19th Century Tattoos

[Matthew.Rector]

I think one of the valuable threads that the AC lost from the crash involved a discussion of mid 19th tattoos and the practice of tattooing. “Tatoos in the war...” from 02-02-2004. While the origins of that thread still exist, I think there may have been many follow up posts in that thread that are now missing.

As such, I wanted to begin a new thread and see if we can’t regain some of that lost information. It is likely that the discussion will cover time periods outside the 1861-65 time frame, hence the “broad” heading for the new thread.

(Of course I must also plug Mark Jaeger’s fine articles on the subject in Civil War Historian magazine.)

Below are some articles that I had posted at one time. They are now transcribed to aid those that use the “search” function.


TURNED UP AGAIN.-A couple of weeks since we exposed the imposition of a pretended “fugitive slave” upon the too susceptible charity of one of the leading black republicans of Greene; and we supposed, from the facts of his imposition having got into print, we should hear no more of him along the lake shore-but by the following from the Ashtabula Sentinel it appears he is still “roping in” the shriekers: That paper describes him thus:
“He is a light mulatto, supposed to be about 23 years old, slender built, about 5 feet 7 inches in height; has India ink figures tattooed on each hand near the thumbs. He represents himself as being the slave of Hon. John B. Thompson, of Kentucky,-that he has spent the winter in Washington, and from there made his escape to New York City; thence to Dunkirk, where he was arrested and rescued from his master and the marshal. He claims to know all about Washington City, the members of Congress, and all prominent men-Horace Greeley in particular.”

The Erie Observer
Erie Pennsylvania
April 10, 1858; Page 2

***

MYSTERIOUS MURDER AT ST. LOUIS.-On the 6th inst., the dead body of a well-dressed, but unknown young man, was found lying on a common near St. Louis. It had, it appears, been stabbed in no less than twenty places. By the side of the body was found an elegant gold locket, containing the miniature of a beautiful girl, and on his person another likeness of the girl. The letters P.P., and a “soldier” were tattooed on his right arm; on his left, a small Maltose cross.

Philadelphia Press
Philadelphia Pennsylvania
July 12, 1859; Page 1

***

TATTOOING MADE SERVICEABLE.-The Boston Advertiser of the 3d inst. Has the following:
“Life being notoriously insecure in New York, one of the New York papers has proposed that every citizen should have his name and residence marked on his clothing, so that, in case anything should happen to him-to use a mild expression-whatever is found may be identified. The discovery of a body stripped and sunk in the river, however, has suggested a defect in this arrangement, and it is now proposed (need we say by the Louisville Journal?) that every New Yorker should have his name tattooed in his breast, or some such secure place ‘As to marking the place of residence, that would be impossible, for New Yorkers all move every May-day, so that a full-grown man or woman would look like a printed directory.’ “

Philadelphia Press
Philadelphia Pennsylvania
May 5, 1860; Page 2

***

TO REMOVE INDIA INK.-Many men who, in their youth, were so foolish as to permit the marking of their persons with India Ink, have deeply regretted the act, and wished in vain for some means of removing the disfigurement without leaving a scar in its stead. Some newspaper writer says that if the parts are blistered with a plaster, a little larger than the mark, and the place kept open for a week with an ointment, it may be dressed to get well, and, as the new skin grows, the tattoo will disappear.

The Columbia Spy
Columbia Pennsylvania
March 7, 1868; Page 1

[Matthew.Rector]

Re: Interesting study on Tattoos

A Handbook of the Practice of Forensic Medicine: Based on Personal Experience
By Johann Ludwig Casper
London: The New Sydenham Society, 1861
Pages 105-109

As already related in Case XXXI., I was called upon in the course of a most obscure and intricate criminal case to answer the question-Can tattooing, known to exist during life, ever become so thoroughly effaced as to leave no trace on the body? The inquiry was a perfectly novel one, and, from being entirely omitted by all writers on medical jurisprudence, could only be solved by my own individual investigations. Should the answer be negative, then the particular body in question could not be that of the man missing, because he was well known to have exhibited on his person, when in life, the marks of tattooing, and with the loss of this proof of identity, the whole case against the prisoner accused of murder fell to the ground, which would not, however, be the case could it be shown that even in a single individual such marks had ever really completely disappeared. The practice of tattooing, which in this country is exercised almost solely to men, and that chiefly on the arms and also on the breast, while savage nations cover more or less of the whole body with the pattern, indicating by it various degrees of rank, is accomplished by means of three or four sewing needles, stuck in a cork or piece of wood, and so covered (by being wound round with cotton, &c.) as to leave only the points bare, which are deeply pricked into the skin, on which the desired pattern has been traced. Our lovers of this species of ornament (soldiers, sailors, and the like) usually choose one or two hearts, their own or their sweetheart’s initials, a date (of year, &c.), crossed swords, a tobacco-pipe, and such like. When the bleeding from the small punctures has ceased, some colouring-matter is rubbed into the recent wounds, consisting usually of cinnabar or gunpowder, generally of both, to make the picture striking, or Indian ink, charcoal, ink or Prussian (washing) blue. Desirous of investigating on as large a scale as possible whether such marks might not possibly be made to disappear during life by the continuous regeneration of the cuticle, and believing that the opportunity desired would be best afforded by a large body of old soldiers, I proceeded to examine the dwellers in our Royal Invalid Establishment,* amongst whom I discovered thirty-six men who had been formerly tattooed. Amongst these I found in one case some tattoo marks visible after the lapse of fifty-four years; in many others they were quite distinct after more than forty years, whilst in two cases they had completely disappeared after the lapse of respective periods of thirty-eight and thirty-six years. The general result of this investigation was, that of thirty-six persons tattooed, in three the marks faded in course of time, in two they became partially, and in four wholly obliterated. Consequently, in one case out of nine, the tattooing was found to disappear in course of time. In the open jury court in which I gave this evidence, a competent witness came forward and displayed his arm, which in his youth had been tattooed with cinnabar, and from which every trace of it had disappeared. A year later Dr. Hutin, in Paris, instituted a similar investigation on a much larger scale in the large Hôpital des Invalides of that city, where he found, among 3000 men, no fewer than 506 who had formerly been tattooed. The results he obtained† agree in the main with my own. The colouring-matters employed were the same as those already mentioned, cinnabar being the general favourite. The marks made with it, according to Dr. Hutin, frequently become wholly or partially effaced, those made with Indian ink or powdered charcoal remain visible, while those made with gunpowder, washing blue or ink, generally fade, but in by far the largest proportion of cases never become wholly effaced. This observer found, among the 506 men formerly tattooed, 47 from whom the marks had completely disappeared (one in ten and a-half)-almost the same result I myself have obtained. Two years later the question was anew investigated by a Parisian physician, named Tardieu, who investigated the matter for himself, and has published a valuable treatise on the medico-legal aspects of tattooing.‡ He found that the tattooing had completely disappeared in three cases out of seventy-six, or in one case only out of twenty-five; and this proportion, so remarkably small, when compared with the results obtained by myself and Dr. Hutin, Tardieu explains by referring to the coloring-matters employed. In all our investigations we found cinnabar to be the pigment most usually employed, whilst Tardieu found a large proportion of his subjects had been tattooed with Indian ink, and he concludes that cinnabar and blue ink create far less indelible marks than Indian ink, soot, or washing blue. That is to say, in other words, that the former pigments are more readily absorbed than the latter. For Follin has re-discovered the pigment vanished from a tattoo mark in the lymphatic glands, and our deceased talented Prof. V. Meckel has made the same observations having found cinnabar, charcoal, &c., in the lymphatic glands of several who had been recently tattooed. And I can confirm this observation from the results of my own experience:-

(1.)On the body of a young man of twenty, who had been drowned, we found a very bright-red A upon the inner surface of the left forearm, obviously very recently tattooed, and with the naked eye we could very plainly see the cinnabar in the axillary glands.

(2.)Another case is represented (Plate VIII. Fig. 25 of the Atlas). It exhibits a gland from the axilla of a man aged sixty, who died of empyema, and who on the same part of his arm as the former case had tattooed a large, brilliant, and strongly defined red heart, within which were the initials J.C.G., and the date 1858. Along the edge of the gland a copious sprinkling of cinnabar was distinctly seen.

(3.)On the right forearm of a man aged sixty-six, who killed himself by cutting his throat in 1856 There was a heart with the date 1813 (forty-three years previously), and beneath two faces, which were tolerably distinct. All these were tattooed with cinnabar alone, and this was plentifully deposited in the right axillary glands.

(4 and 5.) Four young journeymen-butchers were suffocated in 1857 in carbonic oxide gas. Two of them were tattooed on the right arm. A. had a crown, three initials, and the date 1855. All of these were still (after two years) very distinct, and in the axillary glands there was no deposit of cinnabar. B. had a highly ornamental design, consisting of the head of an ox, beneath it two crossed pole-axes, initials, and the date 1851. Except the figure 5, which was somewhat faded, the design was quite distinct. But in this case (after six years) cinnabar was already deposited in three separate spots of one of the axillary glands.

(6.) G., a pensioner, aged sixty-eight, was killed in March 1858, by being run over by a carriage. He had on both forearms very well preserved cinnabar tattooings,-a heart and a flowerpot on each arm, on the left the date 1809, on the right, 1814. In the right axillary gland we found cinnabar more plentifully than in any previous case, in the left there were only scattered and not very visible particles of cinnabar.

(7.) H., a shopkeeper, aged thirty-eight, hanged himself on the 8th of July, 1858. On the right forearm there was a cinnabar tattoo mark, a heart, a cipher, and the date 1841, all perfectly well preserved. In the axillary glands (after seventeen years) there was a little cinnabar.

Meckel found the cinnabar still more plentifully in the glands of those from whose arms the tattoo marks had almost completely faded, so that it is probable that the absorbed pigment may be found in the glands after every trace has disappeared from the skin. Whether, besides the difference of the pigmentary material, any other influence, such as personal constitution, mode of life, deepness of the punctures, &c., has any effect in hastening the obliteration of the marks must, from the novelty of the question, be left still undetermined. Tardieu also expresses himself in much too decided a manner on another point, when he states that it is possible to determine from the character of the pattern the doubtful identity of the body and the position in life of the deceased, &c., inasmuch as he thinks he has found that soldiers, sailors, and public women, all as classes affect separate and distinct kinds of pictures. Such an idea is evidently likely to leas to gross error, and it is impossible from the state of the facts to recognize it as worthy of general acceptance. Another statement of Tardieu’s is, on the contrary, of great practicle importance, viz., that tattoo marks may be effaced by art. Acting on the information of a prisoner who had employed art for the purpose of deceiving the judge, Tardieu made a successful experiment on an inmate in the Hospital who had a crucifix tattooed with Indian ink on his forearm. The mark was first well rubbed with a salve composed of pure acetic acid and axunge, then with a solution of potash, and finally with weak muriatic acid. The acetic acid ointment was spread thickly on the arm and allowed to remain for twenty-four hours; next day the solution of potash was well rubbed into the arm four or five times. Neither of these operations occasioned more than a trifling uneasiness. On the following morning, a thin but firmly adherent crust was found to have formed, and this fell off on the seventh day. But a new crust formed spontaneously, which adhered for more than fourteen days, and then fell off, leaving a flat scar, in which not the smallest trace of the design formerly existing was any longer visible. Experiments of this sort require, however, to be repeated. Nevertheless, the investigations of Tardieu, Hutin, and myself have already ascertained the following facts, which may be of practical value in determining the doubtful identity of a body, namely:-THAT TATTOO MARKS MAY BECOME PERFECTLY EFFACED DURING LIFE; THAT IN NOT A FEW CASES THEY DISAPPEAR, SO THAT THEY ARE NO LONGER VISIBLE ON THAT BODY WHEN DEAD, ON WHICH DURING LIFE WITNESSES HAD OFTEN SEEN THEM, AND THAT THEIR EXISTENCE AT A FORMER PERIOD MAY POSSIBLY BE ASCERTAINED BY AN EXAMNATION OF THE AXILLARY GLANDS.


* Vide the full account of this research in my Vierteljschft. I.. s. 288.
†Recherches sur les tatouges. Paris, 1855-8.
‡Annales d’Hygiène publique. Janv., 1855, p. 171, &c.

[Tucker49th]

Re: 19th Century Tattoos

Richmond Daily Dispatch: February 20, 1863.
Five hundred dollars reward.
--Deserted from comply E, 26th Virginia reg't, on the 1st inst, Henry Scott, an Irishman, about 47 years old, about 5 feet 6½ inches high; dark-brown or black hair; bluish eyes; dark complexion; has a ship tattooed on his breast, a woman on each arm, the woman on the left arm has a child in her arms; has a star on the back of the left hand, and has lost a portion of the middle finger of the right hand.--Henry Scott was mustered as a substitute for Robt Edmund son, of Halifax co, Va. The above reward will be paid for his delivery to me at the camp of the 26th Virginia regiment, Wise's brigade, near Chaffin's Bluff.

John T Perrin, Capt Co B,

26th Virginia regiment. fe 20--11t*

[Matthew.Rector]

Re: 19th Century Tattoos

From "The Printed Ephemera collection at the Library of Congress"

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/rbpe.20400600

$200 REWARD!
The sum of Two Hundred Dollars will be paid for the arrest and return of WILLIAM WELLS, who
ESCAPED FROM THE U. S. PENITENTIARY
DECEMBER 26, 1860.
He is a White Man, light complexion, brown hair, blue eyes, slightly bald on the top of his head, is pockmarked, is five feet six and one-eighth inches high, foot ten and one-eigth inches long, marked with blue and red india ink on the left arm.
C. P. SENGSTACK,
Warden.

[BobbyHughes]

Re: 19th Century Tattoos

Comrades,

Although I only have one tat, I have found your postings quite fascinating indeed, especially the descriptions of said tattoos. That being said, I think I still keep mine covered for events.... the lettes OIF, a hammerhead shark and 04-05 just dont pass muster:D But it is food for thought on any future tats!!

[Rebel Yell1863]

Re: 19th Century Tattoos

I found out through Mark Jaeger's article in the CWH that my only visible tat is period correct, an anchor done in India ink on my right arm. "Sept 21 1844- an anchor mark in India ink on his right arm":D

[Matthew.Rector]

Re: A couple more items

Our Brothers and Cousins: A Summer Tour in Canada and the States
By John MacGregor
London: Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday, 1859
Page 59

I don’t think that the real Irish ragged boy here has as yet been detached from the priest; and, though many may be in certain schools, I found every little Paddy I spoke to went to a Popish one. The first three of this genus I came upon were all shoeblacks. One showed the badge of his order, in the shape of some cabalistic marks tattooed on his skin, which he said cost one shilling, and was executed by some master of the art. He said nobody was allowed in their society who could not open his shirt sleeve and show this mark; but I found plenty other freebooters who plied their craft without the trademark.

FACA; An Army Memoir
By Major March [Orlando Bolivar Willcox]
Boston: James French & Company, 1857
Page 102

There are two sailors at the wheel; one looked after the young woman and laughed; the other, on whose brawny bare arm, stretched along the wheel, is tattoed a very pretty female face, raises his hand from its heavy work a moment and brushes off a tear from his cheek.

[BrettKIllinois]

Re: 19th Century Tattoos

I remember reading (7 years ago) about a tattoo artist, named something like Lew the jew and he traveled between the lines on the eastern theatre tatting up the troops. He became even more popular doing it during Span Am, and afterwords he started what today is known as "flash" I'd love to see that flash... This is pre electricity though when methods such as tapping or pulling an ink soaked thread through the flesh was employed. Tattooing became popular amongst sailors in the 18th century although has been around 5000 years as a practice.
the first permanent tattoo shop in new york city was set up in 1846.

here is a great article on this:

http://wings.buffalo.edu/research/anthrogis/JWA/V1N3/tatoos-art.html

[floridawar]

Re: 19th Century Tattoos

THere is a good reference to Confederate Sailors' tattoos among crewmen of the CSS Chattahoochee at Columbus, GA in Maxine Turner's book Navy Gray. She quotes a fellow regarding a nice Confederate eagle on one man's chest!

James "Archie" Marshall

[markj]

Re: 19th Century Tattoos

THere is a good reference to Confederate Sailors' tattoos among crewmen of the CSS Chattahoochee at Columbus, GA in Maxine Turner's book Navy Gray. She quotes a fellow regarding a nice Confederate eagle on one man's chest!

James "Archie" Marshall

Here is the quote you mentioned:

At two miles’ distance from the wharf, a small force of militia was stationed at the Chatthoochee Arsenal. [Lieutenant George] Gift was rather derisive of “our colonel D. P. Holland” who had withdrawn northward from Apalachicola; but others evidently enjoyed the sessions when Holland spun yarns about Florida. Life aboard ship also left the crew time to have the captain of the fore top tatoo [sic] them. Wyndam Mayo chose an eagle and Confederate shield around his neck, Henry Marmaduke made the more conservative choice of a coat of arms, and Daniel Trigg made the patriotic choice of Sic Semper Tyrannis for his forearm.

(Having pulled this off Google Books, I was unable to access the notes section, which specifies the source for the above anecdote).

Turner, Maxine. Navy Gray: Engineering the Confederate Navy on the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola Rivers. Macon GA: Mercer University Press, 1999 (new printing of original 1988 edition published by The University of Alabama Press), p. 88.

Some speculative notes: the "Confederate shield" and "coat of arms" designs mentioned above may well have been similar to the "Sun of Glory" design known to have been adopted for use on some unit colors:

http://www.confederateflags.org/national/FOTCglory.htm

By the same token, the men's tattoos could easily have incorporated motifs based on either the First or Second Pattern CS national flags. Shield designs of one form or another have been encountered on surviving military drums and at least one such drum is shown in "Echoes of Glory."

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[C. Hyson]

Re: 19th Century Tattoos

Brent made reference to Lewis Alberts, however, this individual was not born until 1880. He was responsible for the mass availability of flash art, but has no link to the Civil War.

[markj]

Re: 19th Century Tattoos

Here's a super image of a tattooed woman currently for sale on EBay. The cabinet card is decidedly post-war (probably 1890-1900), but the woman's "tats" are shown in closeup These are undoubtedly quite similar to those applied to Civil War era soldiers and civilians. Applying Photo Shop to the below scans should bring out more details.

I, for one, could quickly discern a number of standard motifs, including necklaces/bracelets, dates, patriotic symbols, stars, flowers, and what may be romantic imagery. The "1888" date is vexing, but it may refer either to the date the woman's artwork was done or, possibly, when she emigrated to the United States from England. I don't think it's a birth date since the image has a decidedly 1890's look to it. Indeed, I checked another website and J. D. Maxwell's photographic studio, 186 Bowery, New York, reportedly shows up in the 1890 NY City Directory. Incidentally, the street address "186 Bowery" is now occupied by the firm of "Chinatown Electrical, Inc." Things have obviously changed a bit since the 1890's....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230214572081

Check'er out,

Mark Jaeger

[markj]

Re: 19th Century Tattoos

Greetings,

I would like to ask for your help. A few years ago, in one of the threads dealing with 19th Century tattooing, someone posted a scanned painting showing a French Napoleonic Wars veteran sporting a tattoo on, I believe, his right forearm. I have since misplaced the scan and haven't been able to find any info about it in my notes. I furthermore don't believe the image is posted anymore on the forum. Therefore, I'd be very grateful for any leads on where I can find it again.

Thanks,

Mark Jaeger

[Abrams]

Re: 19th Century Tattoos

Well, the blue dancing bear on my right arm is high enough to be hidden by even a t-shirt. While the Greatful Dead are an old band, I do not believe they were playing in the mid 1800's, so I'll have to just keep it out of sight, heh.

[Matthew.Rector]

Re: 19th Century Tattoos

Greetings,

I would like to ask for your help. A few years ago, in one of the threads dealing with 19th Century tattooing, someone posted a scanned painting showing a French Napoleonic Wars veteran sporting a tattoo on, I believe, his right forearm. I have since misplaced the scan and haven't been able to find any info about it in my notes. I furthermore don't believe the image is posted anymore on the forum. Therefore, I'd be very grateful for any leads on where I can find it again.

Thanks,

Mark Jaeger

Mark,

I believe I posted or made reference to these paintings in the first tattoo thread. Could you be thinking of them?

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/archive/exhibits/oneil/index.asp

Eastward Ho! and Home Again, painted in 1857 and 1858 by Henry Nelson O'Neil. If so, Eastward Ho! is the one the has a tattoed mariner offering a hand to a lady.