Sarah Jane Jones Conover and Eliza Ann Jones Schanck

PeriodCirca 1855

Place MadeFreehold, New Jersey, U.S.A.

MediumAmbrotype

Dimensions3.88 × 3.5 × 1 in. (9.8 × 8.9 × 2.5 cm)

ClassificationsDaguerreotypes and Ambrotypes

Credit LineGift of Miss Marianna S. Pittenger, 1947

Object numberP-68

DescriptionTwo ambrotype portraits in case, with Sarah Jane Jones Conover (1840-1905) on the left and her younger sister Eliza Ann Jones Schanck (1842-1920) on the right. Both images are set behind pressed gilt frames and set into a molded gutta percha hinged case and a small hook and eye clasp closure. Two pins that Sarah Jane wears on the front of her bodice appear to be picked out in gold.
Curatorial RemarksSarah Jane Jones appears to have been about fifteen and her sister Eliza Ann around thirteen when the girls sat for their ambrotype portraits around 1855. Both sisters are well dressed in crispy lightweight silk gowns. Although the sisters bear a striking resemblance to one another, their fashion choices reveal their individuality. Sarah Jane chose a wide, starched lace collar and not one but two pins fixed to her bodice. Her slightly wavy hair is parted down the center, smoothed firmly over her head, and drawn over her ears and back. She also wears lace undersleeves and fashionable black lace fingerless mitts. Sister Eliza Ann wears a solid colored silk dress and like her sister, lace undersleeves. Eliza, however, opted to leave off a collar and instead shows her neck and shoulders above the wide boatneck of her dress. Eliza wears a chain at the end of which appears to be a pen. Both girls wear rings and earrings.The uinknown photographer picked out the girls' jewelry in gilt paint for added sparkle. The photographer of the double image may have been Freehold resident John Roth. Born in Baden, Germany, in 1822, Roth emigrated to the United States. By 1849, he had set up shop in Freehold where he made and repaired watches and clocks. In 1852, Roth moved to a shop on Main Street "two doors down from the Post Office." The following year, Roth began to advertise his daguerreotype and ambrotype studio. An ad in April of 1853 noted that "sick or diseased persons taken at their place of residence if requested." Roth died in 1885. A newspaper article noted that many local residents had their first pictures taken in Roth's studio.NotesSarah Jane and Eliza Ann Jones were daughters of Samuel Webster Jones (1807-1887) and Lettie Ann Smock (1806-1869). Sarah Jane was born in 1840, and her sister Eliza in 1842. Samuel was a highly respected and forward-thinking farmer. Born in Burlington County, Jones permanently settled in Monmouth County in 1848, buying the Van Mater farm in Holmdel. He was one of the founders of the Monmouth Agricultural Society. Active in local and state politics, he served as a chosen Freeholder from 1848-1853, and in the state Assembly in 1851 and again in 1853. Jones also served on the board of the Freehold Institute. His obituary described him in glowing terms, noting that he was "a kind husband and father." Sarah Jane attended the Freehold Young Ladies Seminary on Broad Street for at least one year, and was listed as a student in the 1856 school catalogue. It is unknown if younger sister Eliza Ann attended, as several years of the FYLS annual catalogues are not in the HIstorical Association's collection. In the daguerreotype, Sarah Jane wears two pins on the bodice of her dress. The pin seen at the left is identical to a pin owned and worn by Annie Seabrook Conover, another Monmouth girl who attended the Seminary. Sarah Ann married Garret Vanderveer Conover on Christmas Day 1863. Sarah died in 1905 of pneumonia and was buried in Holmdel Cemetery. Oddly enough, although her obituary mentions her children and brothers, it makes no mention of her younger sister. Eliza Ann married Elisha Shepherd Conover.

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