Bidspirit auction | (AMERICAN-JUDAICA). TWO CARTE-DE-VISITE PHOTOGRAPHS. Miriam

(AMERICAN-JUDAICA). TWO CARTE-DE-VISITE PHOTOGRAPHS. Miriam Mordecai (1845-1923) and her brother Gratz Mordecai (1849-1902). Each full standing. Photographer of both: Johnston Bros., New York. 1860’s Two of the eight children of Alfred Mordecai Sr. (1804-1887) U.S. Army Officer, born to Jewish parents in Warrenton, NC, he graduated from West Point in 1823. Assigned to the Engineers, fought with distinction in the Mexican War, was sent by the army as an observer during the Crimean War, along with future Civil War General George McClellan. In 1836, he married Sarah Hayes of Philadelphia. When the Civil War began, Maj. Mordecai, who was raised in the south, but opposed secession, resigned his commission in the Army and stayed out of the war, rather than fight against his family and friends in the south. Son Gratz Mordecai born in Washington, DC, became a prominent civil engineer and was also an author, writing on both engineering subject matter as well as on Jewish themes. He is buried in the Jewish cemetery of Congregation Mikveh Israel, in Philadelphia.