Henry Everett Ney

Henry Everett NeyEverett Ney was born in Shelby County, Illinois, in 1881. He grew up in Lake Arthur, Louisiana, where his family grew rice, and for many years he was the gardener of Victory Park in Baton Rouge. In the 1940s he removed to Birmingham, Alabama, where his face and flowing beard became a familiar sight to the many residents who passed him every day at First Avenue and Eighteenth Street, selling copies of the Post Herald and the News. In time he was

Everett Ney was born in Shelby County, Illinois, in 1881. He grew up in Lake Arthur, Louisiana, where his family grew rice, and for many years he was the gardener of Victory Park in Baton Rouge. In the 1940s he removed to Birmingham, Alabama, where his face and flowing beard became a familiar sight to the many residents who passed him every day at First Avenue and Eighteenth Street, selling copies of the Post-Herald and the News.

In time he was discovered by artists and photographers who employed him as a model. Mr. Ney turned out to have the knack of looking like an inspired prophet, or a grizzled frontiersman as required.

With the help of Mr. Ney's granddaughter Eleanor Bailey, Hugh Hagius has assembled a gallery of these professional portraits, along with a selection of images of Mr. Ney from family pictures. They comprise a photographic record of his life from infancy to old age, through a variety of bearded and clean-shaven looks.