Sale 2471 - Printed & Manuscript African Americana, March 29, 2018

The best-documented of the three photographs is a carte-de-visite of a seated Green shot by the Benque-Sebastianutti firm inTrieste (then in Austria, now in Italy). Green was then accompa- nying Thomas G.Welles as servant on the USS Franklin’s tour of Europe. The ship stopped in Trieste from 14 to 27 September 1868. Addi- tional documentation is provided by the original passport issued to “TGWelles & Servant” dated at Naples, 16 March 1868, included with this lot. Another photograph depicts Green with another family servant, believed to be James Smith; it was likely taken on the same European tour of the USS Franklin. Among the Welles family papers is a letter (not present) noting that Smith had alerted the Welles children on the night of the Lincoln assassination. The final photograph is a 6th-plate tintype, 3 1 / 2 x 2 1 / 4 inches, of Green holding an infant, identified by the family as Hubert Gideon Welles (1876-1892), the oldest son of Thomas G. Welles, placing the date at circa 1877. The letter is addressed by Mary Jane Hale Welles to Henry Green, and is dated Washington, 12 August 1867; it is just over 2 pages long on one folding sheet. She forwards a letter (no lon- ger extant) from Green’s brother announcing the death of his mother: “I am very glad that you saw your mother so lately. Well, you must mind what she said on her death-bed, and don’t grieve too much. . . . It is strange they did not write to you sooner. Your mother died on the 6 June, almost a month before you left.” She also dis- cusses his recent boat trip—he had perhaps gone to the Welles family home in Connecticut—and mentions fellow servants Evans and John Smith. She concludes warmly “All the girls wish to be remembered to you. May God bless you & comfort you, your true friend, Mary J. Welles.” Offered with a sheaf of related research notes on Green. Provenance: consigned by a descendant of Thomas G. Welles.