C. H. MASTERS in Kansas and Illinois and CLARENCE ROOD

"Oh please!!! How much longer must I hold this pose? Really, my eyes are starting to dry out. I'm gettin' panicky. I'm tellin' ya, I'm gettin' light headed."

"Take quick breaths through your mouth. We're almost done."

And so this is how we end up with this unknown fellow who looks on the verge of passing out while having his portrait taken. Of course, there is the possibility that he always looked like this, a deer caught in the headlights. I have no information as to who he is.

Click on image to see it larger.

As to the photographer, C. H. Masters, I have very little information. I can tell you he once lived in Atchison County in the Kansas Territory. You can see photos of the town here, here, here, and here taken by Masters. You can find the references to these photos here. Click here to see another photo of Atchison taken by Masters. Interestingly all of these of the town were taken in 1860; the town was founded in 1854. I'm not finding any portraits with that date, which doesn't mean there aren't any. I'm just not finding them.

If you click here you'll see a portrait of famous abolitionist John Brown with "Masters" written on the card stock. It looks like a photo of a drawing or painting, not an actual portrait of Brown. Then again, what do I know?

To see 16 portraits taken by Masters click here to go to a Flickr account run by a woman named Shaniee.

The only real biographical information I've found is in this article from the Decatur Daily dated May 26, 2008:

Pictures chart 1895 journey from Decatur to Muscle Shoals
By Deangelo McDaniel

Of all the pictures in the Morgan County Archives, these may be the most intriguing.

Sometime in 1895, a group, including Decatur residents and former Union soldiers, ferried down the narrow Tennessee River to the Shoals.

With them was famed photographer C.H. Masters, who before the Civil War owned a photography studio in Atchison, Kan.

At different points, and especially at the locks on the river, the travelers stopped and posed for pictures.

And you can click here to see another from this trip.

Not much to go on, I know. We've just hit the dead end of the net. It's at times like this I wish I had the ability to go through archives at libraries. Certainly there must be more information about C. H. Masters.

Another photo from Bert's collection.

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UPDATE: I've discovered a second copy of this photo, a much dirtier copy. On the back there is writing which can't be read without taking it into Photoshop. I now know that this is Clarence Rood and he lived in Dover, Illinois. This image was sent to Lillie Viola Overton in Ladd, Illinois. Maybe this will lead to some information about this man and the lady it was sent to.

Click on the black/white image to see it larger.
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UPDATE: I have been remiss in not posting the information about C.H. Masters sent to me by AnyJazz:

I found some things on Ancestry.com. There were quite a few Masters during that time frame. I found a family living in Atcheson Kansas Territoty mentioned in the Kansas Census Collection 1955-1925 and in the 1960 US Federal census. They list a Charles H. Masters (b abt 1843), a Casius H. Masters (b abt 1847), a Harlan C. Masters (b abt 1849) and a Harvey C. Masters a (b abt 1845) all in the same family. The father was named A. C. Masters (b abt 1811).

Charles H. is the likely candidate as there is also an entry for his enlistment into the Civil War in 1861. The Kansas census shows beside his name that he was in company B as does the enlistment records. One entry shows he was wounded in Nashville, TN, and left the service in 1965.

The Kansas census reports Chas. H. was born in Illinois which supports this account I found at:



http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1860s-cdv-farm-scene-atchison-kansas-unlisted



Also this photo credited to C. H. Masters taken in 1860 suggests also that he was a photographer before entering the Civil War in 1861.

http://www.legendsofkansas.com/atchison.html



Then today I received an anonymous comment containing the following:

Here is some information about a photograph of Abraham Lincoln published by C. H. Masters after the original by W. H. Masters. Hope this helps.



http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.history/2006-01/msg00032.html


Here are some portraits taken by C. H. Masters, Princeton, Illinois:

And a full bio of C. H. Masters that confirms the information by others:


Source: http://archive.org/stream/historyofbureauc00brad/historyofbureauc00brad_djvu.txt



C. H. MASTERS, Princeton, was born in Bureau County, 111., February 4, 1843. His early life was spent in this county till 1852, when he went to Missouri and Kansas with his father, and resided in different places till 1861, when he enlisted in Company B, Tenth Kansas Volunteer Infantry, and served in the army till September 30, 1865, when he received his discharge. His service was rendered mostly on the frontier. In 1861 he was in Gen. Lane's famous brigade, but most of the time was under the command of Gen. Blunt, but was under Gen. Thomas at the battle of Nashville, December 15, 1864, at which battle he was wounded, and was confined to the hospital for six months, but returned to his regiment as soon as able, and served till its discharge. During his service he did 
provost duty in St. Louis for nine months, while Gen. Rosecrans was commander of the 
department. In 1866 Mr. Masters came again to Princeton, and began learning pho- 
tography with his uncle, W. H. Masters. In 1869 he started a gallery for himself, and 
with the exception of a short intermission has continued in the business ever since, and has met with the success he so evidently deserves. In politics he is identified with the Repub- 
lican party. He is a member of the Ferris Post, No. 309, G. A. R. He was married, in 
Princeton, 111., September 3, 1867, to Miss Mary Mathews, a native of Vermont, and a 
daughter of Henry Mathews, deceased. Our subject's father, A. C. Masters, was one of 
the early settlers of Bureau County. (See sketch of his brother, John Masters.) By 
trade he was a cabinet-maker, but most of his life in this county was spent on the farm. 
He died in Buda, about 1878.

Thanks for providing all of this information. We get a better mental picture of who took this shot of Clarence Rood.