My Beloved Saddle

In the personal collection of one of the Formidables was this photograph. We'd always been intrigued by it. However, it was unlabeled. We normally try to identify the people in unlabeled photos by first comparing facial features to people in other photos. But that was complicated in this case by the subject's beard and spectacles. We could narrow it to a time period, and that was about all. We weren't even sure if the ecoutrements held some personal significance for the sitter or if this was the 'Stately Gentleman' option at the photographer's studio.

Then, in recently researching old newspapers, we found an obituary for George W. Thompson (1844-1922).

George's favorite possessions were a saddle and a saber that he used in the Civil War, along with a hollowed-out gourd made by a Confederate soldier he fought against.

Hello, George W. Thompson. Happy to have you labeled and remembered.