Clauss/Klaus/Clause

[Eric Kettenburg]

Any chance we could talk you into a few pictures, please?   

Thanks for posting.

[Eric Kettenburg]

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.

[JTR]

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

[Eric Kettenburg]

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.

[Eric Kettenburg]

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?

[moseswhite]

I'll see if I can locate it .

[Buck]

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

[Eric Kettenburg]

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.

[grroberts0]

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

[spgordon]

Here's a translation of most of the inventory--no gunsmithing stuff (that I see):

[Eric Kettenburg]

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.

[Buck]

Eric,

Revwararms has another Clauss attributed rifle for sale. PM Sent.

Buck

[spgordon]

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.

[Eric Kettenburg]

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.

[spgordon]

These Moravian Clausses went the other way—from Emmaus (Salisbury) to Schoeneck & Nazareth.

[JTR]

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

[Eric Kettenburg]

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.

[Eric Kettenburg]

Signature?   

[Eric Kettenburg]

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 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.