George E. Pickett family photograph collection, approximately 1860-1929

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Pickett (Family : Pickett, George E. (George Edward), 1825-1875)
Title
George E. Pickett family photograph collection
Dates
approximately 1860-1929 (inclusive)
Quantity
12 photographic prints (1 folder)
Collection Number
PH1620
Summary
Photographs & ephemera of family members of the Confederate General George E. Pickett, as well as residences and monuments connected with Pickett's life in the Pacific Northwest
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Entire collection can be viewed on the Libraries’ Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials Curator is required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Request at UW

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

George Edward Pickett (1825-1875) was a career United States Army officer who became a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He is best remembered for leading Pickett's Charge, the futile and bloody Confederate offensive on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg. In February, 1864, Pickett had 22 Union prisoners of war hanged on questionable charges of desertion; because of this, Pickett lived in Canada with his family out of fear of prosecution from 1855-1856. He returned to Virginia when the investigation into that matter was halted. Post-military, Pickett worked as a farmer and sold insurance. He died in Norfolk, Virginia of a liver abscess on July 30, 1875.

Pickett served in the Washington Territory and in 1856 commanded the construction of a fort in Bellingham, Washington. While in Washington, Pickett married his second wife, a woman from one of the Northern Indigenous peoples (she is said to have been Haida, but this has not been verified). Her name may have been Sâkis Tiigang, meaning "mist lying down" or "Morning Mist" in the Haida language, although this may be a romanticized invention and/or a mistranslation. She probably died within a year of the birth of their son, James Tilton Pickett, from complications related to the birth.

At the American Camp on San Juan Island, Pickett commanded a small complement of troops during an incident known as the "Pig War" in 1859, in which a border dispute between American and British settlers nearly escalated to military conflict after the killing of a pig in a potato field; in the end the affair was resolved without additional bloodshed. The border issue was ultimately put to arbitration by the German Emperor, whose commission decided in favor of the Americans in 1872.

James Tilton Pickett (1857-1889), George Pickett's eldest child, was born in the Bellingham "Pickett House" on December 31, 1857. James appears to have lived part of the time with his father and part with his maternal grandmother for the first few years of his life. When George Pickett returned to Virginia in 1861 to join the Confederate Army, he decided not to take his son with him because a child of mixed race would not be accepted in Virginia society. Accordingly, he arranged for "Jimmie" to be cared for by Catherine and William Collins, a local childless couple, under the supervision of the boy's godfather, Major James Tilton. George Pickett never saw his eldest son again but left with him several mementoes and proof that he was indeed James's father. As a child, James exhibited considerable artistic talent; as a young man, he attended the Union Academy in Olympia, Washington Territory, and the San Francisco Institute of Design in California. James corresponded with, but never met, his father's third wife LaSalle Corbell Pickett. On one occasion, James met with his younger half-brother George Pickett Jr. in California, but this meeting seems to have gone poorly and James was subsequently estranged from the Virginia Picketts. James became an accomplished artist: he worked as an artist and reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Portland Oregonian. He died of illness in Portland, Oregon at 32 years old. James T. Pickett is buried at Riverview Cemetery in Portland, Oregon.

LaSalle Corbell Pickett (1843-1931), born Sallie Ann Corbell, was George Pickett's third wife. She was a biographer of her husband and gained minor fame as a lecturer and writer. Her subjects, in addition to military history, included recollections of "her childhood [...] on a Virginia plantation" in the antebellum South, with stories and "character sketches" in dialect, claiming to accurately represent the "rapidly disappearing" language and culture of Black slaves (promotional brochure; item 7a-b). For many years LaSalle Pickett promoted an idealized version of her husband's character and accomplishments; many of her claims about General Pickett’s career have since been proven to be fabrications. LaSalle and James Pickett corresponded cordially during James's lifetime, but in later years, to avoid damaging her husband's reputation in the eyes of white society, Mrs. Pickett attempted to conceal General Pickett's true relationship to James and the existence of his second wife—in a 1908 book, she claimed that James had been a "gift" to her husband from an "Indian chief." LaSalle and George Pickett had two children, George Jr. and Corbell; Corbell Pickett died in 1874 at the age of eight.

Sources:
  • Boltz, Martha. "The General's Second Family: The One that History Forgot." The Pickett Society, 17 February 2001, www.pickettsociety.com/jimmie.html
  • Cutrer, Thomas W. "Military Executions during the Civil War." Encyclopedia Virginia, 27 October 2015, www.encyclopediavirginia.org/military_executions_during_the_civil_war
  • Dougherty, Phil. "The Pickett House (Bellingham)." History Link, 27 June 2018, www.historylink.org/File/20594
  • "George Pickett." Wikipedia, accessed 18 February 2020, e
  • Gordon, Lesley. "LaSalle Corbell Pickett (1843–1931)." Encyclopedia Virginia, 27 October 2015, www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Pickett_LaSalle_Corbell_1843-1931
  • Gorin, Arielle, and Faragher, John. Cascadian Crossings: The Battle for the Pacific Northwest Borderlands after the Oregon Treaty. Diss. Yale University, 2016. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. 11 February 2020.

Historical BackgroundReturn to Top

The "Idlewild" house shown in three photographs in this collection was originally occupied by George Pickett at the American Camp on San Juan Island. The house was dismantled in the 1870s and rebuilt by Edward Warbass—a former Army sutler (shopkeeper) who was associated with Pickett's commands both in Bellingham and on San Juan Island—on his property overlooking Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, Washington. Warbass lived in the house, which he called "Idlewild," for much of his life thereafter, planting orchards and constructing additional buildings on other parts of the property. Because of declining health, he sold the property to Andrew Newhall in 1906. In 1909, Newhall donated a stretch of waterfront property, including some buildings, to the University of Washington for their Friday Harbor marine laboratory. It is not clear whether General Pickett's former house was part of this donation.

Sources:
  • Mills, Claudia, and Hermans, Colin. "Historical Centennial Timeline for the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Laboratories 1903-2010." November 2004, faculty.washington.edu/cemills/FHLTimeline.html
  • Oldham, Kit. "University of Washington's first marine sciences summer session, forerunner of Friday Harbor Laboratories, begins in June 1904." History Link, 12 October 2005, www.historylink.org/File/7507
  • Weber-Roochvarg, Lynn. "Warbass, Edward (1825-1906)." History Link, 14 October 2016, www.historylink.org/File/20162

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Photographic prints of individuals, monuments, and houses related to Confederate General George E. Pickett, including his oldest son James Tilton Pickett and his third wife LaSalle Corbell Pickett. Houses and monuments depicted relate to George Pickett's presence in the Pacific Northwest/Washington Territory, specifically Bellingham and San Juan Island, Washington.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

View the digital version of the collection

Restrictions on Use

Status of creators' copyrights is unknown; restrictions may exist on copying, quotation, or publication. Users are responsible for researching copyright status before use.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Transferred from the Portraits collection PH0563, 2019.

Processing Note

Processed by Darian Pina, February, 2020.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

James Tilton PickettReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Folder item
1 1 1860
1 2
James Tilton Pickett, age about 20
A. B. Woodard, Olympia, WT (photographer)
1877?
1 3
Front view with inscription of James Tilton Pickett gravestone in River View Cemetery, Portland, OR
Inscription reads: James Tilton Pickett. Born December 31, 1857 Died August 28, 1889.
between 1900 and 1929?
1 4
Front view with inscription and right side of James Tilton Pickett gravestone in River View Cemetery, Portland, OR
Inscription reads: James Tilton Pickett. Born December 31, 1857 Died August 28, 1889.
between 1900 and 1929?
1 5
Front view with inscription and left side with inscription of James Tilton Pickett gravestone in River View Cemetery, Portland, OR
Front inscription reads: James Tilton Pickett. Born December 31, 1857 Died August 28, 1889.Left side inscription reads: Rest In Peace
between 1900 and 1929?
1 6 between 1900 and 1929?

LaSalle Corbell Pickett promotional materialReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Folder item
1 7a
Photograph of LaSalle Corbell Pickett in half-mourning dress on the front of a promotional brochure
Printed on front of brochure: La Salle Corbell Pickett, widow of the late General George C. Pickett.Inside of brochure (2 pages) contains printed material only. Photos are mounted on the front and back.
1908?
1 7b
Photograph of LaSalle Corbell Pickett, with George E. Pickett in uniform on the back of brochure promoting lectures with testimonials
Printed on the two inside pages and the back of the brochure is advertising material for lectures by LaSalle Corbell Pickett under the auspices of the "Slayton Lyceum Bureau" at "Steinway Hall, Chicago" on the subjects of "The Battle of Gettysburg," "Negro Folk-Lore—Stories of the Old South," "Historical Studies in Jet," and "The Friends of Yesterday." Inside front contains biographical material written in a flattering style and referring to LaSalle as the "Child-bride of the Confederacy." Testimonials appear on the inside back and the back of the brochure, including several credited to Civil War generals. These "commendations" speak in glowing terms of the veracity and entertainment value of "Mrs Gen. Pickett"'s account of the Battle of Gettysburg and the accuracy of her dialect performances. Selected quotes: Gen. Chas. E. Hooker - "[...] Mrs. Pickett's work is nearer to the real life of the ante-bellum Southern darkey than any other that has been produced." ; Helen H. Gardener - "In telling her Folk-Lore tales of the old South, of the royal days of Southern dignity and supremacy, her dialect is faultless, her humor delightful and her pathos most tender and characteristic." ; Gen. Oliver O. Howard - "Having been an officer on the opposite side [...] I not only commend your marvelous compilation of truth, your exactness and justice, but the subtle charity with which you cover and silence any mistakes which may have been made by others."
1908?

Photographs related to George E. Pickett's legacy in the Washington TerritoryReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Folder item
1 8
View of "Idlewild" above Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, WA, showing a portion of the harbor and several water craft
Handwritten on verso: Idlewild and View of Pickett's House restored.Pickett lived in this house while he was in command of the American Camp on San Juan Island before the Civil War. The house was dismantled and rebuilt on the Friday Harbor site by Edward Warbass, who called it "Idlewild."
between 1880 and 1900
1 9 between 1880 and 1900
1 10 between 1880 and 1900
1 11
American flag ceremony with service members and civilian onlookers at the General George Pickett House at 910 Bancroft Street, Bellingham, WA
Clyde Banks, Bellingham, WA (Photographer)
Written on photo: The Gen. Geo. Pickett House Built 1856, Bellingham, Washington.
1926?
1 12
Pickett's Monument at the American Camp on the Redoubt, San Juan Island, WA
Monument commemorates the "Pig War" (1859) and the later resolution of the British/American territorial dispute in 1872.Monument reads: First Officer in Charge was Captain George E. Pickett of Ninth U.S. Infantry and on other side, As Arbiter, William I Emperor of Germany Decided the San Juan Case, Oct. 21 1872.A cropped version of this photograph can be found at San Juan County Album, PH Coll 48.14
1915?

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Officers' spouses--Washington (State)--Photographs
  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)

Personal Names

  • Pickett, George E. (George Edward), 1825-1875--Family--Archives
  • Pickett, George E. (George Edward), 1825-1875--Family--Photographs
  • Pickett, George E. (George Edward), 1825-1875--Homes and haunts--Photographs
  • Pickett, George E. (George Edward), 1825-1875--Monuments--Photographs
  • Pickett, James Tilton--Photographs
  • Pickett, La Salle Corbell, 1848-1931--Photographs

Corporate Names

  • Confederate States of America. Army--Officers--Archives
  • United States. Army--Officers--Archives

Family Names

  • Pickett family--Archives
  • Pickett family--Photographs

Geographical Names

  • Bellingham (Wash.)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Photographs
  • San Juan Island (Wash.)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Photographs