A Union officer lost family photos to Rebels near Manassas. A relic hunter found one in the 1970s. No one knew who she was until a man stopped by a Gettysburg shop. He remembered seeing a different image of the girl with the same broach

Image of Sarah McAllister (L) was found by relic hunter; 2 others of her at right (Manassas NBP/Rutgers University Libraries)

Years ago, Civil War memorabilia collector Ken Johns stopped by a shop in Gettysburg, Pa., that was an unlikely combination of Christian bookstore and provider of metal detectors.

Among the items on display was an aged photograph known as an ambrotype. It depicted a young woman staring blankly at the photographer, a round broach or pendant affixed to her collar.

Store owner Donald Hinks – having bought the image around 1975 from a relic collector -- had no idea who she was. But Johns, of East Stroudsburg, Pa., did. He was familiar with a book of letters by Robert McAllister, who served in the 1^st and 11^th New Jersey Infantry.

The girl, he told Hinks, was Robert’s daughter Sarah, who was 18 years old when her father lost some of his baggage – and photographs of his wife, Ellen, and two daughters -- to Confederate troops in Centreville, Va., during the Battle of First Manassas in late July 1861. McAllister wrote home, lamenting the incident.

“It was instant,” Johns, now 85, told the Picket about recognizing the teen. “I remember it in total detail.”

That’s because East Stroudsburg (located in the Pocono Mountains) is near New Jersey and Johns had read “The Civil War Letters of General Robert McAllister,” edited by noted historian James I. Robertson and published in 1965 by Rutgers University Press.

The book includes photos of Robert, Ellen, daughter Henrietta and a different one of Sarah, taken a year or two after Manassas. She is wearing what appears to be the same broach. Johns recalled that item when we stopped by Gettysburg that day.

Hinks, now 94, kept the ambrotype for years at the business for years. “Of all the things I have had in the store, it certainly was the most unique,” he told the Picket.

Hinks decided after he and his late wife retired in 2017 to donate Sarah’s photograph to Manassas National Battlefield Park and he reached out to officials there. The handover occurred about a year ago.

“Instead of selling, I thought it best it end up in the museum,” said Hinks.  

Burgess said, but for Johns’ visit to Hinks’ shop, the image believed to show a young Sarah McAllister would likely have stayed in a private collection.

“The chance of ever identifying the ambrotype was probably less than 1,000.”

Donald and Joan Hinks at their electronics and book stores (Courtesy the Gettysburg Times)

Some called him 'Mother' McAllister, with affection

Sarah was born in Juniata County, Pa., in January 1843. (Her father also was from that area.)

The dust jacket for his book of letters home describes Robert McAllister as former railroad construction engineer who became a successful Union officer.

“Soft of voice, calm of temperament, religious and averse to the use of liquor, he became the epitome of the Scotch Presbyterian warrior -- an officer so concerned for the welfare of his men that he came to be known as 'Mother' McAllister, yet so dedicated to the winning of the war that he was fearless in leading his men.”

McAllister was a lieutenant colonel with the 1^st New Jersey at the time of Manassas. His troops were part of Brig. Gen. Theodore Runyon's reserve division at the time and only got as far as Centreville when retreating Union troops from the battlefield overtook them, said Burgess.

In a letter to Ellen on July 26, 1861, McAllister (photo below, Rutgers University Libraries) wrote:

“I have lost some of my baggage, which is now in the hands of the enemy. The articles are about as follows: my fine large shawl, India rubber blanket, woolen blanket, a new pair of gauntlets never worn, two pair of gloves, several shirts, Henrietta’s portfolio with letters and papers, military books, army regulations, Hardee’s ‘Tactics,’ my large printed Bible with a whole lot of countersigns – and what is more than all, your ambrotype and Henny and Sarah’s dagguerrotypes.

“The reason I took them along was because as I was leaving Vienna, I thought I would get wounded or sick. I would then long to see you, and it would be a comfort to see all your likenesses if I could not see you in person. So now, dear, you will be gazed upon by those notorious Rebels. I want you all to get them taken over again and send them to see as soon as you conveniently can.”

“It is better to lose my bagged than to lose my head. My first campaign has been of use to me.”

Officer fought with valor in several campaigns

McAllister transferred to the 11^th New Jersey in August 1862, and fought at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. He was severely wounded at Gettysburg. The regiment brought 275 men into that battle. Over half that number were killed or wounded.

After months of convalescing, McAllister took command of a brigade. Subsequent combat included the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Petersburg.

“His regiment distinguished itself at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg; his brigade was the first to pierce the Confederate line as Spotsylvania's 'Bloody Angle' and saved an entire wing of the army at the Boydton Plank Road and again at Hatcher's Run,” according to the book summary.

McAllister ended the war as a brevet major general and he returned to the business world. He died in 1891 at age 77, and is buried in Belvidere, N.J.

Interestingly, his brother, Thompson, served as a Confederate officer in Virginia during much of the Civil War.

Robert McAllister rides Charley in January 1862 (Rutgers University Libraries)

Relic hunter made quite the find in the mid-'70s

In 1975, a Gettysburg self-employed truck driver who enjoyed metal detecting for Civil War relics made a stop in Centreville, about four miles east of the Manassas battlefield. He often made the trek to Florida to pick up citrus and watermelons, according to Burgess.

Burgess said he was told the relic hunter combed an area in Centreville not far off Route 29 (the old Warrenton Turnpike) with a metal detector and came upon McAllister's lost photograph of daughter Sarah.

“Its case had crumbled over time but the glass, brass frame and image were remarkably well preserved,” said the National Park Service employee.

The enthusiast had no idea who she was. (The man died in 2019.) Hinks, Johns and Burgess do not know exactly where he found the item, how deep it was or other details.

The relic hunter sold the artifact to Hinks (right), who put it on display.

Neither Hinks nor Johns can recall when the latter stopped by and noticed the photo. It could have been in the 1970s to 1990s.

Hinks said until Johns stopped by all he remembered was the image had been found in Centreville.

He kept it in storage much of the time before deciding to donate it to Manassas.

Sisters attended female seminary, later had families

Johns (photo, below) is familiar with where the McAllisters lived and has studied another famous soldier in the 11^th New Jersey, John Schoonover.

Sarah and Henrietta attended Moravian Female Seminary in Bethlehem, Pa., from 1854-57. According to a register, they were ages 9 and 11 when they entered.

"Back then, the seminary offered K-12 education and in 1863, it began offering college level courses for older girls," said Cory Dieterly of Moravian University's Reeves Library. About 260 students attended the seminary while they were students.

One sibling later lived in Pittsburgh while the other had a family in Philadelphia.

 “He always loved his grandchildren,” Johns said of their father, the general.

He says Sarah and Henrietta (photo right, Rutgers University Libraries) sat for a portrait after First Manassas so there father would have them close by.

Sarah Elizabeth McAllister married Wilson Lloyd in August 1863 in Warren, N.J. They had five children, including one named for her father. Robert McAllister Lloyd was born in 1864.

Sarah lived a long life, dying in Mifflintown (Juniata County), Pa., at age 92 on Oct. 9, 1935. She is buried in a Presbyterian cemetery.

An obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer said her ancestors were among the early Pennsylvania settlers. She was a member of the Colonial Dames of America and left two living children, 10 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.

Why the image won't be displayed, for now

As I looked closely at the ambrotype donated to the park (full image, left), I discerned what I consider slight disparities between the face of the young lady and the two other images of Sarah. Could it be someone else?

Johns and Burgess believe they are one and the same.

“Our photo is certainly close to the photo in the book (with broach). In football terms, there is not enough evidence to overrule the ruling on the field that our image is Sarah,” said Burgess. “I'm still convinced we have Sarah's image.”

The case had crumbled over time but the glass, brass frame and image were remarkably well-preserved, he added.

Will this photograph ever come back to life, and be seen?

“The photograph is so small, it would need to be displayed where visitors can get up close to it and then only on a temporary basis to mitigate light damage,” said Burgess. “We may also need to get it properly treated and housed by a conservator first. This is all possible, but won't happen any time soon.”