Civil War era Folk Art Sheet Iron Barn Eave

A hand-cut two sheet iron eave from one of the first barns built in Kalamazoo County, Michigan.  Several pieces were preserved, this is the longest portion.  Hand cut decorations.  
Collection Jim Linderman

Large Civil War era Antique Folk Art Whirligig Sculpture Collection Jim Linderman

Large Civil War era Antique Folk Art Whirligig Sculpture According to the seller?

"My grandfather lived near Louisville, Kentucky. In 1971 he was visiting a neighbors residence when they were tearing down an old barn that was built around 1890. When they pried up the floorboards, this whirligig was found under the floor. The family who owned the barn said they thought it was possibly used during the civil war. They said troops would build these and put them up around land where the troops were to make it seem like there were more soldiers in the area than there really were. Whether the story is true, who knows."

Regardless, this is one old and gigantic whirligig.  The body (a log once) is over 30 inches.  With the considerable wear, it makes me wonder about the "19th century" whirligigs and how long they stayed outside.  The figure here has virtually no paint left, several staples around the lips which likely held a moustache...and of course one paddle entirely gone.
Collection Jim Linderman

Slave Made African American Folk Art Figure ? Civil War Jekyll Island Georgia Collection Jim Linderman

A little Civil War man from Jekyll Island, Georgia.  Circa 1865, made as a whimsey from lead, I believe, and I assume the same lead used to make bullets.  That is a guess.  When I obtained the little fellow, he was in two parts, which is not surprising as lead is soft and he was buried a long time.  I have rejoined him temporarily for the photo.  You can see what he was found with below…relics.  Relics of a war we have still not come to grips with. How can we?  African American Slave Made Folk Art Figure? Or Mere Whimsey.

When I purchased this fellow, I had not mere whimsey in mind.  I was thinking of the famous slave-made iron figure also unearthed, but from a blacksmith's shop and slave quarters in Virginia, not a Civil War resting place.  The figure which has been written about by scholar John Michael Vlach is frequently used to illustrate African craft, sculptural traditions and skills which were transmitted across the Atlantic…setting the stage for a war fought over freedom and commerce just before the industrial revolution.

The similar stance, diminutive size and presence was evident immediately.  Were there slaves (or African-American freedmen) around the campfire in Jekyll Island when this fellow was melted in a spoon and shaped in the sand?  Or was this simply a way for a bored soldier, of either side, to spend some time.

Jekyll Island is called "an affordable Georgia Beach family vacation spot" today.  As with much of the low-country along Georgia and South Carolina, what was once plantation is now golf course.  Fifty years AFTER the importation of slaves to the United States became illegal, they were still coming to Jekyll Island.  The second to last shipment of slaves imported to the states arrived there in 1858…some 450 men torn from their homes and made to work.  I do not know how many men were on the boat when it left Africa, but one source says the ship Wanderer arrived with 409 slaves.  The mortality rate for passage was 12 percent, so that would be about right.

The people who arranged the illegal shipment knew what they were doing and knew the rewards.  They choose to profit. 

The Union Army arrived on St. Jekyll Island in 1862.  By that time the plantation was deserted, but after the war the man who owned the island returned and split it up among his sons.

So is my mere whimsey a more profound object now?  It is to me.  Did it just happen to be found during the same dig, but made earlier by an African-American man who lost his home but retained his esthetics?


"Relic" man  Metal (lead?) circa 1860  Height 4"  Collection Jim Linderman

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Youngest Reenactors Boys Camp Outing with Uniforms Collection Jim Linderman

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Normally I would count the stars to date this photo, but they may be using an old one to create the proper environment for the boys...if you can call "playing war" proper in any context.  A wonderful photograph,  1890 maybe?  The Youngest recruits for the Spanish - American War?  The Earliest Civil War Reenactors?

You can ponder the details. My only observations?  There was not yet a national obsession with soda, so every boy is lean and fit.  This photo today would require the photographer to stand way back to fit everyone in.  The other?  Leave it to the adults to ham it up.  Every boy is doing his best to show the proper respect, but the hormone enraged goobers "running the show" are doping it up in back.


Anonymous Photograph, circa 1890?  "Boys Camp"  5" x 8"  (Mount 8" x 10") Collection Jim Linderman 

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Civil War Colt Weapons Collection of Gun Collector William S. Lawrence

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Pair of matching original photographs, each 8 x 10 Collection Jim Linderman

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