The Photograph

The original photograph may have been taken in the 1830's using Daguerreotype photography. Mary Neely would have been in her 70's at the time this image was commissioned.

In the 1860's, a photograph was taken of the original, using tintype photography. According to the custom of the time, the hair and dress was hand-painted. The brows and eyes were also retouched at the same time. The dress is actually one in vogue in the 1860's, but Mary died in 1851.

The original Daguerreotype or portrait has since been lost.

The tintype was placed in an oval frame; you can still see the oval markings on the dress. At some point, the tintype was removed from the frame and parts of the hair and brows remained stuck to the glass. Small sections of her lips and forehead were also stuck.

Thomas Robertson sent the tintype to an expert, who was able to restore the photograph very close to the way it would have originally appeared. The eyes were retouched using a photograph of one of Mary's granddaughters as a guide.

Many thanks to Thomas Robertson,
a direct descendent of Mary Neely and George Spears,
for his dedication to restoring Mary's picture
and bringing her to life once more.

The photograph was then sent to Barbara Condrey, a Forensics Expert with the Chesterfield, Virginia Police Department. Although Ms. Condrey's work usually involves progressing photographs to show aging, she agreed to regress the photograph to show what Mary might have looked like when she was abducted at the age of 19.

Using forensics science and photographs of some of Mary's descendents, Ms. Condrey provided the sketch at left.

Thank you, Barbara Condrey,
for making Mary Neely
19 years old once again!