Author Topic: Gunmaker Peter Moll I (1799-1879)  (Read 12056 times)

Bob Smalser

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Gunmaker Peter Moll I (1799-1879)
« on: January 25, 2011, 10:43:18 PM »
Gunmaker Peter Moll’s 1799 Baptismal Certificate or Taufschein

These were important to early members of the Lutheran and Reformed faiths, as baptism was a key credential required to enter heaven.  They are also somewhat rare today, because to insure there were no slip-ups, the certificates were often placed in caskets upon death.

They are also important Pennsylvania German folk art or Frakturschriften and were hand-made either by the local schoolmaster, the local pastor, or by traveling artists.  The designs used are classic German, Swiss and Alsatian images, and the inks and paints were generally home-made from old recipes.  The images of flowers and animals weren’t meant to imitate reality, but depict how they would appear in heaven.



My rough translation:

“The blessed marriage between Johannes Moll and his respected wife Elizabeth nee Neyhartin (diminutive of Neuhart), produces a son born into the world named Peter Moll.”

“Peter was born 13 October, 1799 in Pennsylvania's Lehigh County in Northampton Township.” (sic)

The certificate also lists the pastor (Troxel?), the 10 November 1799 date of baptism, the child's sponsors or Godparents,  “Peter Moll” and “A. Marie Neuhardt”, followed by what looks like The Lord's Prayer. 

Beneath the verse is the certificate’s maker, who probably wasn’t a local man because he got the township and county wrong, and two sayings I can’t make out.

Sponsor Peter Moll (1779-1825) was single, was the youngest son of John Moll I (Bef 1746-1794), would serve in the War of 1812 and later move to Somerset County in western Pennsylvania where he would become wealthy.  Perhaps his property there was a land grant provided to soldiers.  He would marry Sarah Burger (1785-1860) in 1803 and father 12 children, one of whom was Allentown gunsmith James Moll (1804-1870), who married Sarah Neuhardt (1805-unk).

Sponsor Anna Marie Neuhardt (1778-1851) was the granddaughter of 1737 immigrant and Lehigh Valley patriarch Frederick Neuhart (1699-1765), was single, and would marry Daniel Yundt (1774-1851) the following year and eventually migrate with him to Western Pennsylvania in Armstrong County.

Peter Moll (1799-1879) moved to Hellertown around 1820, when his brother John III bought his father's Allentown shop. Perhaps Peter and his younger brother David (1807-1853) who joined him in Hellertown, wanted to venture out on their own.  Hellertown in 1820 contained thirteen houses, eighteen families, three taverns, two stores, one grist mill and seventy-three inhabitants. The earliest artifact of Moll gunsmithing in Hellertown was found on the barrel of a rifle marked   "Peter Moll, Hellertown, May 26, 1826".


About 1831 Peter Moll married Mary Anne Shafer (1806-1888).  A December 5th, 1929 article appeared in the Allentown Morning Call noting the one-hundredth anniversary of the gunshop in Hellertown. "Peter Moll erected the shop, now the Ruch Store, and moved in on April 12, 1831. He then married Mary Shafer and erected a dwelling, moving in on May 31, 1831." The land on which he built his home was owned by John Younghen who sold it to Christian Shafer on May 31, 1822. On December 5, 1829 the property was transferred from Christian Shafer to Peter Moll upon payment of one hundred fifteen dollars.


Peter and Mary Anne had the following children:

1)  Susanna (1832-unk), married Francis L. Reihman, a cabinetmaker.
2)  Nathan (1833-1914), a gunsmith who married Rosina Lee (1818-1889), sister of gunsmith George Lee below.  Later moved to Evansville, Indiana.
3)  Reuben (1834-unk), a gunsmith and later a clerk.
4)  Mary Anne (1836-unk), married Charles Schloyer.
5)  Charles (1838-unk)
6)  Elizabeth (1841-1918), married Hellertown gunsmith George Lee (1825-1889)
7)  Catherine (1842-1898)
8.  Emeline (1842-1918), married Robert Reiss.
9)  Peter Moll II (1847-1883), Hellertown gunsmith.  Accidentally drowned in Portland on the Delaware River where he was establishing a washboard manufactory.
10)  John Jacob Moll (1849-1909), the last practicing gunsmith in Hellertown.


Peter prospered in Hellertown.  The 1860 Federal Census reports Peter Moll as having real estate valued at $35,000, and a personal estate of $1,100. He died at 8:00pm on June 8th, 1879 after a long illness. He may have transferred his property to his heirs earlier, as his estate at death amounted to only $216.98. His physician, W. W. Detweiler, presented a bill to the estate amounting to $98.00, a large sum. The 1880 Census shows his wife Mary Anne living with her son Peter Jr. and his wife, where she lived until her death in 1889.  (LDS Genealogical Library, Brent Wade Moll http://www.angelfire.com/pa5/mollpa/1850s.html)
Peter lived to age 79, dying on June 8, 1879.  His wife Mary Anne survived him until 1888.


« Last Edit: January 02, 2020, 10:57:50 PM by Tim Crosby »

Offline smshea

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Re: Gunmaker Peter Moll I (1799-1879)
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2011, 02:55:05 AM »
The Hellertown P&D moll guns are some of my favorite later gun from the area. They still turn up for sale once in a while and I almost bought a fairly plain one a few years back and have always regretted not making the purchase. Actually most of them are fairly plain by our standards, I'm trying to think if I ever saw a carved P&D gun(Still Thinking ????) They did make interesting use of black paint with their cheek piece inlays and around the box. Neat Guns, you know them as soon as you see them.

Offline Eric Kettenburg

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Re: Gunmaker Peter Moll I (1799-1879)
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2011, 04:05:44 AM »
Those P&D Moll guns use a lot of fake-striped stocks, which is pretty cool.  I don't think I've ever seen a carved rifle either, but I can remember one or two that had about 70 inlays apiece.  Caaarrraazzzeeeee!
Strange women lying in ponds, distributing swords, is no basis for a system of government!

cg8666

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Re: Gunmaker Peter Moll I (1799-1879)
« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2012, 10:10:38 PM »
Peter Moll was my Great, Great, Great Grandfather.  His son Reuben moved to Missouri and soon died.  He is listed as a Gunsmith in his Obit.  He left a wife, and three children.  One being my Great Grandmother Mary Moll, also born in PA.  She Married Joshua Harvey and moved to Joplin, Missouri.  Joshua was a Civil War vet, Kansas trading post owner/Indian fighter and store owner in Joplin.  We have a copy of his Journal.  I would like to purchase a moll gun for my collection.  I keep our family history and have been to Germany 3 times for research.  Thanking you in advance for any post that will help me to find a Moll gun.

Offline Eric Smith

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Re: Gunmaker Peter Moll I (1799-1879)
« Reply #4 on: June 13, 2012, 01:31:44 AM »
Welcome to the ALR.
Eric Smith

Offline Eric Kettenburg

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Re: Gunmaker Peter Moll I (1799-1879)
« Reply #5 on: June 13, 2012, 03:14:57 AM »
Howdy cg8666 - have you ever uncovered any information in Germany relative to Johannes Moll (the first Allentown Moll), who had to have been born sometime prior to around 1732 (he was owning Berks Co. land by 1751, so I'm going to say he had to be at least 18-19 years old at that time)? 
Strange women lying in ponds, distributing swords, is no basis for a system of government!

Offline mr. no gold

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Re: Gunmaker Peter Moll I (1799-1879)
« Reply #6 on: June 13, 2012, 07:17:25 AM »
Scott, you have touched on something that has made me wonder a whole lot. A few Las Vegas Winter Gun Shows ago, a dealer had a like new, spectacular P & D Moll, Hellerstown rifle. It was in the 20K plus category, but it was mighty fine, a real screamer. It was a big, long barreled gun with the black paint and bone inlays liberally applied. Still wish I had the money in my pocket for it. The fellow who was selling it was from an eastern state so I expect that it is in your neck of the woods, somewhere.
Moving to today, I bought a Moll, plain gun from a man in my town a good while ago, which I have never given much thought to. It is what I tend to call a 'Moll factory gun' being pretty much plain, but it does have a box and some engraving. It has a walnut stock, and the fellow told me a curious story. He said that when he bought it out of a pawn shop, the stock was painted all over with black paint. Of course, he went on to say how hard he had to work to get all of the paint off, thinking that it never should have been there in the first place. Guess that it didn't come off easily, but I don't see any traces left.
I have this sinking feeling that you are going to tell me that the paint was original and the fellow did the gun a disservice by going for the Strip Eze. In any case, I have just developed a new respect for the old thing. Thanks for the posts on this topic, folks.
Dick 

Offline smshea

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Re: Gunmaker Peter Moll I (1799-1879)
« Reply #7 on: June 13, 2012, 03:12:48 PM »
Ive never seen one painted completely black, not to say that it couldn't have been done but Ive never seen it. Ive seen a few plain type P+D Molls singed and unsigned, at auctions in last 5 years. The fully decked out ones are among my favorite guns.   

Offline mr. no gold

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Re: Gunmaker Peter Moll I (1799-1879)
« Reply #8 on: June 13, 2012, 07:46:33 PM »
The 'black' rifle I mentioned above is stamped 'MOLL' on the barrel and nothing else, and the stamping is light, at that. It has a nice engraved patchbox, and toe plate, but is otherwise a plain gun. It is of a fairly large caliber, bored smooth and is percussion, but has a converted flint lock plate. The gun may have been made as a caplock originally.
There are a few examples of painted guns, the major one being a red painted John Bonewitz piece. I have seen and/or heard of a few others down through the years. Jack Brooks said that such guns may have finished in that manner for the Indian trade. Who knows?
Sounds like you have considerable experience with this school and haven't seen any fully painted, so I'll not rush down to Pep Boys for can of black paint, and leave things as they are.
See you in Pittsbugh-Dick

mkeen

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Re: Gunmaker Peter Moll I (1799-1879)
« Reply #9 on: June 13, 2012, 07:47:25 PM »
Bob,

The name below the verse would be the printer of the basic Geburts und Taufschein. I'm not familiar with the design but I'm sure you could find something on the printer. He would then sell them to a scrivener who added the color and wrote in the vital information. The writing is a curious mix of German and English script.

Martin

firelock-inc

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Re: Gunmaker Peter Moll I (1799-1879)
« Reply #10 on: June 13, 2012, 08:26:19 PM »
Has anyone seen a P &D Moll rifle made with a Tryon & Merrick lock, eather
flint or precussion ?

Rick

Offline smshea

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Re: Gunmaker Peter Moll I (1799-1879)
« Reply #11 on: June 13, 2012, 11:08:00 PM »
The 'black' rifle I mentioned above is stamped 'MOLL' on the barrel and nothing else, and the stamping is light, at that. It has a nice engraved patchbox, and toe plate, but is otherwise a plain gun. It is of a fairly large caliber, bored smooth and is percussion, but has a converted flint lock plate. The gun may have been made as a caplock originally.
There are a few examples of painted guns, the major one being a red painted John Bonewitz piece. I have seen and/or heard of a few others down through the years. Jack Brooks said that such guns may have finished in that manner for the Indian trade. Who knows?
Sounds like you have considerable experience with this school and haven't seen any fully painted, so I'll not rush down to Pep Boys for can of black paint, and leave things as they are.
See you in Pittsbugh-Dick


The dollar store black works just as well ;D Seriously, I haven't seen a fully painted P+D Moll but I have seen other painted guns or guns that appear to have been painted at some point.
 Sadly, I will not make it to Pittsburg this year >:(. Hope to get there next year.