The studio photograph of Samuel Block (b. 17 Dec. 1838, Hechingen; d. 25 Apr. 1918, Natchez, Mississippi) was taken by Friedrich Brandseph (ca. 1826-1914), a photographer who worked in Stuttgart, Germany (forty miles from Hechingen), and whose studio was founded in 1856. 

Sam Bloch emigrated from Germany in 1854; the spelling of his last name seems to have been anglicized while he was in the Confederate army. He lived first in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, and then in Natchez, Mississippi.

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The family photograph is of Isak Bloch (b. ca. 1800; d. July 1873), son Gabriel Bloch (b. 11 Feb 1852; d. 14 Sept. 1878), and wife Clara (or Gitele Auguste) Löwenberger (b. 15 Apr. 1809; d. 7 Nov. 1887). The family was from Hechingen, Germany, and the parents died there. The son immigrated to Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, prior to 1870. As Gabe Block, he served as clerk (business manager) on a steamboat owned by his brother, riverboat Captain Samuel Block. Poor Gabe died in New Orleans of yellow fever during the 1878 epidemic.