I’m chipping away at my sources, trying to carve out a coherent post or two.

[Occupational Portrait of an Unidentified Man With Mallet and Chisel], sixth plate daguerreotype, photographer unknown, circa 1840–1860. Library of Congress. Image cropped and color slightly adjusted. Click to open larger image in a new window.

Today’s image is another “occupational portrait,” circa 1840-1860, from the daguerreotype collection at the Library of Congress. The subject is, presumably, a carpenter or similar craftsman who would typically employ a large chisel and wooden mallet in his daily work.

In Jonathan Clark’s time, tools such as these were not only the property of professional carpenters or ship-builders. Mequon’s early settlers, including the Clark, Turck and neighboring families, would often need such tools for shaping and joining the timbers and beams that formed the frames of their new homes, barns, and other structures. And the men of the Bonniwell families certainly owned similar tools; as former professional shipwrights and carpenters they would have extensive experience with—and probably owned a wide variety of—chisels and mallets.

Back soon with more history. With luck, I’ll be able to wrap up Infrastructure Week Fortnight Month! before Memorial Day.

Be well.