Albert G. Ordway
American, 1843-1897
MaleAfter a career in the Army during the Civil War, Ordway settled first in Richmond, VA before relocating to Washington, DC. It is here in 1879 that he, along with Albert A. Rand of Boston, acquired a large collection of Matthew Brady and Alexander Gardner negatives formerly in posession of E. & H. T. Anthony. In December of 1884, the collectors offered to sell the collection to the government. It is described at that point as 4,000 negatives, more than half by Gardner. Instead, they were acquired by John C. Taylor of Hartford, CT. Taylor (and various publishing ventures involving Taylor) published from these negatives until the 1900s, when the collection passed to Edward B. Eaton, also of Hartford. Eaton also published from them until about 1916, when they were put into storage until his death in 1942. Library of Congress acquired the collection the following year.