The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1893-05-10
A RARE PHOTOGRAPH
THE REPRODUCTION OF THE OLD
DE WITT CLINTON DUE TO 1T.

Unique Bit Of History which Deals
With the Old Anti-ATasonry Feeling In
New York State Over Sixty Years Ago.
Clever Artist with Scissors.
The New York Central Railroad COM
pany's reproduction Of the first railroad
train and locomotive ever run in New
York state, a most interesting and valu-
able exhibit at the Chicago fair, said an
old resident of Albany, causes me to
wonder how many Of the officers Of that
company know that IL the disappearance
OF Morgan from Batavia 65 years ago
had not been attributed to murderous
| Vaccinations of the Masonic fraternity,
which resulted In the great anti Masonic
excitement that spread throughout the
| country and became a sensational poht-
ical factor, they would not have been
able to make the reproduction, and the
appearance Of that curious railroad train
and engine would never have been known
in accurate and pictorial representation.
LIT was years before the discovery and
practical introduction Of that crude pred
ecessor OF photography, the daguerreo-
type, when the pioneer railroad train in
this state was run, and as the future inn
portance to history of the appearance of
that train never occurred to those inter-
ested In bringing 1t into existence the
skill Of no artist with his pencil was
brought into use TO perpetuate 1t on
paper. 1t happened that young man
named William H. Brown Of
Philadelphia--was in Albany on the day
the train was run, Aug. 0, 1881, and had
been In the place several days.
HE had O marvellous talent for cutting
with pair Of scissors out of black paper
lifelike profile portraits and accurate
representations of buildings, machinery
and even landscapes.
1.-THE remarkable part of this talent of
his was his power to make a perfectly
exact portrait of persons days and even
weeks after having seen them but once,
and that only casually on the street.
HE had for some time made good iiv-
ing by the exercise of his peculiar art.i
Thaddeus Stevens was at that time just
beginning to make a reputation in poll
tics and had seized upon the anti Masonic
idea for use in Pennsylvania, as 1t had
been 30 successfully worked by Thurlow
Weed and his heutenants in New York
state The feeling was growing in Penn
sylyania, and young Brown thought it
would be good stroke Of business for
him to go to Albany, have look at
Thurlow Weed and others, snip their
likeness out in silhouette, and besides
getting a fee from them for the work
duplicate the pictures for sale among
the anti-Masonic enthusiasts In Pennsyl-
vania and elsewhere.
He went to Albany early in August,
1881, and did great deal more than get
the portraits of Thurlow Weed. His
wonderful work took the town by storm,
and he was kept busy from morning nm
/ Il peopls 81 al KINDS. sszss md tIts1
that focked TO his rooms.
His greatest artistic feat was the cut,
ting In one large picture OF the famous
Burgess corps entire. with staff and band
In full parade, each members portrait
being OF surprising accuracy. This pic
ture Is among the most precious relics in
the state library.
"And SO 1t happened that this unique
young artist was in Albany on the day
the quaint locomotive De Witt Clinton,
with its equally quaint coaches, was to be
run on its first trip over the Mohawk and
Hudson railroad. SE&&E
"He was one Of the passengers on the
train, and when 1t returned to Albany
he cut with his scissors an exact picture
of the locomotive and two Of the coaches,
making the portrait Of David Matthew,
the engineer, and John T. Clark. the con-
ductor. on his seat on the outside OF the
front coach.
"In that picture appear the likenesses
Of Thurlow Weed, Ex-Governor Yates
and other distinguished Albanians Of
that day, but neither Mr.. Weed nor the
ex-governor was on the train. Without
u thought Of the future Of that picture
as valuable contribution to history,
the artist cut those portraits merely as
an exercise Of his skill In depicting sub
ject from memory. He told me SO him
self 40 years afterward.
sWhile Artist Brown was In Albany
he concluded to go to Boston and Hart
c,,t.,,,os Win Nc ,ra~va,a,,s sc,s ws1
While in Hartford he showed the picture
he had made Of the railroad train and
c,,t II;stn,;cs, socistv Who :, - oncs sa,,
,sh. traas,,ra ~ ,,',,st ,,acss 1911 ~
can,a and Az ort;st v,~s.a,,tsd a. - ~
soc;stv ~" where r. "a todsv rs,;c hsvo,,d
ss.;.o "As's '' toS ~ 49,
asome n, YEARS after emitting that mic.
tire BROWN became ;nterested. 4, he
r r,rT business h,,,taeis having long
-ss :. -..s.,.. ~ -. La, . 80
REASONABLY, and one day, having almost