Visiting photographers, At the flag-raising, 14 April 1865
Jacob Frank Coonley
A New York photographer, trained by George N. Barnard and long associated with the Anthony firm, who is credited by the Library of Congress with a stereo negative of the Fort Sumter flag-raising ceremony of 14 April 1865.
The Library of Congress gives his dates as 1832–1915 and credits him as photographer of the Fort Sumter flag-raising negative, identifying him on the authority of 99 Historic Images of Civil War Charleston, published by the Center for Civil War Photography in 2009.
The rest of what is commonly said of him — that he was a sign and ornamental artist in New York who became a student of George N. Barnard, that he managed Edward Anthony’s stereoscopic print shop, and that he was later commissioned by the Quartermaster to photograph railroads and installations from Nashville to Johnsonville and from Atlanta to Huntsville — comes from secondary compilations rather than from a primary source traced here, and is flagged accordingly.
The Charleston connection
One photograph, and a good one: the ceremony at Fort Sumter on 14 April 1865, four years to the day after Major Anderson hauled the flag down, when he raised it again over the ruin.
War service and standing
Not established here. The Quartermaster commission in the western theater is reported by secondary sources; this section has not seen the order.
Process and equipment
Stereo glass negatives, wet collodion.
Attribution
The Charleston attribution is secondary and the Library of Congress says so: the photographer is identified in 99 Historic Images of Civil War Charleston, page 21, not on the negative. That is a scholarly attribution by named authorities and is published here as one.
Career
- 1832Born. Library of Congress
- 14 April 1865Credited with a stereo negative of the flag-raising ceremony at Fort Sumter. Library of Congress 99 Historic Images of Civil War Charleston
- 1915Died. Library of Congress
Do not confuse with
- Samuel A. Cooley — Cooley and Coonley are different men. One letter separates the names and nothing else about them is alike.
Representative works
- Charleston, South Carolina. Flag-raising ceremony at Fort Sumter1865 Apr. 14. · Jacob Frank CoonleyAttributedLibrary of Congress · LC-B811- 3143 [P&P]
Where the work is
- Library of Congress LC-B811-3143; LC-DIG-cwpb-02472 and 02473.
See also
George N. Barnard William E. James Samuel Abbot Cooley
Statement by statement
Every material claim on this page, with its standing and its source. A statement the record does not support is shown as unavailable rather than filled in.
- VerifiedLived 1832–1915.Library of Congress
- AttributedCredited with the Fort Sumter flag-raising negative LC-B811-3143, on the authority of the Center for Civil War Photography.Library of Congress 99 Historic Images of Civil War Charleston
- UnverifiedStudied under George N. Barnard and managed Edward Anthony’s stereoscopic print shop.Historic Camera
- UnverifiedPhotographed railroads and installations in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama under a Quartermaster commission.Historic Camera
Sources
- Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/
- Garry Adelman, John Richter and Bob Zeller, eds., 99 Historic Images of Civil War Charleston (Center for Civil War Photography, 2009). https://www.civilwarphotography.org/
- “Jacob F. Coonley, Photographer,” Historic Camera library. https://historiccamera.com/