Thomas M. Gardner Post 207

Archive record

1 photograph : albumen print ; sheet 13 x 27 cm, mount 25 x 31 cm | Photograph shows group portrait of veterans of integrated G.A.R. Post 207, Nantucket, Massachusetts, including African American veterans Private Hiram W. Reed of 5th Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment and Co. E, 138th U.S. Colored Troops Regiment and Sailor Sampson D. Pompey of U.S. Navy. Back row: Alvin Hull, Geo. Michael, J.R. Raymond, G.H. Sylvester, W.A. Barrett, W. Johnson, F.H. Barney, F.W. Barnard, B.A. Coffin, A.K.P. Bucknam, F.H. Fisher, J.H. Luce, J.H. Barrett, J.A. Young, P.H. Robinson. Middle row: A.C. Coffin, G.A. Backus, W.H. Gibbs, H.F. Fisher, F.B. Murphey, J.H. Wood, C.M. Crocker, C.F. Ray, Levi Pert, O.G. Smith, S.D. Pompey, T.P. Ray, H.W. Reed, C.W. Crocker, David Bowen. Front row: Davis Hall, R.S. Folger, J.B. Enas, Benj. Rogers, L.H. Johnson, B.F. Morris, J.F. Murphey, E.H. Wing, E.B. Hussey, G.G. Andrews, C.M. Thomas, B.F. Pitman, S.S. Peterson, Peter Hoy, John Rand, W.P. Hiller. (Source of identifications: Lyle Brennen, September 2024).

About this photograph

The photograph shows a group portrait of veterans from Thomas M. Gardner Post 207 of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The post belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic, the fraternal organisation of Union veterans founded in 1866.

The record identifies two African American veterans among the group. Hiram W. Reed served with the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment and Company E of the 138th U.S. Colored Troops Regiment. Sampson D. Pompey served in the U.S. Navy.

The Grand Army of the Republic grew into a substantial political force after the war, campaigning for veterans' pensions. Local posts organised reunions and memorial observances for decades. Members wore distinctive uniforms and badges to encampments and parades, which explains why many late portraits show elderly men in regalia rather than wartime dress.

The record gives names for most of the forty-seven men in the photograph, arranged in three rows. The identifications come from research by Lyle Brennen in September 2024. Post 207 appears to have been racially integrated, which was not universal practice among G.A.R. posts.

Compiled from the catalogue record and reference notes on the formats and events involved. The archive record above is the primary source.

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