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Stiles & King (Windsor, Vt.)
Drill of the Home Guard
1865, 1 November (Tax revenue stamp hand-cancelled
Carte de visite
Private collection of Ron Coddington
LL/118733
(Ron Coddington, 9 March 2022)
At first glance, the irregular uniforms, non-military hats, and title of this photo collage points to a band of brothers with Southern origins.
But the back of the mount reveals a different story. It is marked with the imprint of photographers Stiles & King, two veterans who briefly operated a gallery in Windsor, Vt.
George D. Stiles (about 1837-1869), a onetime clerk in a store in Strafford, Vt., served with the Union Navy's Pay Department and was stationed in New Orleans, La. According to a newspaper report, he participated in the Red River Campaign. After the end of his service, he and Wallace A. King opened a photo gallery in Windsor, Vt. Evidence suggests the business did not last long, as it is not mentioned in Stiles' 1869 obituary following his death from sunstroke in Cincinnati, Ohio. He had relocated to the Buckeye State and worked as a distributing agent for a tobacco warehouse.
Vermont native Wallace Albert King (1837-1919) studied art in high school and at seminary until 1857, when he relocated to Michigan. After the war started, he became a first lieutenant in the 4th Michigan Infantry. Illness prompted his resignation soon after he received his commission, and his return to Vermont. In 1862, he joined the 7th Rhode Island Cavalry Squadron for a 3-month enlistment. He went on to work in Vermont and New Hampshire after he mustered out of the army. His connection to photography and Stiles is not mentioned in his obituary, perhaps lending credence to the short life of the gallery. But we know he was a photographer based upon one image credited to him, a "View of Ascutney Mountain taken from High Bridge at Claremont, N.H.," which appeared as a lithograph in 1868. Claremont's northwestern boundary touches the southeast boundary of Windsor, Vt.
The back of the mount also includes a revenue stamp that was hand-cancelled by "S&R" on Nov. 1, 1865.
At this time, the state of Vermont contained active companies of home guards. Newspaper reports document the presence of these quasi-military organizations in Vermont before and during the war. The Confederate Raid on St. Albans, Vt., on Oct. 19, 1864, boosted the presence of these organizations.
An editorial in the July 1, 1865, edition of the Vermont Record stated, "last fall a raid was made at St. Albans, and the news flew with the velocity of lightning through the State, and in different portions of it, volunteer companies were formed, one of which was formed in Montpelier within forty-five minutes from the the time the news reached town, and contained one hundred and forty men ranged in line at the depot, ready to start for the scene of action, just as it was announced that the raiders had left and were on their way to Canada."
The editorial also noted, "We are of opinion that if an invasion of the State were attempted, to-day, it would meet a similar rebuke, and those that would fly to the rescue would not of necessity belong to the uniformed militia, but citizens would rally, and the 'brave boys in blue,' very few of which are found in the ranks of our 'home guard' would be first and foremost in the ranks for their State's defence."
It is entirely possible that this band of brothers was part of the wave of volunteer home guardsmen who rose up in the wake of the St. Albans Raid. Moreover, that they possessed a sense of humor that resulted in this self-deprecating photo illustration.
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