Name/Title
Kay, Reuben in Military Uniform: Portrait Photo, c. 1838Entry/Object ID
P1993.1H.115Description
Kay, Reuben in Military Uniform: Portrait Photo, c. 1838. b/w. Copy of oval portrait of Kay as young man in military uniform. Dark uniform, jacket closed with row of large brass buttons, epaulets on shoulders, sash at waist with saber, no hat or gloves. Kay has light colored curly hair and is clean shaven. This is likely a Kentucky Military Institute portrait. See Objects 66.24.1-4, for the actual sword, sash, epaulets, buckle, in SJM Collection
Handwritten at bottom: "First Lieut. Company, Yours in the bonds of Delta (?) K.E,. R. Kay, Saint Joseph, Mo. March 23, 1938."
Kay would later be important in St. Joseph's Confederate effort, a one-time prisoner of war of Union Army camps including Johnson's Island. SJM has letter Kay wrote home in its collection. (94.23.9)
St. Joseph, Missouri resident Reuben Kay was an aide to Colonel John Taylor Hughes, 1st Infantry, 4th Division, Missouri State Guard (Confederate) and fought at Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861.
Kay was a graduate of the Kentucky Military Institute. Later in the war, Kay served as adjutant of the 7th Missouri Cavalry and became assistant adjutant general on the staff of General M. Jeff Thompson.
In August 1863 he was captured in Randolph County, Arkansas and was sent to prison camps in Alton, Illinois, St. Louis, and Johnson's Island, Ohio, before being paroled in early 1865. After the war he returned to St. Joseph, but finding it changed, he moved to Frankfort, Tennessee, and went into the dry goods business. Reuben Kay died of pneumonia on December 18, 1883 at the age of 44.
Original digital scan located on History CD 03Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
Print, PhotographicNomenclature Primary Object Term
PhotographNomenclature Sub-Class
Graphic DocumentsNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsSearch Terms
Kay FamilyRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Reuben KayRelated Entries
Notes
66.24.1 A, 66.24.1 B, 66.24.2 A, 66.24.2 B, 66.24.3 A-B, 66.24.4, AM1966.024.00008, AM1966.024.00009, AM1994.023.00008, AM1994.023.00009, P1993.01H.00116, P1993.01H.00117, P1993.01H.00122