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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 American Silver before sterling
 N.B.Walker spoons - no other markings
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| Author | Topic: N.B.Walker spoons - no other markings |
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bonniegaia Posts: 48 |
posted 07-14-2008 11:28 AM
  
[26-1689] The only mark on these three spoons is 'N.B. WALKER'. Is anything known about this silversmith? Location? Years of production? My Google search for "N.B.Walker coin silver" didn't turn up anything and this mark doesn't appear on a website listing marks. Two of these three old-style (fiddleback?) spoons--somewhat awkwardly (primitively?) shaped--bear the monogram of my grandmother's grandmother "MCR." She lived from 1827-1904. Though from Cornish, New Hampshire, she married in 1851 in No. Carolina. After the Civil War she moved to Mobile, Alabama. In later life she moved to the San Francisco bay area. Thank you, IP: Logged |
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bascall Posts: 1629 |
posted 07-15-2008 01:57 AM
This sounds like it is likely to be Nathan B Walker who was born in North Carolina in about 1815 and worked as a silversmith and jeweler in Louisburg, Franklin County, North Carolina from 1850 through 1880 and possibly earlier. IP: Logged |
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bonniegaia Posts: 48 |
posted 07-15-2008 11:52 AM
Thank you, bascall. N.B. Walker = Nathan B. Walker of Franklinton Co NC makes a lot of sense. As only two of the spoons are monogramed, it is possible they were a wedding gift. The couple was married 1 Jan. 1851 in the home of Hon. John W. Harris (I found he lived in Wake Co, NC). The Richardsons built an academy/school in Franklinton, Franklin Co, North Carolina ca 1855 (they were both educators), described as a 'rising young town on the railroad.' This community was hard hit by typhoid fever in 1856 and by cholera in 1857. The diseases having killed the Richardson's children, some teachers and many students, the Richardsons abandoned the school at Franklinton, sold the property and retreated to the home of relatives in Winchester, Mass for awhile. The Richardsons returned to NC to open a 'pioneer school and help build up the town of Tosnot Depot [sic Toisnot]. The depot was later named re-named Wilson. They remained at their 'Wilson School for both sexes' for about ten years before their academy (large enough to employ 16 teachers) was engulfed by the Civil War, the academy converted to a hospital for the sick and wounded from both sides, the grand pianos chopped up for firewood. Given this history --from a privately published memorial pamphlet on the life of Mary Cleora (Stone) Richardson, and largely quoted in Child's History of Cornish, New Hampshire-- I believe the silver spoons most probably came from the pre-Civil War career of Nathan B. Walker (and most likely ca 1851-1855) as the Richardsons were bankrupted in the war and reduced to living in a tent for a time. I like to imagine the Nathan B. Walker spoons were some of the only items from NC that the Richardsons could carry out with them. Do you --or does anyone-- know of any other images of examples of Nathan B. Walker's early (or other?) silver? Thank you again for identifying the mark N.B.Walker as that of Nathan B. Walker of Franklin Co. NC, bascall. IP: Logged |
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bascall Posts: 1629 |
posted 07-15-2008 12:49 PM
Your're very welcome. It was my pleasure. There is a Mary Stone in the U S Federal Census for Nash County, North Carolina that looked like a good possibility for your ancestor, and she also appears to be a teacher. Do not despair over the images. You'll get it; they just add so much to these postings. IP: Logged |
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bonniegaia Posts: 48 |
posted 07-15-2008 08:59 PM
Thank you, bascall. The Mary Stone in the 1850 census in Nash Co, NC is indeed the Mary Cleora (Stone) Richardson of the three N.B. Walker spoons -- here just prior to her marriage to Prof. David Sidney Richardson. I happened to have the 1850 information, but you couldn't know that. Thank you for making certain I had it! I am going back and re-entering the silver photos for my earlier posts. I truly did almost despair, but encouragement such as yours helped me keep at it. Gracias. IP: Logged |
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Kimo Posts: 1627 |
posted 07-16-2008 10:51 AM
Hi Bonnie. You are doing well with your photo postings now - congrats! This skill will also help you on many other web fora. One last suggestion, would you be able to post a close-up photo of the markings so we can see it clearly? If you use your macro setting on your camera (it is the one that shows a symbol that looks like a little flower) then steady your hands on a pile of books or something while you take the picture you should be able to get your lens within an inch or less of the spoon and it will give you a nice close-up. IP: Logged |
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Kimo Posts: 1627 |
posted 07-16-2008 11:02 AM
And, I hestitate to provide too much information for fear of overloading you, but given your responsibilities for keeping your family history and heirlooms, you might want to eventually consider buying (or making) a mini fold-down photo studio from a local camera store or one of the many internet places or the big auction site. These are basically just a cube a foot or two on a side, made of white fabric stretched over a wire frame with a large hole in one side. They are small enough to sit on a table or desk top and most are made to fold down to store away in a small space. Some have different color fabric liners for the bottom and back panels and some come with a pair of small external lights and a camera tripod to help you get the best results. The idea is you put an object into the cube, put the lights on either side of the cube so that the light is diffused from all angles through the white fabric and onto the object you have placed in the cube, and you can then take a brightly lit photo that does not have reflections. It gives a very professional looking photo of whatever you place in it. You can use different color liners in the bottom and back of it to give you different color backgrounds. IP: Logged |
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bonniegaia Posts: 48 |
posted 07-16-2008 12:32 PM
Hi Kimo - Thanks for the tip re the mini photo studio! I will look for one. It is a shame to go to the trouble to take photos and achieving only so-so results. I am in process of replacing some of the maker mark photos with better close ups. Not mini-photo-studio-perfect, but better. I started with the one you wanted: N.B WALKER. Doesn't it look like he 'ran out of space' a bit with the last two letters? The bowls of the spoons look a bit 'awkward' to me too, almost heart-shaped, a bit too angular. Inexperience? -- Do you have/know of any other examples of this Nathan B. Walker's work? Just wonder what his later spoons look like. Thank you for your interest -- in the spoons and in helping me! --Bonnie IP: Logged |
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