See below for "before-and-after" restoration photos!
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| Middlesex County Historical Society |
Private Daniel H. Otis
Company B
14th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry Regiment
Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
August 9, 1862
Daniel’s picture is housed in a crumbling, leather-bound, Memorial Book that was compiled between 1867 and 1874. In it are photographs of the soldiers from Middletown, CT who died during the course of the Civil War.
Daniel's sense of pride comes through loud and clear in this photo; he just seems so deeply satisfied sitting for that photo in his new uniform. It almost looks as if he wants to break into a smile, but the dictates of the time require him to conceal that type of emotion in photographs. In regards to Daniel’s photo, it’s interesting what my little son said out-of-the-blue the other day, “Mommy, it looks like Daniel wants to smile!” I said that I thought the same thing! So there you have it!
Daniel sat for the above picture on August 9, 1862 when he and 90 other men from the Company returned to Middletown, by train, from Camp Foote in Hartford, to collect a $100. bounty from the town. Bundy & Williams Photographers on Main Street offered the soldiers free portraits.
"Bundy & Williams offer to furnish photographs to volunteers."
(from the Middletown newspaper, "The Constitution," April 24, 1861)
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| Middlesex County Historical Society |
Daniel's photo before being professionally restored and colorized.
And after...
side-by-side comparison
I had Daniel’s photograph professionally restored and colorized. The colorization and restoration work is nothing short of astounding! What really stands out is the tack-sharp focus!
Look at the clarity in Daniel’s face! I can see the pores on his skin, and his facial hair! I can see the little “crow’s feet” at the corner of his eye! I can see the patchy-brown hyperpigmentation of the skin on his cheek and at the corner of his eye! None of which would have been visible without the restoration work.
Here, for the site, I zoomed into Daniel’s restored image and cropped it, because I wanted him to be seen—to really be seen, and probably most accurately for the first time since he’s died.
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Did Daniel Have Eye Issues?
I’m certainly no doctor, but it's obvious that Daniel was dealing with some eye issues. The investigator in me could not help but notice, and comment, on it!
It looks like Daniel had a “lazy eye” (amblyopia) in his right eye. The shape of his right eye is considerably smaller than his left eye, with the eye itself looking off toward his right more. Therefore, I wonder if he had some difficulty seeing out of this eye? Also, at his left eye, his brow is drooping down over his eyelid. Might this be “brow ptosis?” Not only that, but his eyebrows are two completely different shapes.
There is another eye issue Daniel was most-likely dealing with, and I never would have noticed it if it wasn't for my little son playing around on my computer one day. I walked into my room, only to be startled by a very large eyeball peering back at me from my computer screen. The eye was so huge that it took up the entire computer screen. My son was looking through my pictures and zooming really, really close into Daniel's eye—certainly closer than I would have ever looked! Then my son walks away and leaves Daniel's giant eyeball on my computer screen. But I'm glad he left it there, because it's then that I noticed the pupil of Daniel's right eye is completely off-center! (note: the pupil is the "black hole" in your eye, and the iris is the colored portion, and the white portion is the sclera).
The medical term for an off-centered pupil is “corectopia.” Sorry, but what a stupid name! Corectopia is usually caused from direct trauma to the eye or it can be congenital (from birth). Also, it's not uncommon for corectopia to occur as a result of severe head injury.
Note that my copy of Daniel's photo is a large file-size and can be zoomed-into extremely close while maintaining excellent clarity—as my son proved!
As for the other, previously mentioned, eye issues Daniel was dealing with: amblyopia usually results from a failure to use both eyes together; it’s actually an issue that involves both the eyes and the brain (my son has amblyopia, so I am familiar with this). Amblyopia can be caused by the presence of crossed eyes (strabismus), unequal farsightedness or nearsightedness (refractive error), or a physical obstruction of vision like cataracts—which obviously doesn’t apply to Daniel.
And the most common cause of brow ptosis is a weakening of the levator—which is the primary muscle that lifts the eyelid. This weakening can result from aging, previous eye surgery (neither of which apply to Daniel), trauma, congenital (at birth), and neurologic or muscular disease.
I'm sure Daniel's eye issues went undiagnosed. Nonetheless, Daniel passed the physical examination at the time of his enlistment and was found fit to be a soldier.
*Note: The significant difference in Daniel's eyes can’t be blamed on a smile, or any other facial expression that might distort a person's features, because it was not the custom to show emotion or facial expressions in photographs in this time period. Daniel is photographed with what we today call a “resting face”—which shows his features as they naturally are.
