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--.
![Grin ;D](https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/Smileys/default/grin.gif)
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)