Framed silhouette of gentleman in profile, facing viewer's right. He is perhaps early-to-middle-age years, dressed in high collar and coat. Below is the name "Amos Ellmaker" handwritten in cursive in faded black ink.
Image is cut out of a rectangle of white wove paper, superimposed on a matching piece of black silk and secured with stitches at periphery. There is a window mat of faded marbelized paper, frame is molded walnut.
Same marbelized paper also covers back of frame. Clipping from printed biographical article is pasted to back.
Moderate wear and aging overall. Wove paper is darkened with fold lines and pin holes. Frame is worn with loose joints. Frame backing paper shows wear at corners and was cut to remove artwork, replaced and secured with cellophane tape, now removed except for bottom strip, leaving adhesive residue.
Object ID
P.03.11.01
Notes
According to the Biographical Annals of Lancaster County, Amos Ellmaker (b. 2-2-1787 and d. 11-28-1851) was a man of intellect and attainment. He was grandson of immigrant Leonard Ellmaker (Germany to Earl Twp in 1726) and son of Nathaniel Ellmaker. He attended Princeton College, then law school in Litchfield, Conn. He began practice in Hbg., served as an officer in the War of 1812, later was appointed prosecuting attorney for Dauphin Co., elected to the State House of Representatives, appointed Presiding Judge for the district composed of Dauphin, Lebanon and Schuylkill counties, was later appointed Attorney General of Pa., but resigned in 1821 to move back to Lancaster. Judge Ellmaker was in 1832 a candidate of the anti-Masonic party for Vice-President of the U.S. In 1816, he had married Mary Rachel Elder of Harrisburg. They had six children.
Sampler by Sarah Stubbs, a Quaker, in 1810 at 13 years of age. Bleached linen, plain-weave ground; all four sides hemmed with selvage on left side. Decorated with 13 floral and geometric half-medallions at periphery. Maker's name and date stitched within a central floral wreath, in turn flanked by a strand of vining border. Smaller floral motifs scattered within central area. Initials are haphazardly arranged among smaller motifs, some appearing as a list or group of initials. Embroidery done in silk, with various greens, salmon, peach, light blue, dark blue-green and tan.
Half-medallion borders are typical of Quaker samplers. This is an outstanding example of a Quaker sampler, according to Trish Herr. The Stubbs family came from England c. 1718 (Thomas Stubbs) and has a long history in Fulton Twp. Son Daniel (and wife Ruth Gilpin) Stubbs established the family in Lancaster Co. by settling along the Susquehanna River in 1767.
Sarah Stubbs is the granddaughter of Daniel and the daughter of farmer and miller Vincent Stubbs, Sr. (1753-1821) and his wife Priscilla Cooper (1765-1831). Sarah was sixth of 11 children; she married Benjamin Mason, Jr. on May 4, 1820. They had one child, a son, Vincent Mason, who was born circa 1821. Sarah likely died in childbirth.
The many initials appear to be family members. (More information in folder.)
(Written by Wendell Zercher.)
Provenance
Sampler descended through family through donor's great-grandmother, Verlinda Stubbs (1831-1912). Verlinda Stubbs came from a Quaker family, but she married Thomas Ross Neel of Drumore Twp.., who came from a Presbyterian Scots-Irish family. Verlinda was the mother of Charles Neel who was in turn the father of Thomas Ross Neel who was the father of the donor, Mrs. Mariana Neel Akerman.
Darkened with acid burn, especially at periphery. Heavy damage with losses at right edge and moderate damage along top edge. Send to conservator Dottie McCoach, May 2003 and return June 14, 2004. Now mounted in dark brown frame in exhibitable condition.
Birth record in German for Barbara Eschlemann made on laid paper by Johannes Schopp/Schopf Artist. Paper has Ephrata watermark (CIB in tulip design). Framed in old frame of softwood with dark, crazed finish and applied blocks at corners.
Execution is typical of this artist's design with horizontal orientation, outer and inner double-line borders with central heart having an open ring at top from which emanate vining flowers. Space between inner and outer borders is especially full with typical flowers of muted colors as well as a crown at top and shells at top and a large one at bottom center.
(By Wendell Zercher)
Within the hearts is the text including Barbara Eschlemann's birthdate: 8 January 1777.
Provenance
Purchased by Irene Walsh from Russell D. Earnest Associates for $1,750.00. Received on 7 Dec. 2004.
Breaking at fold line; two corners missing and two corners with small holes. 3-inch tear extends from left bottom corner to right side. Tear at bottom, 2" from right corner, extends upward 1/2 inch. Additional tears with losses at bottom, esp. at center. Two extensive tape repairs made on reverse. Several moisture stains along bottom.
Fraktur presentation piece for Susanna Netzlin (Nissley?) Pressure-mounted on tan matboard and framed in small frame.
Watercolor and ink on rectangular, laid paper, done in dark brown red and yellow. Three bars of color at perimeter in red, yellow and dark green create outside border. Filling top half of inner space is the name of "Susanna Netzlin" written in large red letters, incorporating leafy vines with three different flowers.
Bottom half of page is filled with seven lines of German religious verse. Another leafy vine fills the bottom space adorned with four different flowers.
(Written by Wendell Zercher)
Provenance
Donor, Mr. Clarke E. Hess of Lititz, PA, describes this page as a presentation piece done for Susanna Nissley (?) probably in Warwick Twp. Hess cites another example of this unknown artist's work in the book Pennsylvania German Fraktur and Color Drawings by Landis Valley Associates, 1969, plate #48 (a vorschrift done in 1769).
The $975.00 cost was reimbursed by Irene. N. Walsh.
Paper embrittled and very weak. Multiple breaks, holes and tears. Large holes at center of dark brown border on right side and bottom. Multiple areas of paint loss. White fibers attached to red border at left side and bottom. Soiled and stained overall. Paper edges are uneven with minor losses, especially corners at top and bottom left. Horizontal fold across center.
Presentation fraktur or bookmark on wove paper and watercolor floral design made for Esther Weber and attributed to David Frey. Polychrome flowering plant rises from the bottom edge and is adorned with six red flowers. Reverse side has "Ester Weberin" above the date "1815" written in black ink in German script.
Fraktur is pressure-mounted on a light brown matboard within a small frame with walnut-veneered face. Reverse side of matboard has a window cutout covered with Mylar revealing the inscription for Esther Weber.
(Written by Wendell Zercher.)
Provenance
Information on David Frey is as of yet unpublished. Seller (Mr. Clarke E. Hess) writes: "He produced a considerable number of small bird and floral drawing (I have three) for his student in Penn, Rapho and Warwick Twps. I identified his work a few years ago. I had earlier dubbed him the "Eby Schoolhouse Artist" because of drawings that were executed for the Hans Eby family of Warwick Twp. Frey was from a Moravian family, but most certainly joined either the Mennonites or Dunkards. He died in 1841, and his will is in the Lancaster Court House."
Heavily stained in spots overall; paint losses at fold lines within top 3/4 inches of piece. Significant paper losses at top edge and minor losses at bottom edge. Spilled or errant ink marks at four point within the lower 1 3/4".
Lathe-turned wooden tar bucket with fitted lid and remnants of leather straps. Cylindrical vessel has slight taper inward toward middle. Decorated with two double score marks below center. Above center are shoulders jutting outward with vertical holes through which straps of leather handle pass. Handle also passes through lid of conforming shape, although one strap broken off at shoulder while the other is broken off 3 inches above shoulder.Center hole in lid apparently accepted a now-missing stick used to apply tar to wheels. Broken-off 5-inch length of leather strap rests inside. Tar residue in bucket.
Lancaster County or region.
Provenance
Donor believes bucket descended from family members to his parents who displayed it on their mantle. Donor inherited it from parents.
Birth and baptismal certificate, done on cream-colored laid paper, hand lettered in black ink and colored with red, yellow, and blue highlights. Framed with a border, the text block at center has a large swirl design on the left, inner and outer cutwork borders, with floral design. A heart is in each corner. The most notable trademark of Faber's work is the cutwork border that surround the text.
The text records the birth of Augustus Enck on Nov. 11, 1816 and his subsequent baptism on December 25, 1816 in Warwick Township by Reformed Minister Faber (apparently Rev. John Theobald Faber, b. 1771, who served the New Holland Reformed Church 1807-1819). The parents were Johannes Enck and his wife Catharina Schiffler Enck. The witnesses were Johannes Schiffler and his wife Catharina Obiggemeldeter(?) Schiffler. The text concludes with four lines of religious verse.
Wilhelm Antonius Faber (active c. 1790-1818).
Provenance
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Flanders Smith. Donated to the Heritage Center, but first entrusted to L.C.H.S. for years until museum was well established.
One horizontal crease along the middle and three vertical creases. Four significant stains near the center, two at the top and two at the bottom, almost mirror images. There are several tears in the cut border, and one small fragment is in an envelope in the object file. Top center of border has crude insert of about 6 1/2" in length. Multiple losses of paper due to "strike-through" of iron gall ink.
A condition report and estimate were done by the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts in Phila. in 1986. Matted and framed by Carlisle conservator Brian Howard in 1996.
Object ID
G.77.50.2
Notes
The Earnests note that Faber reportedly was a Moravian who lived for a time in the Moravian community of Lititz. He may have been a schoolmaster there. Also in this collection is a Faber double bookplate done for Henrich Benitsch about 1815 (P01.45.01).
Research: Augustus Enck/Enk was a carpenter in Lititz according to the Lancaster Co. Directory of 1869. Parents buried in the Zion German Reformed Church Cemetery in Brickerville, Clay Twp. Augustus and several siblings were members of the Moravian church and are buried in the church cemetery (Plot: Avenue 3, Left Side, Row 19, Space 14).
Digital image on CD, located in file 77.12.
Lancaster Co. Directory of 1869 and Ellis and Evans' History of Lancaster Co.
This fraktur was published in Fraktur: Folk Art & Family, by Corinne and Russell Earnest, 1999, p. 21.
Place of Origin
Lexington, Warwick Twp.
Role
Artist
Credit
Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Richard Flanders Smith, Heritage Center Collection
Printed fraktur taufschein (B&BC in German) for Michael Ruthisill, born Aug. 17, 1808 and baptized Aug. 30, 1808 by Pastor (Gotthilf Henry Ernestus) Muhlenberg at the Lutheran Church in Manheim Township, Lancaster County. Parents were Philip and Susanna (Schreiner) Ruthisill and the sponsors were Michael and Catharina Ruthisill (grandparents?).
Certificate printed by Lancaster printer Benjamin Grimler in 1803. Penwork & decoration attributed to the "Ruffled Tulip Artist" by the Earnests (9-14-98). See object file for info.
Printed on laid paper, fraktur has a large central heart and two smaller hearts at bottom with verses in German in each. Large heart has main text, with blanks filled in by scrivener/artist in red ink. 1/4-inch-wide yellow border around perimeter. Hand-drawn floral motifs surround the large heart: large tulip-like flowers at top and bottom center, flowering vine at sides and smaller flowers above small hearts and within large heart. Colored in red, green and yellow.
The "Ruffled Tulip Artist" was working circa 1799-1813. He drew distinctive ruffles around large and folky tulips and infilled in German on printed three-heart forms, of which seven are known - all birth & baptismal certificates.
Klaus Stopp, The Printed Birth & Baptismal Certificates of the German Americans, Vol. III, p. 128.
Ellis and Evans, History of Lancaster County, p. 498.
Earnests, Papers for Birth Dayes, Vol.II, pp. 659-60.
Provenance
Donor reports his wife has Rudisill ancestors. He and his wife received this fraktur with instructions to sell the piece upon their demise in order to pay for funeral expenses. The fraktur was never sold, even now that his own wife has died. See genealogy of Rudisill family in file, given by Lisa Garrett, cousin of donor's wife. Lisa says donor died in 1998.
Condition when received: Entire piece buckled, pasted onto brown Kraft paper. Multiple tears and losses, especially at center of right and left sides; tears and small hole at center. Some foxing, general soiling, and water damage to colors in vining at sides. Color smears and fingerprints, esp. at top and bottom floral device. Small tears and curling at most edges.
At present: Conserved, matted and placed in sealed package by Marilyn Kemp Weidner in 1999 for $1,553. Framed by Lancaster Galleries.
Object ID
G.98.27.1
Notes
Four other copies of Grimler's printed certificate known, according to Klaus Stopp (The Printed Birth and Baptismal Certificates of the German Americans Vol. III, p. 128). Three of these were filled out for Warwick Twp. residents;the other for a Manheim Twp. resident. This 1803 print preceded Grimler's partnership with brother Henry which opened in 1804. From 1799-1812, when Lancaster was the seat of State government, the two brothers were employed by the Legislature to do the State printing. Benjamin was elected to the Lower House of the Assembly in 1824 and died in 1832.
See Rudisill genealogy in file, given by Lisa Garrett. It states John Michael Rudisill was born 17 Aug 1808 and died 8 Nov 1843. He married Maria Magdalena Kurtz on 17 May 1829, daughter of Conrad Kurtz and his wife Susanna Barbara Erb.
Large 8" x 10" color transparency in object file.
Place of Origin
Manheim Twp.
Role
Artist
Credit
Gift of Daniel S. Kauffman, Heritage Center Collection
Hanging balance scales with two brass dishes. Attached tag: "Miss Emma H. Ranck". Listed in original accession notes as "Assayers Scales" used specifically for weighing metals.
