Welsh neckbeards, part 3

Today I present more neckbeards from 19th century Wales, found in the John Thomas photographic collection.

Previous parts: Part 1; Part 2

Alpheus Felch

Alpheus Felch (1804-1896) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the Governor for Michigan and was elected as a U.S. Senator. He also served as Michigan's State Bank Commissioner during 1838-1839, during which time he exposed much corruption and fraud associated with "wildcat banking", where banks were not federally regulated and were free to issue their own currency.

Ulrich Varnbüler

Ulrich Varnbüler (1432-1496) was a classical scholar and public official who served as Mayor of St. Gallen, Switzerland. There are very few examples of neckbeards in pictures or sculptures depicting people born before the 1700s, so Varnbüler is notable for being one of the earliest confirmed cases of a neckbeard. He is shown below in a woodcut by his close friend Albrecht Dürer, one of the most famous artists of the German Renaissance.

William P. Fessenden

William P. Fessenden (1806-1869) was an American politician who served as Secretary of the Treasury under Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. He was a leading antislavery campaigner, and in his earlier years as a politician he was among the Radical Republicans, a faction of politicians who demanded the complete eradication of slavery, total civil and political rights for former slaves, and punitive measures towards supporters of the Confederacy. However, during the war, Fessenden moderated his views, and followed Lincoln in supporting more leniency towards the ex-Confederates.

Oxford Dictionary vs the Neckbeard

The pejorative use of the term "neckbeard" has found its way into Oxford Dictionary:

1. A growth of hair on a man's neck, especially when regarded as indicative of poor grooming. ‘I can picture myself wearing these clothes a week from now, bits of food caught in my overgrown neckbeard’

1.1 A man who is socially inept and physically unappealing, especially one who has an obsessive interest in computing. ‘I know people expect me to be some sort of balding, overweight neckbeard’

Of course, we can't blame Oxford Dictionary for simply reporting how the term is commonly used, and it's true that the pejorative use is common. But why not also include examples of the term "neckbeard" used neutrally, simply to refer to the beard style? The wiktionary entry is phrased with rather less bias:

1. A style of facial hair wherein the beard is allowed to grow down the chin and is trimmed to an even length over the entirety of the face.

2. (slang) A nerd; a dweeb. 

Neckbeards of Wisconsin

I've recently been browsing the photographic collection of the Wisconsin Historical Society. Lots of great neckbeards in there!

Walter Booth

Walter Booth (1791-1870) was an American politician from Connecticut who served in the U.S. House of Representatives.