home. I don’t know who the young man pictured was, but he signed the back in scrolled handwriting “Your Most Ob’t Servant.” In my history studies I’ve learned that in that era even the most vaunted of gentlemen signed letters that way (“Your Most Obedient Servant”), so it is anybody’s guess as to whether this man was free or not, but he certainly was a gentleman. I arranged these old things in my 1860’s desk last night for the game today. I enjoyed assembling the picture and working with the new AI masking in Lightroom on this image.