The vest, so proudly exposed here, has been worn at three weddings: First for Thomas and Almira Haley, then at Evard Wagoner, their grandson's marriage in 1912, and yet again for Evard's grandson, Robert Binns Wagoner in 1972.
Young Thomas probably sat for this daguerrotype after he came to Canada, because it is one of a matching pair, the other being of his bride, Almira Haley. The daguerrotype from which this is taken still survives in 2006, with Thomas's great granddaughter, Nancy Wagoner Dixon. It seems strange that this hair style from the 1850s should have been in vogue over a hundred years later. One can see the care with which it was cut and carefully combed for this undoubtedly first in his lifetime occasion.
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