Alexander Gardner 1868, September (ink manuscript on reverse) Those celebrated photographers Messieurs W.J. Oliphant of Austin, Texas and W.R. Pywell of Washington City, D.C. Taken by Gardner, Washington, D.C. 511 7th Street. Taken in Sept. 1868. [Handwritten on reverse]
Carte de visite Private collection of Lawrence T. Jones III William Reddish Pywell (standing) worked for Alexander Gardner during the Civil War and also was Gardner's assistant on the Union Pacific Railway series of photographs. William James Oliphant was an ex-Confederate soldier (6th Texas Infantry) who took up photography after the war. He traveled to Washington, D.C. to study and learn the trade from Gardner. While there, Oliphant became friends with several of the photographers employed by Gardner, including Timothy H. O'Sullivan. Pywell later visited Oliphant in Austin and they worked briefly together.
