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Carte-de-visite of Captain William Driver

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Carte-de-visite of Captain William Driver

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File Name	shades_tsm_0018.JPG
Title	Carte-de-visite of Captain William Driver
Alternate Title	Driver, William
Genre	Photographs
Material/Technique	carte-de-visite
Description	Studio photograph of a man seated in ornate carved chair. "Old Glory" inscribed in border below.
Historical note	William Driver, retired New England sea captain, owned the U.S. flag now known as "Old Glory." It was raised over the state capitol in February 1862 soon after Union soldiers entered Nashville. Captain William Driver (1804-1886) was noted as a sea captain for having saved the descendents of the Bounty mutineers in in 1831, transporting them back to their home on Pitcairn's Island from Tahiti, where they had been living temporarily for six months because of a drought. Driver's family had made a flag for him to fly on the first ship he captained in 1824. He named it "Old Glory." After he retired from the sea and moved to Nashville, about 1837, he flew the flag regularly once or twice a year. During the Civil War, it was sewn into a quilt to hide it from the Confederate army. After the war, Driver continued to fly the flag on special occasions and earned himself the nickname of 'Old Glory Driver.' This is probably what the inscription on the carte-de-visite refers to.
Subject	Driver, William, 1804-1886
Theme	Capturing the Flag
Story	Susan Brownlow
Geographic Location	United States--Tennessee--Nashville
Time period	1860-69
Language	eng
Contributing Institution	Tennessee State Museum
Type	Still image
Digital Publisher	Digital Initiatives, James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University
Reference URL	http://content.mtsu.edu/u?/shades,120
Archival file	shades12/shades_tsm_0018.JPG