Skip to main content
2000.175.22  © 2001The Connecticut Historical Society.
The Old Leather Man, Middletown
2000.175.22 © 2001The Connecticut Historical Society.

The Old Leather Man, Middletown

SubjectPortrait of Leatherman French, 1832 - 1889
Datebefore 1889
MediumPhotography; albumen print on paper on paper on cardboard mount
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (overall height x width): 6 5/16 x 3 15/16in. (16 x 10cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
DescriptionPortrait of a man dressed in patched leather shirt, trousers, boots, cloak and hat. He leans on a staff. A bag made of leather or cloth is beside him on the ground. A vertical-boarded wall, possibly of a barn or shed, is in the background.
Object number2000.175.22
InscribedOn verso: "Found dead in a cave / Mount Pleasant / near Sing Sing N.Y. / Sunday March 24 / 1889 / the Old Leather Man." "The leather bag carried by him was presented to the [Connecticut Historical] Society."

NotesSubject Note: The homeless tramp known as the old Leatherman wandered a circuit between the Connecticut River and the Hudson River from 1858 to 1889.
On View
Not on view
Museum purchase, 1951.11.0  © 2001The Connecticut Historical Society.
Unknown
before 1889
The Old Oaken Bucket.
Frederick Styles Agate
1850-1851
Connecticut Historical Society collection, 2000.211.8  © 2001 The Connecticut Historical Societ…
George W. Bartholomew
before 1889
R.F.D.
Martin Lewis
1933
2003.12.0
Frederick J. Moore
1884-1889
The Farmers Nooning.
Kellogg & Bulkeley
after 1867
The Shoemakers.
E.B. & E.C. Kellogg
1855-1856