This morning while searching through some Daguerreotypes of Native Americans, I ran across a stunning portrait from 1839. The image is clear and shows a stunningly handsome tousle haired young man in his prime standing off center with his arms crossed. I did some research on the photo and found it to be a self portrait of Robert Cornelius. It is historically significant as it is believed to be the very FIRST photographic portrait of a human being.

Robert Cornelius

As you probably know the Daguerreotype was named for artist Louis Daguerre who first developed and used the technique to capture images for his dioramas. The first photos were landscapes and still life photos. It was Robert Cornelius who perfected the technique to capture crystal clear images suitable for portrait work.

The subject of the photo, Robert Cornelius married Harriet Comely and together they had 3 sons and 4 daughters. Genealogy is spare with regards to Harriet’s ancestry. Naming conventions in the subsequent generations of Robert’s family indicate a possible connection to Earlier generations of immigrants as well as the Amity Voyage of 1690 and the Dutch Colony of Amsterdam, Niew Holland, Africa.

My research has also turned up a fair number of descendants. I welcome the opportunity to collaborate with them if you could allow them to contact me via comments to this post.

Votre Ami,

Pamela Bradford

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