HILLSMAN

[Aguest]

:::: Somehow I cannot find any reference to a HILLSMAN anywhere ::::: Average quality soup ladle with a slightly crude hallmark. :::: Possibly Ohio? ::::: Might be Southern? ::::: Circa 1850 but not sure how much earlier than 1850 this could be. ::::


::::: I will keep searching but this maker must be in one of the books on state-by-state silversmiths which list a lot of secondary makers. ::::::

[wev]

Possibly Henry St John Hillsman (1814-?), enumerated in the 1850 Morgan County GA census as a jewel[ry] merchant.

[Aguest]

:::: I did note the "jewel" entry, and also I have seen "dentist" listed, but a dentist does work with metals too :::::: I have reconsidered my "average quality" analysis after viewing many soup ladles, to be honest the ladle is of below-average quality and is a little bit crude. in construction. ::::::

::::: All things considered, Henry St. John HILLSMAN is the leading candidate at this point, there's nowhere else to go right now. :::::: Thanks. ::::;

[Aguest]

"1850 Morgan Co., Georgia, the 62nd District; Aug 22; pg 223
Henry St. J. Hillsman 35 M Ga Jewel Merchant
Matilda K. " 30 F Ga
John H. " 14 M Ga
William " 9 M Ga
Ida " 2 F Ga
Joseph " 4 M Ga"

(1850 Census Records)

[wev]

Interestingly, all the "Hillsman" entries I search in the 1850 were either in Georgia or Tennessee. It is certainly possible the surname was creatively spelled, so the pool to search could be far bigger.

[Aguest]

:::: I checked Caldwell's "Tennessee Silversmiths" and could find nothing close, the HILLSMAN do seem to be concentrated in Georgia/Tennessee but there are scattered HILLSMAN surnames in other parts of the East Coast USA, there was a mention of HILLSMAN being the archaic spelling which was converted to HILLMAN for reasons unknown to me, so I am checking both appellations. :::::

[Aguest]

:::: Clark & Co. of Augusta Georgia (mark used by Horace Clark and associates from 1852 until his death in 1854 and beyond, at least 1860; the book that I need to access is 'Silvermiths of Georgia" by Cutten) used a hallmark with an "UPSIDE-DOWN V" as a representation of the letter "A" :::::: Even if this is a coincidence, it still is a tiny detail that makes me wonder if additional pertinent information might be in Cutten's book "Silversmiths Of Georgia". :::::

[Aguest]

There seems to have been a connection between SILVERSMITHS and DENTISTS in Georgia circa 1840:

"John Jacob Fogle (1803-1874) had apprenticed in North Carolina as a jeweler, watch and clock repairman and silversmith. In Georgia he worked as a jeweler, first in Milledgeville, then in Columbus, Georgia where he was already an “absent partner” to jeweler Whitby Foster since 1833, which ended shortly after Fogle arrived in Columbus in 1837. In addition to his jewelry business, in March 1841, Fogle had briefly tried his hand at daguerreotypy as he began selling off parts of his jewelry business. His partner Mr. Echols is probably Josephes Echols, who became a partner in a Columbus cotton factory by the mid-1840s.

Sometime in 1842, J. J. Fogle began advertising himself as a dentist, a somewhat-related occupation using metals — silver and gold, — which he continued. "

(From the article MADISON’S M.L. RICHTER AND GEORGIA’S JEWELER-SILVERSMITH-WATCHMAKER-PHOTOGRAPHERS May 11, 2017 · by gaphodoc)

[wev]

This was not unheard of. Revere practiced rudimentary dentistry, as did other smiths. Aside from their knowledge of metal working, they had tools more applicable to small spaces than the local blacksmith.

[Aguest]

:::: I knew of the connection between Jeweler & Optician after researching lorgnette opera glasses and 10k gold antique glasses frames :::::
::::: But I did not think about the connection between Jeweler & Dentist & Photography & Silversmith. :::::::
:::::: Sheets of silver-coated copper was used in early photography so, again, that makes sense. ::::::::
::::::::::: A friend of mine has a library of most of the State-By-State Silversmith books, so I will check Georgia ASAP. ::::::

[wev]

There is no Hillsman or variation in Cutten. To save you the effort. there is also nothing in
Kentucky
South Carolina
North Carolina
Virginia
West Virginia
Vermont
Philadelphia
NY (and NYC, Utica, Albany)
or any general reference that I have