Seeing old photographs at a garage sale or in an antique store bothers me. Once separated from an ancestor, those photos become untraceable. The faces lose their names, and that person, so real and human during their short toil on earth, becomes a ghost.
My ancestors have been diligent at saving and identifying photographs. Among them are a handful of tintypes, a means of photography in the late 1800s created through an emulsion made on a piece of metal. Several of the ones I’ve got are identified, but one has always puzzled me — a tintype of two Civil War soldiers, one wearing a very comfortable-looking stocking cap.
I’d guessed that the standing soldier is my Great-Great-Grandfather Luther, but couldn’t be sure of the other man, sharing the rare occasion to be photographed with him. This week, my cousin, Jim Frasier (whom I’ve only ever met online, after connecting with him a few years ago), helped shed light on the mystery. Jim guesses that the sitting man is Luther’s brother-in-law, Lorenzo, who enlisted at the same time, back in 1862.
Luther would fight at Fredericksburg, be wounded and discharged to eventually make his way to Wisconsin. Lorenzo would fight at Harpers Ferry, in Florida and Virginia. He would be taken prisoner and held in Illinois, then be killed in an explosion in North Carolina before he was 20 years old. I don’t know much about him. All I’ve got is this image and the details of his service. I don’t know if he was married or had a sweetheart, but I know that when I hear this song, I think about the young men like him who said their goodbyes knowing they likely wouldn’t return to their once-happy lives.
When The Roses Bloom Again (written by Will Cobb and Gus Edwards)
Performed by Laura Cantrell
Well they’re strolling in the gloaming when the roses are in bloom
A soldier and his sweetheart brave and true
And their hearts are filled with sorrow for their thoughts are of tomorrow
As she pins a rose upon his coat of blue
Do not ask me love to linger when you know not what to say
For duty calls your sweetheart’s name again
And your heart need not be sighing that I’ll be among the dying
I’ll be with you when the roses bloom again
When the roses bloom again and the sun is on the river
The mockingbird will sing its sweet refrain
In the days of auld lang syne I’ll be with you sweetheart mine
I’ll be with you when the roses bloom again
With the rattle of the battle came a whisper soft and low
Our soldier has fallen in the fray
I am dying I am dying and I know I’ve got to go
But I want to tell you before I pass away
There’s a far and distant river where the roses are in bloom
And a sweetheart who is waiting there for me
And its there I pray you’ll take me, I’ll be faithful don’t forsake me
I’ll be with you when the roses bloom again
When the roses bloom again and the sun is on the river
The mockingbird will sing its sweet refrain
In the days of auld lang syne I’ll be with you sweetheart mine
I’ll be with you when the roses bloom again
Cantrell’s version of the song is one arranged by Wilco and Billy Bragg, who found the lyrics among those belonging to Woody Guthrie — the lyrics they used to create the Mermaid Avenue record — but Guthrie didn’t write the song. Johnny Cash recorded a very similar version, with a different arrangement. Both are probably based on a traditional song, which wouldn’t surprise me since every generation has sent young people off to die for a cause, and finds reasons to sing about their heartbreak.
Happy revelations like this don’t happen often enough when doing family research. I feel like I’ve got another relative, even though his life was short and long ago, and his story so tragic. Welcome back to the family, Lorenzo Frasier.