Jacob Kuntz (1780-1876)
Born in Whitehall Township north of Allentown, PA on September 6, 1780.
His father Peter was a successful farmer.
He attended Egypt Reformed Church with Peter Newhard’s family as a child, and probably later Zion Reformed Church in Allentown with Jacob Neuhart’s and John Moll’s families.
He and his brother Peter Jr (1782-unk) both became gunmakers. They could have trained under their older cousin David Kuntz (1764-1834) in Berks County, their in-law Peter Newhard (1743-1813) at Laury’s in Whitehall, their in-law John Moll II (1773-1834) at his 7th Street shop in Allentown, or some combination of the three. The family principals would decide these working relationships, often after Sunday church over dinner. Priority would always be to family.
Regardless of which shop they were trained in, the Kuntz, Newhard, and (later) Moll families were intermarried for
seven generations before the age of mass-produced cartridge rifles, and each would be intimate with the work of the others.
Jacob married Mary Barbara Neuhart (1786-1862), daughter of Peter Newhard’s younger brother Jacob (1752-1835), Allentown cabinetmaker and occasional gunsmith. This was the fourth intermarriage between the two families dating back to 1715.
Kuntz moved to Philadelphia in 1810.
The Jacob Kuntz flintlock in New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is thought by the curators to have been made before Kuntz relocated to Philadelphia, perhaps in either Peter Newhard’s or John Moll’s shop, and was donated by Wilfrid Wood in 1942. The rifle is quite fancy for the rural, pre-industrial Allentown of 1810…even on commission. As he didn’t marry Barbara until 1812…two years after his move…perhaps Jacob wanted to insure he was financially well-established before marriage, and the rifle was intended to be a window display highlighting his skills.
But did you also know….
…that his father-in-law Jacob served in the Pennsylvania State Legislature from 1808-1814, then served as Lehigh County Commissioner?
…and his brother-in-law Peter Newhard (1783-1860), namesake of his uncle the master gunmaker, was elected to the
US Congress in 1838 representing Lehigh, Schuylkill and Berks counties?
Peter Newhard was also re-elected to congress in 1840, then after leaving Washington in 1843 became the Burgess of the Borough of Allentown and a trustee of Allentown Academy, a private school. Peter had trained with his father as a cabinetmaker and in 1812 opened Allentown’s first hardware store on 8th and Hamilton. Before his election to Congress, he had served in the state legislature for five, one-year terms, and the state senate for two terms.
Perhaps his in-laws’ upscale political connections were a factor in Jacob’s move to and success in Philadelphia. The 1850 Federal Census lists Jacob Kuntz’s home and shop in the Old Kensington neighborhood (now Fishtown) worth $8000, when a well-appointed new urban home then could have been built for around $2500. In turn, Congressman Peter Newhard had become wealthy from his family’s real estate assets and his hardware store, and was worth $12,500. Gunmaker Peter Newhard’s youngest child Michael farmed his share of the family holdings at Laury’s with a value of $5000,
after Peter Newhard’s assets had been distributed among five other children. And the Molls remained relatively poor with the Allentown gunshop only worth $1000.
Jacob and Barbara had the following children:
1) Peter (1813-1914), who later migrated to Illinois.
2) Adam (1814-unk)
3) Emmeline (1815-unk), who married Lewis Chester (1810-unk), a ship chandler.
4) Maria (1817-unk)
5) Henry A. (1829-1898), who became a Philadelphia hatter.
Jacob lived to age 95, and died in Philadelphia on August 6, 1876. Barbara had preceded him in death, dying in 1862 at age 75.
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=N000068https://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/arms_and_armor/kentucky_rifle_jacob_kuntz//objectview.aspx?OID=40002915&collID=4&dd1=4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Newhard
