How mistakes from decades ago multiply
I love the bags under the eyes of Stockton…I mean Daniel Clark -NARA image
In my search for cover images for my New Book, Sea Girt Soul Commodore Robert Field Stockton, I reviewed the many online pictures of the Commodore as candidates. Any photos would likely be in the public domain, given that Stockton (d.1866) and any artist or photographer are dead for a long time.
I still recommend that people seek out the museums and websites that maintain these images, and if it’s not maintained by the government, then you should inquire about making a donation, even if there is no cost for the images. This also gives you the ability to speak to others about your plans.
I initially picked the above image for its heavy eye bags. The subject looks weary. Wikipedia got this image from NARA, the National Archives, which calls it Robert Field Stockton. The National Archives, how could they be wrong? The War Department? Office of the Chief Signal Officer?
I had seen many younger images of Stockton. He was in England as the commander of the warship Ohio and the Mediterranean Squadron, in 1839-40. The Commodore had his painting done by Queen Victoria’s official miniature portrait artist, Sir William John Newton, who painted on ivory.
The Newton, redone by Waugh in full body (courtesy of Morven Museum & Garden Princeton)
The expression ‘an arm and a leg’ refers to pricing for a full body painting vs a bust. Stockton paid to include the full body image you see here. The small image, ideal for display in the captain’s quarters, was used for a larger engraving, and this wall-sized image, which hangs at Morven, his ancestral home and museum in Princeton. Robert was very proud of his service, as was his family.
Bancroft Library Schlichtmann image labeled as RF Stockton
The older image might have been an older Stockton from his California Conquest in 1847. I found a similar image labeled Robert F. Stockton at the Berkeley Bancroft Museum. An expert on early California history, Mrs. Margaret Schlichtmann, donated the image as part of her vast collection. The Calisphere (a compilation of California History sources), shows the image to be Robert F. Stockton in its Faces of California Section, as noted by Schlichtmann in 1959. Dozens of other websites link to these two images, which are obviously the same man….But are they Stockton??
Brady image of Daniel Clark as a cabinet card
Well… the experts at the Morven Museum had their doubts. They did some digging, and they suspect it to be Daniel Clark, a New Hampshire Senator who served after Stockton in 1857 (Stockton left the US Senate in 1853).
Images of Clark look like the Stockton images, but could the men just look the similar? The styles of the day, high collars, facial hair were common, and older gentlemen had the dour expressions required by the technology of the mid 1800s. People today might confuse the two….
Digging further, I found a ton of Clark images that are properly labeled, and they are almost exactly the same as the two alleged Stocktons above.
Clark clean shaven
Clark at in the Matthew Brady Studio. There are many of these images
Side by side of Mrs. Margaret Schlichtmann’s Stockton and Clark…The original is the Brady Clark on the right….They are both Clark
I then found the exact image of Clark in the Smithsonian that Mrs. Margaret Schlichtmann had labeled “Hon. Robert Field Stockton, former Commodore”.
The kicker for me was an image of Stockton maintained by the Historical Society of Princeton. It is a wet plate negative of the Commodore. This photo is a photo of an earlier daguerreotype, and was taken by the Royal Hill Rose Studio in Princeton. This older Stockton is closer in age to the images of Clark and its clearly not Clark. The hairline, hair density, and facial structure are more consistent with earlier Stocktons. The eyes are different. Stockton was described as having piercing eyes. These fit the bill.
But why the confusion?
It turns out that Daniel Clark, an abolitionist, had led the charge as the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee to remove John Potter Stockton, Robert’s son, from the US Senate, one year after he had been seated, in 1866. The New Jersey Legislature selected JP, but his pro-Southern and Anti-Reconstructionist & Civil Rights views were problematic for the Republican Senate. Clark led the vote to remove Stockton over a technicality. It would have been natural for anyone building a Stockton file in the later part of the 1800s to include an image of Clark, and note his connection to the Stockton case.
The final cover, thanks to the HSP and Morven Museum. Collection of the Historical Society of Princeton
So here is our winner, thanks to Paul at the Historical Society of Princeton and Beth at Morven who fed me the clues.
Can bad history be corrected? I have made an effort. Letters of correction/challenges have been sent to NARA, Calisphere, Bancroft Library, and Wikipedia. Let’s see if they can propagate the correction as far as the mistake…
Here is the composite image of many Stocktons through the years, and the Clarks, which I present as Exhibit A. Stockton is on the left and Clark is on the right.
Fight for accuracy, correct your errors, and ask lots of questions like a five-year-old. You might be amazed…
Look for the book when spring arrives.
I post the full correction below, just in case I get ignored…
UPDATE 2/12/26 The first to fix their photo labeling is the 1897 error of the War Dept. Thanks NARA
Dear Vincent Dicks,
Your request was forwarded to the Still Picture Reference Team for reply. We've noted your feedback regarding the photograph in our holdings 111-B-1809. We thank you for bringing this to our attention.
We should first note that the captions for these photographs were originally generated in 1897 by the War Department, after the acquisition of the Matthew Brady collection. In case it may be of interest, you can read more about this in the description here: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/524418. Additionally, you can find the caption listed in the War Department's Catalogue here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/List_of_the_Photographs_and_Photographic/qGMQs6Zim40C?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=stockton.
With that said, we have reviewed your feedback and sources. With this in mind we have updated the photograph's description to identify the individual as Senator Daniel Clark of New Hampshire, and we have also added a general note to indicate this change. Please allow some time to pass before the updates are live online. If you have any questions, please let us know.
Thank you,
Sarah Bseirani
Archivist, Still Picture Reference Team Special Media Reference and Research Rooms Branch (RRAM)
National Archives and Records Administration
FYI A link to a guide to Public Domain and Fair Use…https://research.uoregon.edu/innovate/resources/fair-use-public-domain
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Collection Staff:
There are two images of Robert Field Stockton widely cited on the internet which are not Stockton’s. Elizabeth G. Allan, Deputy Director & Curator, Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton St., Princeton, NJ www.morven.org noted that the staff there suspected that there are images online that did not quite match other images of Stockton that they were familiar with. They suspect these images are of Daniel Clark, a politician from NH.
I believe I have proven they are correct.
Background: Robert Field Stockton of Princeton, NJ (1795-1866) was from a colonial family that helped move the college that became Princeton University to the town. Stockton’s Grandfather, Richard Stockton, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Stockton was successful in both the Navy. Commodore Stockton saw action from the War of 1812 forward and was a primary mover in the California Conquest during the Mexican-American War.
Stockton earned a fortune by developing the Delaware and Raritan Canal and Camden and Amboy Railroad with the Stephens family of Hoboken NJ, and through his in-laws the Potter’s southern plantation and rice works. Stockton was a NJ Senator from 1851-1853 and gained votes at Presidential Conventions. His family estate, Morven, is preserved as a museum and research center in Princeton.
Daniel Clark of Stratham, New Hampshire (1805-1891) trained as an attorney and was a member of the NH House of Representatives for several terms between 1842-1855 and was an abolitionist and US Senator from New Hampshire starting in 1857. He was elected president pro tempore in 1865-1866. Clark resigned his Senate seat in 1866 to accept an appointment to the U.S. District Court, a position he held until his death in 1891. He was noted for leading the removal of ten southern senators during the Civil War.
I present the publicly available images of both men:
The Verified Images of Robert Field Stockton:
#1 Lifesize Waugh Portrait Robert Field Stockton Portrait at Morven Museum, Samuel Bell Waugh full size copy of Sir William John Newton (1785–1869) 1939 ivory painting. The label on the painting has an error, reads “Com Robert F. Stockton painting by Sir Edward Newton, Copy by Waugh”.
#2 Hall Engraving Engraving by Hall Henry Bryan Hall from the same miniature. Some versions note that the ivory by Newton was done in 1940, and that the piece was owned by Stockton’s son. Hall was a successful engraver and portrait painter who emigrated to NY and was active from 1850-1884 where he founded H. B. Hall and Sons. The engraving appears in later versions of the 1856 Stockton Biography, written by Samuel Bayard with Stockton’s cooperation. It was also Published by Derby & Jackson, 119 Nassau Street, New York, active in from 1856-1859. Copies widely distributed. Two hosted examples
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/w/wcl1ic/x-3545/wcl003634
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/us-people/s/stockton-robert-f/nh-63721.
html
#3 Gleason's: Robert Field Stockton Senator from New Jersey. Portraits of United States Senators. Artist/Maker William J. Peirce Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion Date1853 ca. Medium Wood engraving, black and white Dimensions h. 13.75 x w. 9.5 in. (h. 34.925 x w. 24.13 cm) Credit Line U.S. Senate Collection https://www.senate.gov/art-artifacts/historical-images/prints-engravings/38_00308b.htm
#4 Sartain Engraving R. F. Stockton Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) John Sartain engraving after Sully portrait. Thomas Sully emigrated from England in 1809 and died in 1872, and was one of the most prominent portrait artists in the Northeast. He painted many Stockton and Potter family members. Sartain emigrated in 1830 and was prominent in the printing and engraving business in Philadelphia. Undated. Medium Mezzotint, etching, engraving, stipple and photomechanical texture on cream wove paper.
The engraving shows a younger Stockton. Dimensions 6 3/16 x 4 15/16 in. (15.71625 x 12.54125 cm.) Accession # 1948.23.714 Credit Line Bequest of Dr. Paul J. Sartain
#5 Chicago History Museum Daguerreotype of Robert Field Stockton. Image is set in a stamped oval brass mat and a second double elliptical mat covered with brown velvet and brass corners inside a brownish-gold painted wooden frame. Date Depicted circa 1845-1850 Extent: 5.5 x 4.125 in. ICHi-088563 Accession Number: CI-0702 Acquisition Source: Purchase from Gunther Estate Catalog Record ID: 57479 https://images.chicagohistory.org/search/?searchQuery=CI-0702
#6 RH Rose Photo of Photo Robert Field Stockton, Historical Society of Princeton, Royal Hill Rose Wet Negative Photograph, Princeton Studio portrait of a Stockton Daguerreotype undated
#7 Micah Williams portrait of Robert Field Stockton c.1821Source: Morven Museum & Garden Publisher ARTFIXdaily Williams was a pastel portrait and landscape painter in Monmouth and Middlesex Counties in the early 1800s. Williams died in 1837.
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Two Questionably Labeled photos which appear to be Daniel Clark:
#8 Brady Naval Archives image with Questionable labeling: File:Hon. Robert F. Stockton, N.J - NARA - 526010.jpg Author Mathew Benjamin Brady (1822–1896) wikidata:Q187850 q:pl:Mathew B. Brady (NARA record: 1135962) Record creator War Department. Office of the Chief Signal Officer. (08/01/1866 - 09/18/1947) Title Hon. Robert F. Stockton, N.J Date between circa 1860 and circa 1865 Collection
National Archives at College Park wikidata:Q38945047 Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S)
#9 Bancroft Library Sepia toned portrait with Questionable labeling. Labeled: POR:
Stockton, Robert Field:3 In 1959 Mrs. Margaret Schlichtmann, an author and a historian most noted for her early California collection, and collaboration with Irene D. Paden (The Big Oak Flat Road) made a donation to the Bancroft Library where Paden was a Friend. In her collection there is a sepia toned image carte de visite format Identifier http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/tf7z09p2rw POR: Stockton, Robert Field:3 Hon. Robert Stockton, Civil War period, formerly Commodore., 1860s Access and use Location of this collection: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US Online content http://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/tf7z09p2rwI0040783a.tif. Direct link (Bancroft Library / Calisphere / Online Archive of California): https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/tf7z09p2rw/
It's also referenced in NARA and Bancroft Library holdings as "Hon. Robert Stockton" (gift of Mrs. Schlichtmann, 1959; POR: Stockton, Robert Field:3). This photo matches exactly (See fly away hair above Clark’s ear) on the Matthew Brady image #11
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Daniel Clark Images labeled Daniel Clark
#10 Image of Daniel Clark with Clark’s name & NH across the bottom. https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss44297.018049/?sp=1&r=-0.957,0.19,2.913,1.699,0 - Reproduction number: LC-MSS-44297-33-049 (b&w negative) Source Collection James Wadsworth Family Papers James Wadsworth Family of Geneseo, New York, span the period 1730-1959 and describe the activities of four generations of the family in both regional and national affairs. The collection consists chiefly of the correspondence of James and William Wadsworth, who founded the Geneseo branch of the family James S. Wadsworth, Civil War general who commanded the First Division, I Corps, at Gettysburg and was later killed in the Battle of the Wilderness; James Wolcott Wadsworth, United States representative from 1881 to 1885 and 1891 to 1906; and James Wolcott Wadsworth, Jr., who represented New York in the United States Senate from 1915 to 1927 and in the House of Representatives from 1933 to 1951.
#11 Seated Clark matching the sepia toned Clark in #9 Daniel Clark National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian
https://www.si.edu/object/daniel-clark%3Anpg_NPG.81.M554 Attribution: Mathew Brady Studio, Sitter: Daniel Clark, Current owner: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.81.M551.2 Attribution Mathew Brady Studio, active 1844 - 1894 Sitter Daniel Clark, 24 Oct 1809 - 2 Jan 1891 Collection Description
The Frederick Hill Meserve Collection comprises more than five thousand Civil War-era portrait negatives from the Mathew Brady photography studio in New York City. The collection, which the National Portrait Gallery acquired in 1981, includes portraits of generals, politicians, diplomats, painters, and performers. It also contains depictions of “Human Curiosities” at P. T. Barnum’s American Museum in New York City, that, although highly exploitative, help to document the historical representations of disability in the United States. Credit Line National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Frederick Hill Meserve Collection
Date c. 1860-70 Object number NPG.81.M554 Photographic Negative Medium Glass plate collodion negative Dimensions Plate: 9.3 × 6.6 × 0.2 cm (3 11/16 × 2 5/8 × 1/16")
#12 National Portrait Gallery Clark Standing, top hat in hand, left hand on marble tabletop, Attribution Mathew Brady Studio, active 1844 - 1894 Sitter Daniel Clark, 24 Oct 1809 - 2 Jan 1891 Date c. 1860-70
Type Photographic Negative, Medium Glass plate collodion negative Dimensions Image: 9 × 6.3 cm (3 9/16 × 2 1/2") Plate: 9.2 × 12.5 × 0.2 cm (3 5/8 × 4 15/16 × 1/16") Credit Line National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Frederick Hill Meserve Collection Restrictions & Rights CC0 Object number NPG.81.M552.1
https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.81.M552.1
#14 Clean Shaven 1859 Clark: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.26549/ Creator(s): Vannerson, Julian, 1827-, photographer Date Created/Published: [1859] Medium: 1 photographic print : salted paper ; 19.7 x 14.3 cm. Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-26549 (digital file from original item) Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication. Call Number: Illus. in JK1012.M35 1859 (Case X) [P&P]
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print Illus. in: McClees' gallery of photographic portraits of the senators, representatives & delegates of the thirty-fifth Congress... Washington: McClees & Beck, [1859], page 10.
Each item includes subject's original signature in ink. Title devised by Library staff based on name provided in book's index. Title: Daniel Clark Artist/Maker: James Earle McClees (American, 1821 - 1887) Julian Vannerson (American, 1827 - after 1875) Date: about 1859 (35th Congress was from 1857-1859) Medium: Salted paper print Dimensions: Image: 10.9 × 9.2 cm (4 5/16 × 3 5/8 in.) Sheet: 19.6 × 14 cm (7 11/16 × 5 1/2 in.) Place: Washington, District of Columbia, United States (Place Created) 84.XB.763.5.10 Inscription(s) (Recto, sheet) lower center, facsimile of sitter's signature in black ink: "Dan. Clark." Lower center, handwritten in black ink: "10" Lower right, handwritten in black ink: "N.H."
#15 Daniel Clark: (1809-1891). Library of Congress description: "Hon. Daniel Clark of N.H." Mathew Benjamin Brady - Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Brady-Handy Photograph Collection. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017896990/ Title: Hon. Daniel Clark of N.H. Date Created/Published: [between 1855 and 1865] Medium: 1 negative : glass, wet collodion. Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-cwpbh-02456 (digital file from original neg.)
#16 Older Clark, Grown out beard, NH Federal Court page
https://exhibits.nhd.uscourts.gov/31.htm
#17 Clean Shaven Clark: File:Hon. Daniel Clark, N.H - NARA - 528413.jpg Clark is seen with top hat in one hand and gloves in the other, standing near a column https://catalog.archives.gov/id/528413
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hon._Daniel_Clark,_N.H_-_NARA_-_528413.jpg War Department. Office of the Chief Signal Officer. (08/01/1866 - 09/18/1947) Title Hon. Daniel Clark, N.H Date between circa 1860 and circa 1865
#18 Older Clark History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire by Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Page 42. https://archive.org/details/historyofhillsbo00hurd/page/n41/mode/2up Publication date 1885 Topics Hillsborough County (N.H.) -- History Publisher Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis Collection University_of_New_Hampshire_Library; blc; americana Contributor University of New Hampshire Library Language English Item Size 1.7G
It appears that 2 errors have been made.
Photo #8 is NARA mislabeling of Clark as Stockton
Photo #9 is Bancroft Library at Berkeley mislabeling of Clark as Stockton.
The visual evidence is clear. See attached photo oldphotos.pdf
Why the error? Daniel Clark and Robert Field Stockton did not serve in the Senate together.
But Clark and his son John Potter Stockton did.
Senator Clark was the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary during the 1866 John PotterStockton expulsion case. His role as the primary investigator into Stockton’s son likely led to his portrait being filed within "Stockton" case folders, a common source of archival mislabeling. Background on the case:
https://www.nj.com/njv_guest_blog/2013/08/the_curious_case_of_a_new_jers.html
JP Stockton's Speech:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/50160/50160-h/50160h.htm#MAJORITY_OR_PLURALITY_IN_THE_ELECTION