Like so many other families of their era, the Blakelys of Delaware County, NY, gave their children the same names over and over again, to the frustration of future genealogists. And because the Blakelys were prolific, there are many Samuel Blakelys in Delaware County records. But here is a young man who could very likely be the one pictured: Samuel M. Blakely, born (according to a list of gravestones in the Blakely Cemetery in the township of Kortright) in 1843. Such a birthday would have made this Samuel 18 at the time of Hannah Rich’s wedding in 1861, though there is no way of knowing over how many years she collected and organized the photos in her album.

Baptismal Records of the Gilchrist Memorial Presbyterian Church in the township of Kortright also show that a Samuel McAuley Blakely was born August 6, 1843 to James G. Blakely and Susan McAuley. The family was enumerated in the 1850 census listing Samuel as age 7, residing in Kortight. In 1860 the family was living next door to James' brother John D. and sister=in-law Sarah (Peters) and Samuel was 17 and listed as attending school. At the time the census was taken in 1870, the family of James G. was living next door to his brother Goldsborough B. and his wife, Elizabeth (Mitchell), but Samuel was no longer living with his parents nor was he located living in the town of Kortright.

According to the headstone in Blakely Cemetery, Samuel M. Blakely died on 17 Jan 1892. His wife, Lottie B. (last name unknown) was also buried in this cemetery and information indicates she was born on 03 Aug 1849 and died on 20 Dec 1887.

About the photographer, C. Gullman, of “Po’Keepsie,” New York: you will find a carte de-visite by C. Gullman in the Penn State University Special Collections Libraries, and a collection of Civil War photographs relating to the 27th Indiana includes at least one photograph (Capt. Josiah C. Williams) by C. Gullman of Poughkeepsie.