By Richard Look
Two young ladies put on the uniform of a soldier named Frank and posed for their portraits in 1863. We know this from notes tucked into the back of each image.
The paper behind a ninth-plate ambrotype reads, “Helen Briggs in Frank’s uniform when he came from the war in 1863 also C.P. in same.” The paper behind the other image, a sixteenth-plate ambrotype, states, “Charlotte P. Churchill taken in Frank’s uniform when he came from war 1863.”
Who were Helen and Charlotte? How did they know Frank?
Research answers these questions and connects all three to a pioneer daguerreotypist in Boston who likely took the photographs.
Helen Head Briggs, born in Rhode Island about 1839 and raised in Massachusetts, was the daughter of Patience and Jesse Briggs. Her father began practicing photography about 1853 in Barnstable, Boston, and New Bedford. He embraced the ambrotype early, learning the process from James A. Cutting, who had patented several improvements to the format.
Helen’s friend, Charlotte Perkins Churchill, was about four years her senior. Four of Charlotte’s younger brothers served in Massachusetts regiments during the Civil War. Two did not survive: Pvt. Theodore Parker Churchill of the 32nd Infantry succumbed to fever in Virginia in late 1862, and Cpl. Frederick Stephens Churchill of the 18th Infantry died in action at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Her surviving brothers were twins who also served in the 18th: Sgt. Edmund Findlay Churchill, a regimental color bearer who suffered at least two battle wounds, and Pvt. Isaiah Francis “Frank” Churchill, who received a disability discharge in mid-December 1862.
It is easy to imagine Frank reuniting with Charlotte and family in Massachusetts—the joy of his return mixed with sorrow over two lost brothers and concern for another still in the field. At some point following his homecoming, Charlotte and Helen donned Frank’s uniform and cap. Though why they wore the blue is lost to time, perhaps they wanted a visual reminder of their patriotism and/or to honor the lost Churchill boys.
Charlotte married David S. Plumer in 1863 and died in 1904 at age 68. They had no children. Frank returned to the army in 1864 with the 60th Massachusetts Infantry for a 100-day enlistment and died in 1919 at age 77. In 1864, Helen married Charlotte and Frank’s cousin Thomas Loring Churchill, a Union army and navy veteran. Helen died of heart disease in 1876, leaving behind her husband and a daughter. Her father-photographer died in 1883 at age 80.
Richard Look has had a longtime interest in the Civil War and purchased his first military image in 1996. He lives in Jacksonville, Fla.
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