AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Antique Gun Collecting => Topic started by: Eric Kettenburg on July 23, 2024, 10:19:28 PM
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Who has a photo or knows first-hand of a SIGNED (not attributed, signed) Lehigh-ish rifle with a signature illustrating some form of this surname?
Clauss
Clause
Clauce
Claus
Klaus
***SIGNED***
(Eric's got a bug up his a--.)
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Only Valentine Feltus Clouse out of Bedford
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I don't think there's a familial relation there but thanks. I'm speaking specifically of individuals of this surname making what are allegedly 'Allemangal' (or however the heck you spell it) and upper Lehigh looking pieces, including the '1794' dated (with little nails) rifle and those that look like that.
It's been used quite a bit in some auctions, a private seller website or two and even on the KRA Lehigh (2010) disc.
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I think there is a Nathan Claus signature on something, possibly a very late swivel breech. In fact, the only time I've ever heard tell of a signature at all, it was in relation to Nathan Claus.
Anyone?
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I think there is a Nathan Claus signature on something, possibly a very late swivel breech. In fact, the only time I've ever heard tell of a signature at all, it was in relation to Nathan Claus.
Anyone?
OK, this is WAY out of my league, but he is apparently on a KRA CD
(https://i.ibb.co/3Y4X2FT/Screenshot-2024-07-24-at-1-38-54-PM.png) (https://ibb.co/6Jrhzty)
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There is a rifle on the KRA cd just attributed to "Claus" but it is unsigned and it's frankly too early for Nathan Claus(e) who wasn't born until 1812.
I guess where I'm going with this is that there are a whole lot of these weird Lehighs that seem to span the very late 18th century into the 19th century. Decoratively they seem to be a cross between a more 'proper' Lehigh i.e. Rupp, Moll etc but they also have some qualities of eastern Berks up along the mountain, i.e. Stoffil Long and Jacob George kind of stuff. They are all (this particular group) extremely similar in certain features - not all, but a number - and especially the liberty head design. So it would seem someone up there was making these things, but who?
I think there is a signed Nathan Claus rifle 'out there' somewhere (possibly 2) and I think what is happening is that people - always wanting to have a "name" attached to something - are essentially trying to back-date characteristics The big one a few years back was Henry Claus and a bunch of pieces were being attributed to him (I've seen it in auction listings) and I have seen some references earlier to Christian Claus.
Nathan Claus was up along the mountain in Heidelberg twp and appears to have been a son of either Henry Claus or Jacob Claus, it's not clear because Ancestry has completely screwed up geneology now. I believe these were sons of Christain Claus who was next door to the east in Lynn twp but died by 1798. All of his sons were born in the 1780s it would appear. There was an Adam Claus (II) and Phillip Claus in Lynn twp in the first decades of the 19th century who may have been a 3rd and 4th sons. I think he also had a 5th son, Christian jr.
Christian (Sr) was a son of Adam Klaus who was the primary immigrant and who was involved in a documented (Wetterholt) indian attack in 1757, so he was there in Lynn twp by then. It seems he lost at least one child in the attack, possibly more (it's confusing). I believe Christian was his only surviving son and Adam drops off the tax lists in 1779, Christian is on the 1785-1789 lists with 190 acres (big farm).
There is no documentary evidence that I have yet found indicating Christian Claus was a gunmaker. Kauffman notes Henry Claus as a gunmaker in Heidelberg twp in 1821 via a tax list that so far is not being found, but what I have found are so many easily-disproven mistakes with both Kauffman's and Dyke's work that it almost seems deliberate. The few *documents* I have found re: Henry Claus note him as a farmer, and likewise with Adam and Christian. A lot of researchers in the 70s and 80s just seemed to assume Kauffman's and Dyke's research was accurate and simply repeated it without verification. This has been a huge problem.
I'm working on getting a copy of Christian's estate papers because it went through probate and I know there is an inventory. He was no more than 50-ish when he died, so if he was gunmaking, there should be evidence of it. Now this would be interesting if he had gunmaking tools, even some tools that could be stretched to be applicable to gunmaking. Or barrels, or locks.
I am hoping that someone 'out there' has accurately researched this family and maybe has evidence to prove or disprove the gunmaking assumptions. It would be great to be on firmer ground.
I told y'all I had a bug up my a--. ;D
And BTW, there was *another* Klaus/Clauss family south in Bethlehem area who may or may not have been Moravian. This appears to be an entirely different family group. Does not seem to be the same family, but I could be wrong. Both families seemed to stay concentrated in their respective areas.
Edit - see below for info on origins of Adam Clauss (primary immigrant of the Lynn/Heidelberg family group)
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Eric, your mention of little nails intrigues me. I own a rifle I suspect of being a Lehigh manufactured gun built about 1813 or 1814. Its barrel which is about .45 caliber is smoothbore and stamped on the bottom by a barrel maker that went out of business during those years. Its patch box and side plate are both attached with small brass nails, and a very interesting engraving style. It has some unusual brass inlays, and brass was used to cold form the trigger, and barrel lugs. Does any of this sound like your guy?
Hungry Horse
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The earliest rifles - or what appear to be some of the earliest rifles of this string - look like this:
https://revwararms.com/products/xxsoldxx-early-lehigh-school-rifle-dated-1794 (https://revwararms.com/products/xxsoldxx-early-lehigh-school-rifle-dated-1794)
There are a couple of others I've seen over the years that look almost identical to this and are clearly the same guy. Then, there are a number that appear to be later and utilize a long wear plate from entry pipe to guard and have a practically identical liberty head engraved on the wear plate - it's a very distinctive liberty head and face.
The carving, when carved, is always somewhat crude and funky. He has another later rifle on his site as well, also being attributed to Christian Claus.
20-30 years ago, many were calling these Angstadts. Then I started hearing Henry Claus and some of the auction houses picked up on Henry Claus. Now it's Christian Claus here and I assume this is going to be the next phase.
I am not finding any legitimate basis or documentation for this. Hence the reason I am openly looking for a signed rifle, or some kind of proof that one of the earlier Claus family members was a gunmaker. I love the fun of speculation and debate as well as the next guy, but it has to be based in something, anything, solid. Otherwise we're just blindly throwing darts.
There has to be an origin somewhere for this Claus-ness, unless it's all tied back to Kauffman's listing half a century ago or back dating mid 19th century work of Nathan Claus, which I do not think is in any way the right way to go about it.
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Eric,
I had one of the only signed Klaus rifles. I bought it from our mutual amigo, I sold it to Marvin Kemper. It was very similar to the revwararms rifle. Our Amigo still has the twin. I’ll see if I can find some photos, it’s a long shot but I’ll see if I still have them. It was signed C. Klaus.
Buck
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Well now THAT I would love to see. And i would love to know the chain of makers from Christian, who died in 1797/98, to the later guys assumed to be gunmakers. Assuming the earlier Christian was the gunmaker. I'm positive he named one of his sons Christian also, but he would have been born sometime ca. 1780s or early 1790s, so couldn't have been working prior to maybe 1810 or so.
I am still trying to track down Christian's estate papers. Guy died quite young if some of the genealogical info is correct so must have been still working at the time of his death if gunmaking.
Edit - a signed C Claus (or whatever the spelling) might explain a lot, because there are an awful lot of these guns floating around tat all look derivative of each other but the vast majority, and every one I've seen, is unsigned. But when they have the liberty head, the head is always the same or virtually the same.
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Eric,
It has the liberty head. I didn’t have it long, was a great rifle but it needed some TLC and I couldn’t get anyone to work on it at the time. Was a big gun, carving was almost identical to Dicks rifle (revwararms) and our amigo had a twin to it with an additional boys rifle that appeared to be from the same hand. I’ll see if I can find it.
Noel
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Buck I've seen a couiple that were darn near twins of the '1794' rifle but none of them were signed. So if you have photos of one with a signature I think that would be some pretty big doings!
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Eric
I never took pictures of it. The pictures I have of it were from our amigo, I haven’t seen Marvin in a few years and not sure if he sold it. He took it to the KRA a few years back and may have sold it then. If memory serves, I don’t have pictures of the signature. It was faint but it was there and clear.
Noel
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Eric,
I have photos of 2 that were signed Claus. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the signatures. Didn’t seem important at the time. Anyway I am more than willing to share what photos I have if you are interested.
EricF
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Eric,
I have photos of 2 that were signed Claus. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the signatures. Didn’t seem important at the time. Anyway I am more than willing to share what photos I have if you are interested.
EricF
I'd be extremely interested! I think everyone here would be. You can post here, or send them privately or however you'd like. Thanks very much for checking in!
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Eric,
PM sent.
EricF
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Eric F - replied, and thank you!
So let's start looking at this factually.
Adam Claus (Sr)
Anne Kunselman Burgert in Eighteenth Century Immigrants from the Northern Alsace to America has Hans Adam Clauss as a son of Johann Mathias Clauss and Maria Elisabetha (nee Fleckenstein) b. April 1 1725. confirmed 1738, Waldhambach Lutheran.
She notes ship data not located but she notes he was last recorded in Waldhambach Lutheran as a sponsor in 1748.
He is noted as originating in Volksberg, apparently part of or near to Wingen-sur-Moder.
Charles Roberts in History of Lehigh County Pensylvania... relates a story of an indian attack in Lynn twp (then Northampton) on July 9, 1757 and mentions it being at farm of Adam Clauss while neighbors were helping with the corn (in early July?). There is some dispute (elsewhere) as to who actually owned the house/farm however Adam Clauss was noted in the account of Jacob Wetterholdt (the same guy who was later kiled in an indian attack in 1763, the 'Lehigh Massacre'). Wetterholt's account is noted in Montgomery's Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania, Vol 1, pages starting 141 dealing with Fort Everett.
The Record Book of Daniel Schumacher (translated Frederick S. Weiser) has Adam and wife (Anna Maria) as sponsors in August 1759, May 1760 and December 1760 in "Linn."
So, Adam appears to have arrived sometime between 1748 and 1757. As I noted above, he's listed on all of the Lynn twp tax lists from 1761 thorugh 1779. Allegedly he is on a 1781 list, but I have not seen the original and since it's in one of these old county histories, I'm going to be suspicious without verification. By 1785 his son Christian is being taxed and Adam is gone from the lists.
No mention anywhere of Adam being a gunsmith. The 1772 Proprietary tax lists him as "farmer." I do not know where he's buried or an exact death date but it seems to be somewhere ca. 1779-1781 or so.
Burgert's Palatine book also seems to indicate that the Lynn/Heidelberg twp Clauss family are from the same area (Volksberg) and may be related to the Bethlehem Clauss family, who were Moravian I believe. The Blue Mtn Clauss family (the family group discussed here) were *not* Moravian, however, they were Lutheran.
Next we'll move on to Adam's son Christian and his descendants. A bit tougher.
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Eric,
I can't access the photos anymore. I'm trying another avenue.
Noel
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Christian Claus (Sr) - I do not have a verifiable birth date. You may find one on Ancestrry or elsewhere online but if there is no source given, I don't see how it can be verifiable. I'm going to go through the palatine ship lists and see if I can find his father, and if so, it may indicate an age for Christian in the event he was born in the palatinate prior to family emigration. If not, he may have been born here but if I can find Adam Sr. at least I'll have an immigration date which then can be used to estimate a max age for Christian at time of death.
He definitely died in 1797/1798, because I do have an index record of his probate papers 1798-1800 (final account). Now I just need to track down the papers. Administrators were Elizabeth Klaus (I assume his wife) and Ulrich Neff (I assume a brother in law - more on that later).
1790 census is a little confusing but he is listed and it appears there are a total of 6 males in the household? So including him, 5 sons by 1790. Not positive on this and will revisit but for the moment that's what I'm going with. 2 males are over 16, so this means him (Christian) and one son. Who? I have not found even a speculative birth date for a son prior to 1781. So for 1790, this would mean at least one son must have been born no later than 1774. The other 4 males (4 sons) are under 16. Two females, one obviously his wife.
Alternately there could have been another adult male not a son living in the house, but this is just entirely speculative. His father was long gone from the tax lists so it seems likely Adam Sr was dead.
The 1800 Fed census for Lynn notes "Widow Claus" (his wife, he was the only adult Claus there at that point) with 5 males and 3 female children in the household, total of 9 including his wife. By 1800 it is possible he may have had a son or two that had already left the household but I do not see any evidence of that unless they moved far away (outside of the Lynn/Weissenberg/Heidelberg/Lowhill complex). So, for the moment, I'm going to assume 5 sons (6 at most, see above). Forget the womenfolk, they have cooties.
More later.
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Eric,
See below.
(https://i.ibb.co/qgw1yjp/123-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/B6Rsz3B)
(https://i.ibb.co/jywFMnV/123-2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/GWMj2zs)
(https://i.ibb.co/Czyf5kk/123-3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/HVyjDWW)
(https://i.ibb.co/2SpZ1zR/123-4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/xYrFtnw)
(https://i.ibb.co/LpbqfmC/123-5.jpg) (https://ibb.co/mz1Y7kH)
No photos of the signature.
Noel
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Ok that's funny, I'll tell you why privately.
Are you 100% positive this was signed C Claus, or some variant of that surname spelling? And in particular, a C for a first name? Just want to verify, I do trust your opinion!
That face, whether carved or engraved, and the odd 'arrow shapes' north and south in the carving seem almost to be signatures of this builder.
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Eric,
Honestly, I can't remember all of the details. I want to say that the "twins" Liberty Head was a silver inlay and the child's rifle had much more carving than these 2 examples with the a domed patch box lid. I'd like to see the photo of the other gun, I'll recognize it immediately if it was the other our friends rifle.
Noel
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I know this is a little of topic but the engraving on the rifle Buck posed reminds me some what of Stoffel Long. Was he somewhere close to this guy ?
Great research Eric . Thanks digging into it. Jim
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Yes, Lynn twp in old Northampton (now Lehigh) county is on one side of the border between Lehigh and Berks, and Albany and Greenwich twps in Berks are on the other side. Very close proximity. Kutztown is somewhat down to the SE. These rifles attributed to the Claus family seem to be (to my eye) a weird blend of classic Lehigh work and northeastern Berks work, Stoffil Long and Jacob George. Very interesting stuff!
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Eric , I have a fancy relief carved Lehigh rifle signed Christian Claus with a liberty head engraved on the fore end wear plate . I haven't looked at it for 30 years. There is one in Johnston's book Kentucky Rifles 1750-1850 that it states it is signed but it is not signed . I Think they stated it was signed Moll but there is no signature on it . T he one I have was my very first Kentucky rifle.
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Any chance we could talk you into a few pictures, please? ;D ;D
Thanks for posting.
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For the 1800 census, the only Blue Mtn Claus family is Christian's widow as I noted above. None elsewhere up there in Lynn, Heidelberg, or nearby. I checked over in Berks in Albany and Greenwich as well.
1810 census, there is a Jacob Claus in Heidelberg and Adam Claus and Christian Claus (this would be Christian Jr) in Lynn. So that's 3 boys total.
1820 census, Henry Claus in Heidelberg age 26-44, Jacob in Lynn 26-44, Adam in Lynn 26-44, and a new one, Phillip in Lynn, 26-44. I cant find Christian jr, but between the 1810 and 1820 records, that makes 5 which does match the 1800 census of males at home with ma.
Two of these Claus boys are buried in the old Ebenezer Lutheran church cemetery (Lynn twp church), Adam (II) Feb 9, 1781 to Dec 11, 1854 and Heinrich (Henry) July 22, 1789 to Dec 2, 1859. There may be others but some stones are gone and some are unreadable. I would almost bet most of them are there, just missing stones etc. Even if moving away to the next township over, distance is not terribly far and most people want to be buried with their people.
1830 census shows Henry in Heidelberg, 40-49 yo and Jacob inb Heidelberg, 40-49 yo. Nathan, son of one of these two, is not listed in Heidelberg until 1840 census. Allegedly his dates are 1812 to 1885.
Will try to find more verifiable info and try to dig up some church records.
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Eric , I have a fancy relief carved Lehigh rifle signed Christian Claus with a liberty head engraved on the fore end wear plate . I haven't looked at it for 30 years. There is one in Johnston's book Kentucky Rifles 1750-1850 that it states it is signed but it is not signed . I Think they stated it was signed Moll but there is no signature on it . T he one I have was my very first Kentucky rifle.
moseswhite,
I'm sure most everyone here would really like to see pictures of your rifle!
John
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So we are getting reports from multiple people of rifles signed either C Claus or Christian Claus.
Here's where it gets tricky. Which one are we talking about?
Christian Sr died in 1797/1798, this is not in question.
Christian Jr - I have no dates on him at all as yet. He only turns up on the 1810 census, in Lynn twp, then vanishes. Is he an eldest son that is the male 16 or older on the 1790 census?
If you name you firstborn son w/ family name, do you name him after yourself or your father? Adam (II) was born 1781. Is he firstborn son, or is Christian Jr firstborn and just missing (at the moment) a birthdate?
My guess is a deep dive in church records would answer this. That's going to take some time.
So Dick had the rifle - unsigned - that has the 1794 date in small nails on the toe. There are other rifles clearly my same man that are alleged to be signed with a Claus signature (I say alleged because I haven't seen them but again, no reason currently to doubt). Assuming the date is authentic (I've seen the gun, see no reason to doubt it), is the date referencing the date of manufacture or a commemorative date? If we assume manufacture, it can't be Adam or Henry. Jacob and Phillip I have no dates on yet, nor Christian jr.
Just thinking out loud.
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AND, #18 on the 2010 Lehigh CD does appear (speculative) to be the earliest of any of these rifles, but clearly ties in with all the later rifles given the box engraving, the carving, and the "angry face" (I'm calling that, trademarked! hahahahahaha).
Is this rifle signed? It is merely listed as "Claus." Does someone here own it?
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I'll see if I can locate it .
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Eric,
The 1794 rifle is pictured in one of the KRA books as well. I almost bought that from Dick, it’s a good gun. Keep it coming always interesting.
Noel
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Christian Claus Jr died in 1825, Lynn twp, Lehigh (was Northampton prior to 1812) county PA.
Can you read ANYTHING on this inventory? For the first time, I am at a complete loss.
Nothing in his estate papers notes him as a gunsmith, but the inventory - if deciphered - might offer a clue.
(https://i.ibb.co/mqX0cPk/7.jpg) (https://ibb.co/yyYpQxt)
(https://i.ibb.co/q7dfxn9/8.jpg) (https://ibb.co/mbGwSBt)
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Hi Eric, appreciate your work on this. There is a Henry Claus, gunsmith, listed in a 1996 display of 70 guns by the Jacobsburg Historical Society. I believe that is in Northampton County. It also lists the curator for the display. See below. Let me know if you can’t open. New to this and trying to figure out how to attach.
Gordon
(https://i.ibb.co/QXDYRZ6/Issue-4-July-Aug6.jpg) (https://ibb.co/XVYFg9z)
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Here's a translation of most of the inventory--no gunsmithing stuff (that I see):
(https://i.ibb.co/1RNr9mK/klauss-inventory-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/MPHcRCp)
(https://i.ibb.co/R9VLvnW/klauss-inventory-2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/W6YSx91)
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Thanks for that Scott!! I was drawing a complete blank with that extremely 'hasty looking' german scrawl.
So this was Christian Claus Jr who I believe was the male 'over 16' noted on the 1790 census along with his father Christian Sr.
It does not appear that there is anything related to gunstocking in this inventory, and like his father (died 1798) he too appears to have been fairly young, probably 50s.
This raises some questions about the alleged signatures. I have yet to see one (a signature, but I have seen a number of these guns unsigned).
I have been told that at least one was signed C Claus (or some variation of that spelling). If there is indeed a 'C' as a first initial, it would indicate one of these two must have made it, but I have not yet found the older man's estate papers and junior sure doesn't seem to have been gunsmithing at the time of his death.
I have also been told that one or two of the rifles may be signed 'Claus' or some variation thereof, but not clear if a first name initial or first name. Many of the rifles appear (to my eye) to be 19th century pieces and later than 1798 when Christian Sr died, so I'm still trying to dig into the other kids with more of a focus on Henry - he's the one who I had always seen referenced as the Claus gunsmith so I assume there may be some reasoning behind that. And thanks Gordon for posting that older display listing which kind of verifies that for many years of the modern era, Henry was the focus until more recently. Very interesting.
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Eric,
Revwararms has another Clauss attributed rifle for sale. PM Sent.
Buck
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Coincidentally I came across this family entry for some Clausses in the Emmaus church register a few days ago. I think this Clauss family ended up in the Schoeneck and Nazareth area? I haven't followed them.
(https://i.ibb.co/9H5tBFn/IMG-2088.jpg) (https://ibb.co/GQSTGK7)
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There was a pretty good family group of them in the tax lists, mostly Bethlehem twp IIRC. One or two seem to have moved over into Macungie and I think Salisbury? And I think some ended up over in Nazareth. I think some may have been Moravians? I didn't follow down the rabbit hole of that family group too far, but I think if you go back far enough to the original immigrants the two families (Clauses in Bethlehem, Clauses up in Lynn/Heidelberg) may have been related. The Lynn twp family was definitely not Moravian however.
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These Moravian Clausses went the other way—from Emmaus (Salisbury) to Schoeneck & Nazareth.
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Hey Scott, let me say thanks for the translation as well.
Usually, I can decipher most of the old writing, but I wasn't having any luck with this last one.
John
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Just bumping it, I have yet to get a photo of an actual signature. This would be extremely important, whether on a perceived earlier or later rifle.
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Signature? :(
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Just adding 'stuff' as I come across things - it's easier to just keep notes and info in this thread than it is to keep yellow sticky notes all over my kitchen table.
Christian Clauss Sr., Lynn Twp Northampton Co file no. 1866 in Register of wills office I believe. Estate paperwork filed 1798 through 1800 (inventory, probate papers and final account). Elizabeth Klaus [note spelling] and Ulrich Neff administrators.
I believe Elizabeth was Christian Sr.'s wife and Ulrich Neff was her father or brother. I found a brief reference to him (Neff) dying the next year. The Neff's were next door in Heidelberg twp, I also have found a few other scant references to interaction between the Lynn (and later Heidelberg, 19th century) twp Clauss family and the Neffs.
So I plan to try to track down this file #1866 and hopefully can get a look at Christian Sr.'s estate inventory. Christian Jr. apparently took over the family farm in Lynn but his estate (in the thread above) sure shows no evidence of gunsmithing whatsoever.
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ERIC, HELLO.
SUGGEST THAT YOU RESEARCH NATHAN CLAUS AT SUMMIT HILL CARBON COUNTY WHERE HE MAY HAVE MOVED TO OVER THE MOUNTAIN. SUPPOSEDLY HAD A SHOP NEAR DIXONS AT ONE TIME.
TWO SIGNED NATHAN CLAUS RIFLES WERE DISPLAYED IN THE GARAGE CASE AT DIXONS. TOO MANY YEARS AGO. BOTH HAD 4-5 INCH SPREAD WING SILVER EAGLES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE FORESTOCK. FLYING UP SIDE DOWN BUT LOOK OK IF YOU HUNG THE GUN PAN DOWN..
BEST.
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I'll see if I can locate it .