Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes…next in time were tintypes or ferrotypes. We will look at the tintypes in my possession. This article has helpful info on 19th century photography: How to Date Your Old Photos.

Of this group of tintypes, we CAN identify the two older children in the one image – my great grandfather Frank Miles VanScoter and his sister Eva when they were teens. For now, we will focus generally on these photos, and I’ll have other posts sharing more about Frank and Eva.

Tintypes were usually placed in an inexpensive paper or cardboard frame, so it is no wonder that these frames did not last and most tintypes are found loose today, as these are. Tintypes were introduced about 1856 and remained popular about 10 years, but stayed in use until the early 1900’s as a novelty. We can likely date these from the 1860s and 1870s, and the photo of Frank and Eva we can narrow down to 1872-1875. Here is a photo of all the tintypes:

I scanned the next two photos together, as it is clearly the same dark haired girl in each photo. She looks different to me than the other girl, so maybe they are cousins, not siblings? I do have a cabinet card where 2 cousins posed in a photo together. I love how she is posed with her doll. Note she is wearing dangling earrings. What is her hand sitting on? I can not tell.

Here are three men. Love the hats, suit styles, and mustaches!

The remaining tintypes are in poorer condition: bent, scratches, rusting on the side, etc.
Here are two women:

And here are two more women. The photo on the right has a name etched (informally) on the back: Mag Callae. Perhaps, with the name, I can one day identify this woman, but so far I can not match her up with any names in VanScoter history at least. I am assuming this is VanScoter lineage, since these tintypes were kept together, and one photo we know is Frank Miles VanScoter. However, it is possible these are not all VanScoters.

Finally the tintype of Frank Miles VanScoter and Evalyn Havens VanScoter, brother and sister. Frank Miles is my great grandfather, and Eva would be my great aunt. There will be future posts about them. Frank Miles was born in 1860 and Eva in 1857. Thus estimated date of the photo is 1872-75. Frank looks in the range of 12-15 years to me, and Eva looks 15-17 years. This photo was identified to my father by his mother (my grandmother) Leota VanScoter Spicer. Plus we have other photos and verification.