Clauss/Klaus/Clause

[Eric Kettenburg]

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--.)

[Shreckmeister]

Only Valentine Feltus Clouse out of Bedford

[Eric Kettenburg]

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.

[Eric Kettenburg]

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?

[OLUT]

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

[Eric Kettenburg]

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--. 

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)

[Hungry Horse]

 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

[Eric Kettenburg]

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

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.

[Buck]

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

[Eric Kettenburg]

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.

[Buck]

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

[Eric Kettenburg]

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!

[Buck]

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

[EricF]

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

[Eric Kettenburg]

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!

[EricF]

Eric,

PM sent.

EricF

[Eric Kettenburg]

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.

[Buck]

Eric,
I can't access the photos anymore. I'm trying another avenue.

Noel

[Eric Kettenburg]

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.

[Buck]

Eric,

See below.











No photos of the signature.

Noel

[Eric Kettenburg]

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.

[Buck]

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

[jdm]

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

[Eric Kettenburg]

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!

[moseswhite]

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.