Important 1/2 plate ambrotypes of the William Mason (Taunton, Massachusetts) trains Phantom & Nymph both in same hinged leather case, case ht. 4 3/4, wd. 6 1/4 inches. The pictures appear to be taken at the William Mason train works in Taunton, MA. In one image the masts of the ships can be seen in the background. It may be William Mason in the white suit posed in front of the Phantom. Provenance: From the estate of Alexander Bullock, Governor of Massachusetts. These may be the only known ambrotypes of Mason trains. It is interesting to note that the best clay available for making pencils was in Taunton, MA and there may have been a connection in the Bullock family between the pencils (See lot 1 of the auction) and these train ambrotypes. For a complete history of these trains please contact us. (Note: Alexander Bullock graduated Amerherst College in 1836 and entered Harvard Law School. He worked for the law firm of Emory Washburn in Worcester, Massachsetts. He was in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and a State Senator. He was mayor of Worcester in 1859. He was elected Governor of Massachusetts from 1866-1868. He was also president of State Mutual Life Insurance Company and the Worcester County Institute for Savings. He was also a writer for the Aegis newspaper. There are business connections between the paper companies of Fitchburg, Massachusetts and the William Mason train works that had also produced machinery for the paper mills. It is possible the Bullock's either through the insurance business and/or banking businesses had interests in the trains that William Mason produced and other family members were in the railroad and banking business in various states including Ohio that may have supported Abraham Lincoln with campaign funds and trains. Specifically Alexander Bullock's cousins Calvin Bullock, Barnet Ellis Bullock and James Frederick "Fred" Bullock who worked for railroad firms in Ohio that William Mason supplies the trains Phantom & Nymph to.)