A handful of pictures from the annual Show, hosted by the Maryland Arms Collectors Association.
For this year’s event, my friend Jim Mayo and I collaborated on an educational display of arms, accoutrements, and accessories imported to the Confederacy through the blockade.
I had the distinct privilege of speaking at the homecoming celebration held on Sunday, March 16, recognizing South Quay Baptist Church for its 250th anniversary. It was a packed-house, with standing room only and just a wonderful day of sharing history, fellowship, and worship!
The pictures below are courtesy of South Quay’s Facebook page.
Additionally, the following resolution was passed by the Senate of Virginia as SR219 commending South Quay on this great honour and outlining the Church’s history:
Offered January 23, 2025
Commending South Quay Baptist Church.
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Patron—Jordan
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WHEREAS, South Quay Baptist Church of Suffolk, one of the oldest Baptist congregations in the Commonwealth, will celebrate its 250th anniversary on March 1, 2025; and
WHEREAS, South Quay Baptist Church was a mission church of Mill Swamp Baptist Church and located originally along the Blackwater River on the border of Southampton and Nansemond Counties; the church was organized with a bi-racial congregation of 42 members on March 1, 1775, under the leadership of the Reverend David Barrow, a noted anti-slavery and liberty advocate; and
WHEREAS, South Quay Baptist Church moved to its current location in then-Nansemond County in 1835, becoming commonly known as “Reedy Branch Church” due to its location along Reedy Branch in the South Quay community; and
WHEREAS, during the Civil War, by order of Governor William Smith, South Quay Baptist Church served as the temporary courthouse for Nansemond County during its military occupation between 1864 and 1865; and
WHEREAS, the Reverend Putnam Owens of South Quay Baptist Church ordained former slaves Israel Cross and Joseph Gregory, both members of the church, who went on to establish Cool Spring Baptist Church, now First Baptist Church of Franklin, in 1866 and Mount Sinai Baptist Church located in Nansemond County in 1868; and
WHEREAS, South Quay Baptist Church, in the wake of Reconstruction, erected a new building in 1889 after the church was destroyed by a fire, and said building comprises today’s present church building; and
WHEREAS, over the course of time, South Quay Baptist Church has greatly expanded in membership and completed a parsonage, fellowship hall, and Sunday school classrooms to better serve the growing community; and
WHEREAS, South Quay Baptist Church has provided the community uplifting spiritual guidance, proclaiming the word of the Lord and encouraging deep, personal relationships with Jesus Christ, and these efforts have been complemented by joyful occasions for worship, fellowship, and abundant opportunities for charity and outreach, making the church an integral and cherished part of the City of Suffolk and Southampton County; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Senate of Virginia, That South Quay Baptist Church hereby be commended on the occasion of its 250th anniversary; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to South Quay Baptist Church as an expression of the Senate of Virginia’s high regard for the church’s history, heritage, and contributions to the Commonwealth.
A couple of new additions to my “crew” of blockade runner images.
George Washington Davis of North Carolina (1832 – circa 1900)
G.W. Davis was born into a seafaring family near Shackleford banks, Carteret County, North Carolina, in 1832. Little is known of his early life until he appears as the 2nd Mate of the iron-hulled paddle steamer, Britannia, which had been launched from Scotland in the spring of 1862. The Britannia made six runs through the blockade before being captured off of the Bahamas on June 22, 1863, by the USS Santiago de Cuba. Davis, along with many of his fellow crew members, were sent to Fort Lafayette, NY; and later transferred to Fort Warren, Boston, Massachusetts, in September of 1863. Davis remained imprisoned at Fort Warren for the remainder of the War and after, until June 20, 1865.
This CDV of G.W. Davis was taken by photographer J.W. Black, Boston, Massachusetts, during his imprisonment at Fort Warren. Black also appears in several of the group images of Fort Warren prisoners that have been published.
After the War, Davis settled in Smithville (now Southport), North Carolina, where he married, raised a family, and continued in maritime pursuits as a sailor and pilot. He died prior to 1900.
George E. Lyell of Virginia (1837 – 1868)
A native of Norfolk, Virginia, George E. Lyell had been a member of the 54th Virginia Militia before he enlisted as a Private in Captain Nathan W. Small’s Signal Corps Company on March 5, 1862. This Company ultimately became a part of Major James F. Milligan’s Independent Signal Corps, operating as scouts and signal officers along the James and Appomattox rivers. Lyell was present with his company, and primarily stationed in Petersburg, until detailed in 1864 for signal duty to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he would serve on ships intended to run the blockade. Although the particulars of this service are unknown, he does appear on a list of Confederates in Havana, Cuba, in April of 1865, and later back in the Confederacy, where he was paroled at Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 4, 1865.
After the War, Lyell operated a restaurant and saloon in Norfolk, until an untimely death on July 23, 1868.
The CDV of George E. Lyell was photographed by A. Hobday & Co., Norfolk, Virginia, circa 1866-1868.
(These images are in the collection of and are courtesy of Fred D. Taylor.)
Since returning from some travels this week, I have had history “on the brain,” and I have simply wanted to research and write. So with this month honoring women, a recent addition to my “caretaking family” was immediately on my mind. Here’s the rest of the story…
When it comes to collecting old photographs, finding one that is identified is usually about a fifty-fifty shot (maybe less?) It seems to become even more difficult the older the image may be. When a photograph appears that checks the boxes for time period, identification, location, and even more, you have truly been fortunate.
I first saw this daguerreotype a few months back. Candidly, her beauty is what initially struck me. Followed by the photographer’s artistry. I wanted to know more. It had come up for sale from an image dealer, but I missed the purchase by literal minutes to another. Opportunity came to me once again though, and whether serendipity or pure luck, I was able to acquire it – thanks to my friend Ben Rollins.
But the story of this image went much deeper. It was inscribed. It was identified. It had provided a location. It had a date. It was my unicorn.
Meet Eliza V. Taylor. Yes, Taylor.
Eliza was born in 1830 near Oxford, in Granville County, North Carolina, the oldest child of John Camillus Taylor (1800-1873) and his wife Emily Elizabeth Tillinghast (1807-1841). Without a doubt, Eliza was born into a family of privilege. Her father, John C. Taylor, boasted lineage from the prominent colonial Taylor family that produced two Presidents and a signer of the Declaration of Independence; he was a graduate of the University of North Carolina, a prominent merchant, farmer, educator, active in the Whig party and as such, a member of the state legislature in both the House and Senate. Her mother, Emily Tillinghast, was similarly well-situated, being descended from a noted Rhode Island family. Tragically, she passed away when Eliza was just eleven years old, herself at the young age of 34. John C. Taylor remarried though, and Eliza was raised predominantly by her step-mother throughout her teenage years.
Along with her siblings, Eliza was given the foremost education and cultural opportunities. When her father served in the legislature or was otherwise on business travel, she would frequently accompany him to the capital at Raleigh. It was likely during one of these trips to the “big city” that this photograph was taken, and is possibly the work of daguerrean artist John C. Palmer. The image is dated January 31, 1849, when Eliza was 18 years old.
Unfortunately, this story ends on a sad note just a few years later. Eliza passed away on April 3, 1852, from what was described as a “protracted illness.” Though in the prime of her life and taken at the young age of 22, I hope this brief tribute will help to carry on her memory and story. In so doing, I conclude with the following. Eliza (and her family) were active members of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Williamsboro, now in Vance County. It was the Rector of that Parish who penned her obituary. He described Eliza as:
“…dedicated in faith to God” from an early age, and “as a daughter, she was all that parents could ask, affectionate, tractable, cheerful, and ever ready to ‘do what she could’ for the happiness of all around her; as an elder sister her example was most salutary; as a friend she was constant and sincere. Admired and beloved she nevertheless preserved the simplicity, candor and guilelessness of her character unimpaired, she was kind and tender-hearted, yet firm, cheerful and buoyant in spirit, yet innocent and discreet; she had ever an ear for the tale of woe, a tear for scenes of distress, a heart to respond to the call of want… she had among those of her own youth, few peers, and no superiors.”
One could not have ever asked to have fulfilled such a complete life.
Fred~on~History 