Recently while searching online newspapers for mention of the Shelley/Shelly family of eastern Virginia I found the following article in the Richmond Dispatch for 2/27/1898:
Officers of the Albemarle
Norfolk Artist Wants Their Photographs for Reproduction
The following self-explanatory letter has been received by the ladies of the Confederate Memorial Literary Society, and is published by them in the hope that the assistance desired may be rendered the artist:
Scotland Neck, N. C. Jan. 2, 1898
Secretary of the Confederate Historical Society, Richmond, Va.:
Dear Sir,
For the purpose of painting a large historical work of the destruction of the Albemarle, I have devoted two years in collecting the minute information required, and have nearly completed the preparatory work. The scene on the Albemarle’s upper deck will form the most interesting feature of the whole composition, and I wish to introduce all the portraits of the officers on deck at the supreme moment of Cushing’s attack. The portraits will be rendered from war-time photos. Captain Warley will be the central figure, painted from two photos loaned by his surviving widow and brother.
The following photos are still wanting to make the entire list complete: Lieutenant W. H. Roberts, died New Berne, N. C.; Lieutenant Roby; Lieutenant Lorenzo D. Pitt, died; Quartermaster Lawson; Signal-Officer Arthur P. Chalk, Richmond, Va.; Master-Mate Shelley, died, King William county, Va.; Pilot-Captain Hopkins.
Could you give me the addresses of these men, or their surviving relatives?
Thanking you in advance, I am
Yours truly,
William C. Knocke,
Court-Marshall-Room
Norfolk Navy-Yard, Va.
I am wondering whether anyone on the lists knows whether the painting mentioned was ever done and, if so, where it is not located.
Thanks for any help,
Anne Gwaltney
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