Rare Daguerreotype Wife of Senator William Pitt Fessenden Black cat with folded piece of black

with folded piece of black paper in the case behind the image

106 Poydras Street

the inner layer is still intact so the case is in one piece

but this was part of a group of daguerreotypes that included a Southworth and Hawes dag of Alvin Adams (see my other listing)

Rare Daguerreotype Wife of Senator William Pitt Fessenden Black cat with folded piece of blackOriginal daguerreotype (6th plate) of Ellen Maria Deering Fessenden (1809 1857), taken circa 1856 1857, not very long before her death. Ellen was the wife of Presidential Cabinet Secretary, Senator, and Congressman William Pitt Fessenden. After waking up one morning she began complaining to her husband that she felt fatigued and died moments later. In this photo she appears she might have something pinned to her collar.. a black feather or piece of