Thomas Jefferson's Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, lived long enough to be photographed.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Thomas Jefferson’s Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, lived long enough to be photographed in late 1840s: #LOC

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[Stinky The Clown]

1. Cool haircut, dude!

[Walleye]

2. I often wonder what we would think of the revolutionary war with photography like the Civil War

[Efilroft Sul]

4. Ever see these photos before?

https://www.photographytalk.com/photography-articles/8254-these-are-the-only-photos-ever-taken-of-revolutionary-war-veterans

[SoonerPride]

7. Those are amazing!

I had never seen those

[Walleye]

8. Wow, thanks. Never saw those, the men and clothing look fairly modern

We always think of these guys in tights and powdered wigs

[NutmegYankee]

23. Clothing styles had changed by the time of photography.

The powdered wig and Culottes were going out of style by the late 1700s and virtually disappeared (replaced by trousers and normal hair) by the 1820s. James Monroe was the last US president to wear coat, waistcoat and breeches. Belt buckle shoes started going out of style in Jefferson's term, and he famously took the oath of office dressed in lace up brogans, giving them the nickname "Jeffersons."

[Nevilledog]

14. Quite a lot to exceed the life expectancy of the times.

[former9thward]

15. Life expectancy once you made it to an adult was about the same as it is now.

The low average you read about is because so many infants and young children died of disease and they are averaged in with all other deaths. Once those are taken out people could expect to live to the 65-75 age range.

[Nevilledog]

16. These guys were all over 100

[former9thward]

17. Yes, I was posting about the average.

People could certainly live to extremes just as they do now. Life expectancy is a bell curve just like almost everything in nature.

[NutmegYankee]

24. As mentioned by another post, the maximum life span hasn't changed much.

The average life expectancy gives us a false impression because half of children didn’t make it past age 5. If you made it adulthood, you stood good odds of living to 70-80 like today. And people did exceed that and live to 90 or more.

[Iggo]

26. Wow!

Wow! Wow! Wow!

[FakeNoose]

3. He looks like Ebeneezer Scrooge!

[alphafemale]

5. He's got a sparkle to him.

Most early photos do not catch any personality at all since people had to stay still so long.

[Torchlight]

6. The pace of technological advances are incredible.

I have a family member who, as little girl, met Laura Ingalls Wilder (author, Little House on the Prairie-- she got her copy autographed).

Wilder was born in 1867, less than two years after the civil war ended, lived through industrialization, four economic depressions, the airplane going from a simple idea to an world-wide industry, two world wars; and died in 1957, the year Sputnik was launched into orbit and when McCartney and Lennon first met.

That one person's eyes could see so much wonder and awe (and slaughter and misery) is something I still have a difficult time wrapping my brain around.

And I wonder, where will we be should I live almost a century? What wonders and miseries, undreamed of in the here and now, will we come face to face with?

[marybourg]

10. I must be pre-historic. I was in high school when LIW died.

Edited to add: I remember seeing elderly white-bearded Civil War Veterans marching in various parades, in N.Y.

[Torchlight]

11. I suppose it's all relative: some days I feel like a youth, other days not so much.

I was in grade/middle school during the gas lines and bussing, and I still feel weird not seeing the two most ubiquitous pieces of American history laying on the ground: beer tabs and cigarette butts. Watching my closest friends' become grandparents and those grandchildren dating already has me feeling weatherworn.

But at the end of the day, I still keep my youthful optimism and idealism in my front pockets-- the only difference now is that it's tempered with "I might be wrong, though" which is something Young Me never allowed for.

[JHB]

9. A time traveller

(William Hartnell as The Doctor)

[Danmel]

12. The streets in my neighborhood are named for cabinet members

Including said Mr. Gallatin. The builder must have been a history buff.

[eppur_se_muova]

21. There's a Gallatin Street in downtown Huntsville, AL, along with Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, etc.

There's a Gallatin north of here in TN, and I used to think that Gallatin St was named because that's the way you started out to go from H'ville to Gallatin ... apparently not.

Oh, and Pulaski Pike has long been one of the major roads through town -- but it does lead toward Pulaski, TN !

All this is in Madison County, which is also home to the city of Decatur (named after a family of Navy heroes).

[bucolic_frolic]

13. USPS issued a Gallatin stamp in the 1960s I think with a denomination of 1.25 cents

[frogmarch]

18. from U.S. Department of the Treasury online

Born to an aristocratic Swiss family, Albert Gallatin (1761 - 1849) emigrated from Switzerland to America in 1780. Elected to the House of Representatives in 1795 and serving until 1801, Gallatin fought constantly with the independent minded first Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. He was responsible for the law of 1801 requiring an annual report by the Secretary of the Treasury, and he submitted the first one later that year as Secretary. He also helped create the powerful House Ways and Means Committee to assure Treasury's accountability to Congress by reviewing the Department's annual report concerning revenues, debts, loans, and expenditures. Appointed Secretary of the Treasury in 1801 by President Jefferson and continuing under President James Madison until 1814, Gallatin was in office nearly thirteen years, the longest term of any Secretary in the Department's history.

~~
Thanks for posting the photo!

[Poiuyt]

19. John Quincy Adams was the first president to be photographed in 1843

Andrew Jackson also:

[frogmarch]

20. It looks as if

he may have had some sebaceous cysts on his forehead.

[miyazaki]

22. Resembles Jamie Raskin.

[Quixote1818]

25. The Founding Fathers and those folks in Gov. back then all looked like Berkeley Professors. LOL

Politics accracts totally different types today. Totally corrupt assholes!