NAWCC Collection

[Michael R. Dutton]

The web site says not to bother staff members with questions, so I guess I'll start here. My great-great-grandfather was Jacob Karr of Washington, D.C.

Several bulletins published by NAWCC mention him or show photographs of his work as a maker of a limited number of pocket watches.

Since there are photos of the faces and movements of a couple of his watches, the watches must exist somewhere.

My question is simple. Are Jacob Karr's watches on display at the NAWCC Museum? I would love the chance to see one or more of my ancestor's fine work.

[Michael R. Dutton]

The web site says not to bother staff members with questions, so I guess I'll start here. My great-great-grandfather was Jacob Karr of Washington, D.C.

Several bulletins published by NAWCC mention him or show photographs of his work as a maker of a limited number of pocket watches.

Since there are photos of the faces and movements of a couple of his watches, the watches must exist somewhere.

My question is simple. Are Jacob Karr's watches on display at the NAWCC Museum? I would love the chance to see one or more of my ancestor's fine work.

[Jon Hanson]

Hi Mike,

Are we addressing the originals or the ones with the dealer names on them?

The watches are privately owned and the articles were authored by nawcc members; however, new info has come to light.

Several new ones have also emerged and will eventually be published through Chapter 149.

Thanks for the post and BTW do you have any pictures or ephemera on your great great grandfather?

Jon (Hanson)

[Michael R. Dutton]

Well now, I am not really sure. The only evidence that I have of his watches comes from the NAWCC Bulletins and the photographs therein. I have not yet looked at the photographs closely. I would just be thrilled to be able to see, close hand, a watch made by Jacob Karr and possibly take some photographs of the watches.

I have very little on him at the moment. I am working on getting some photographs (I have copies but they are poor quality) of Jacob and his wife. There is a poor quality copy of his obituary from the Washington Star. I have bits of anecdotal information. Included in all the stuff I am expecting is a copy of a 1902 add from his store and a biography of him printed in 1884.

Additionally, there are diamonds (old mine cut) from a brooch he made but there is no provenance on those stones. My brother may either have a watch he made or a watch that came from his store in the District. Not sure at the moment and my brother is in the process of moving from Florida to California.

As time passes getting information about him becomes most diffcult. There is no one left with a direct memory of him.

As soon as I get decent originals or copies, I will let you know.

Mike Dutton

[Sheila Gilbert]

Can you tell me where his shop was?
I'm close to DC and maybe I could get some more information for you. There are 2 foundations in Washington that are researching old shops that were working shops about that time 1850-1900. I'm not sure if the indormation is available to the public, but I could ask. My father is 85 and has given them a lot of information about old shops that were there when he was a child, so maybe they would pass the info. along to me.
Genealogy sites usually have a ton of information too. You may want to check with some of them. Let me know if, you have that info. and I will check it out.
Sheila

[RobertG]

The libraries in and around D.C. should have copies of old city directories from that era that would have info on him and his business,and he might have placed an ad for his business in at least one of them. These directories were big in the days before free telephone books essentially put them out of business.

Try doing a surname search on www.genealogy.com (http://www.genealogy.com) or www.familytree.com (http://www.familytree.com) and see what kind of genealogical research has been performed on his family.

You can also search the 1880 and 1900 U.S. census on line for him (the 1890 census no longer exists). This would tell you where he lived at the time, the names and ages of family members that lived with him, and numerous other pieces of data on him that varies with each census year.

RobertG

[Dr. Jon]

Don't know whether Jacob Karr made watches but the firm handled some very nice ones.

I recently acquired this one. The pictures show it in nearly as found condition and it definetely needs some cleaning.

Here is the face

Face of watch (http://members.ispwest.com/jlweber/karr_face.jpg)

Here is a closer view of the Dial signature

Signature on face (http://members.ispwest.com/jlweber/karr_facesig.jpg)

And here is the movement

Movement (http://members.ispwest.com/jlweber/karr_mvt.jpg)

Most of the enameling on the movement is gone making it hard to read. It says that it was made for J. Karr Son's Washington DC. It is in a Swiss 18K case with matching case and movement serial numbers. Since it is Karr Sons its later than the founding. It also shows that the sons took over the firm after Jacob. Its hard to date but my guess is that it is about 1900 vintage.

The maker was Ed Koehn who is highly regarded, at least by me. This indicates that the Karr firm certainly knew watches. Also I have seen a lot of Vacheron Watches by another Washington DC Jeweler, Harris and Shafer and I also have seen Audemars watches by Galt also in Washington. Thus high end watch selling was very competitive and a retailer had to do some leg work to get and sell a high end brand. Seems Karr had Koehn which would also have made them Ekegren dealers. Both Koehn and Ekegren are listed in Shugart with more detail in K. Pritchard's book on Swiss Timepeice makers. They were definitely at the top of the food chain.

That won't tell you about the Karr operation but it will give yo0u information about the watches they sold.

The best place to start for information on the firm in old Washington Business directories and old Washington Newspapers looking for ads. Sometimes these are available on line but you will probably have to go to a library in Washington if they are not.

[Ralph]

From Sonya & Tom Spittler/Chris Baily's, American Clockmakers & Watchmakers.

"Karr, Jacob C: Born 1837. Died 1917. Born in Germany. Arrived Washington 1857. Washington, D.C. Ca 1857-1890.
Many Patents. In 1890 a patent #428,676 for circuit closer of electric clocks, in 1883 #271,078 for watchman's clock, and patent #51,191 in 1865 and #44,317 in 1864 for chronometer escapements; patents #263,183, #263,184, and #266,162 all in 1882 for chronographs. Made hand made chronograph in 1860. With V.C. Klobassa in patent work."

The NAWCC should have copies of these patents and can provide them to members.

Alternatively, the patents would be available at: http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/srchnum.htm

You will need software, like Alternatif to view & print the tiff files.

I thought I read somewhere that Karr was credited with making a pocket chronometer??

Ralph

[John F]

From the 1880 census:

Jacob Karr, b. 1837 Baden Germany, occupation jeweler in DC
Wife Julia Karr, b. 1841 Hanover, Germany
Dau. Julia, b. 1862 DC
Dau. Emma, b. 1864 DC
Son Henry, b. 1868 DC
Son Charles, b. 1870 DC
Dau Amelia, b. 1874 DC
cousin Rosa, b. 1860 Virginia

[Ralph]

Doing a Bulletin Index search, yields:

Karr Search (http://24.104.50.30/BulletinIndex/BulletinIndexSearch.asp?BeginNumber=1&StartID=1&var1=karr&Count=100&SearchType=1&SearchOption=3&SortType=1)

Ralph

[Jon Hanson]

During the 1880s Karr operated at 629 Penna Ave, NW, Washington DC and operated his business with a net worth of $20-30,000.

[Michael R. Dutton]

My great-great grandfather, Jacob Karr turned his business over to his sons, Henry Carl Karr and Charles Frederick Karr. Anecdotal information from a living grand-daughter of Henry's has it that the two sons had a difference of opinion on how the business should be run. If I remember correctly Charles split off and opened his own business dealing in antique jewelry at 517 13th Street in the District. Charles died in 1928. Henry kept his father's business going but it was relocated at 1350 Connecticut Avenue again in the District. Henry lived in Bethesda on 7619 Georgetown Road (which most likely is today "Old Georgetown Road". Henry died in 1936. I can only presume that their businesses died with them.

As previously stated I have copies of most of the information pertaining to Jacob and his sons and daughters. My cousins have the originals and are working on getting decent copies made and sent to me. Once I receive this "emphemera", I'd be glad to share it with NAWCC.

I would still like to see the watches he made, that would be a real thrill.

Jacob lived across the street from his business at 629 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. His home was at 628 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. He first opened his business circa 1857 - 1860. [I was told he opened his store in 1850, but he probably did not, especially if his birth date of 1837 is accurate.] According to Mr. Hanson the business had a net worth of 20 to 30 K. That was a lot of money in 1850!

J Karr's Sons was relocated to 945 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. but I don't know when that happened. The store was named: J. Karr's Sons Jewelers and Silversmiths. (My cousin has a copy of a 1902 ad for the store.) This store was supposedly the second largest jewelry store in the District. The largest was known as GALT's (Edith Galt was the second wife of Woodrow Wilson).

Jacob died in 1917, the 1902 Washington, D. C. Social Directory has him living at 215 Third Street, N.W.

Although census records state he was born in Baden, Germany, there is some indication that he was born in a small village called Zuzenhausen. His surname according to anecdotal information from a living great-granddaughter was Karrer. There are still some folks in Zuzenhausen named Karrer.

He apparently "changed his name to Karr to make it easier for his English customers to pronounce his name". Since he came to this country when he was 11 years old (about 1848), tracing his parents might be difficult.

[Michael R. Dutton]

There are some pictures in Vol. 7, # 149, pages 812 & 813 of a watch that was partially manufactured by Jacob Karr. Vol. 42, # 325, page 149 shows the same pictures. Vol. 44, # 336, page 38 shows a decidedly different watch also attributed to J. Karr - one of the figures shows his patented escapement.

These are the watches I would feel very priveledged to see and photograph in person!

One of the NAWCC bulletins bemoaned the fact that very little was known of J. Karr. It seems that some of the information in this post is working toward changing that lament.

Take care today and have a good weekend!

[RobertG]

Michael:

Many jewelers (my grandfather included) went belly up during the depression, very hard to sell non-essentials during those tough years.

The libraries around D.C. should have old telephone books from the 1930s. By looking for the last year your ancestor's business name appeared in the listings (or the advertising pages) will give you a very good determination as to when their business closed.

Also, check the government records to see if a sale of the business was recorded, or if a bankruptcy was filed.

Good luck in your research.

RobertG

[RobertG]

Michael:

According to the calculator at http://www.westegg.com/inflation/[/URL] $30,000 in 1885 was equal to $586,084.37 in 2003.

RobertG

[Michael R. Dutton]

I'll have to talk to my cousin about possible effects of the depression, she might have some better insight. (Her mother was Henry C. Karr's daughter.) But, I don't believe it was the depression that bothered either Charles Karr or his brother Henry C. Karr in their business ventures.

Charles did not marry - as best we know - and had no children to whom he could pass along his business. (We have not gotten into Probate Court in the District yet to look at wills.)

Henry C. Karr had a daughter and a son. The daughter married and produced a very fine family of three children. The son also married and raised a good family with two children. But Henry C. Karr's children were involved in other matters besides jewelry. The son was working for Singer Sewing Machine Co. in high places and raising a family. Henry's daughter was married to a noted physician and raising a family.

There are not many folks living anymore who had direct contact with Henry or Charles Karr. Those of us who are still interested in them are now at the point where we have to get out of our arm chairs and starting digging through records in Bethesda and the District.

Earlier in this post I was asked about emphemera. I'd forgotten about an item, although not related to watches. J. Karr was able through his District connections to get all of the cuttings and chips from the capstone of the Washington Monument. Jacob made jewelry using pieces of the stone as momentos of the Washington Monument. My father has one of the chips of stone with provenance consisting of notarized documentation signed by J. Karr and then latter by Henry C. Karr who got the remaining pieces from his father. J. Karr signed the document on 1 October 1884 and Henry signed it on 15 January 1932.

Michael R. Dutton

[4thdimension]

The Karr family is well represented in the 1870
census too. Along with Jacob,"jeweler", William
Karr,aged 20, was "working in jewelry store, as was one other Karr who's name I couldn't make out. Other German expats lived at the same address and next door who also worked at the store. Jabob's personal estate was $18,000 in
1870.
-Cort

[RobertG]

For some unkown reason, the url I posted earlier to the inflation calulator didn't work. $17,000 in 1870 was the equivalent of $237,501.95 in 2003.

Try the url this way http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

RobertG

[Michael R. Dutton]

This information recently surfaced on my desk while researching Jacob Karr:

From the 1890 Washington, D. C. directory:

Occupation: Chronometers, watches, clocks, fine jewelry; Sole Agent for Rockford watches; exclusive sale of mementoes from Washington monument.