Slaves of the rebel Genl. Thomas F. Drayton, Hilton Head, S.C.
Photographer: Henry P. Moore Photo Taken: May, 1862
Caption label from exhibit "American Treasures Memory": Brother Against Brother. Percival Drayton was denounced by the legislature of his native South Carolina when he chose to fight for the Union during the Civil War. Given command of the USS Pocahontas, Drayton participated in the successful 1861 expedition against Port Royal, South Carolina, during which the defending troops under the command of his brother, Brigadier General Thomas Drayton were forced to withdraw inland, with the general himself leaving behind a house and slaves pictured here.
Citation: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540
Background Information:
Henry P. Moore captured this image of a sizable group of slaves on Hilton Head, South Carolina, in 1862. In 1860, Hilton Head was home to fourteen affluent families and their slaves, the majority of whom traveled frequently. Over forty thousand people lived on Hilton Head at the time the photograph was taken, including Union soldiers, civilian storekeepers, missionaries, prisoners of war, and slaves fleeing their owners.
The seven hundred-acre Fish Haul Plantation, owned by his wife's parents, was taken over by soldier Thomas Fenwick Drayton in 1856. The majority of the plantation was used to grow cotton. The property housed and provided for 52 slaves.
Moore created a number of images while in Hilton Head. His shots from this time period depict employees ginning and sorting cotton as well as slaves' dwelling quarters, revealing the daily life of slaves and former slaves. Slaves who were being set free by the federal government are shown in this photograph. The white soldier, who was probably a Union soldier, is posing as an overseer or master and is standing in the front. This image clearly shows the attire and accessories worn by the slaves. The women are all seated at a lower level than the men and have wraps or kerchiefs covering their heads. The descendants of the original slaves in the United States continued to use this African aesthetic. The American descendants of the original African slaves kept this African aesthetic alive. A majority of the clothing on a plantation was custom-made by enslaved seamstresses, however some of the clothes worn by slaves could be purchased ready-made.
About the Artist
Henry P. Moore (1835-1911)
Henry P. Moore, a lithographer, printer, and photographer, was born in Goffstown, New Hampshire. When his widowed father remarried and relocated to Concord, New Hampshire, he was the oldest of five kids. Moore's singing, banjo playing, and showmanship were acclaimed at the renowned tavern his family maintained there, which offered travelers food, shelter, and entertainment. When Henry Moore was eleven years old, his father passed away, and his stepmother downsized the company and started a boarding house. Up until he was in his early 20s, Moore and his step mother shared a room at the boarding home.
Midway through the nineteenth century, Moore made the same decision as many other ambitious American artists: to work in the print business. From 1854 until 1860, he drew and published town views. Moore's method of learning photography is still a mystery. But by the time he was twenty-seven, his contemporaries were calling him a "well known photographer." An astute businessman, he set up his photography studio in a tent in a sandy cotton field on the island of Hilton Head in South Carolina.
The images made by Moore in South Carolina and Georgia during the American Civil War were different from other photographs of the time. Moore captured photos of former slaves, troops in camps, and Navy cruisers while on location rather than taking posed portraits of officials in a studio.