Van Keuren Bros Sterling

[honeybellx]

I have used Google to find info on this silversmith. Nothing comes up.
This is old -- really old -- I'm thinking 1800 New York maybe. Where would I find info on silver that old? I have no way of posting a photo online right now (scanner broken).
Thank you for any info.
.

[Waylander]

Try Dorothy Rainwater's "Encyclopaedia of American Silver Manufacturers" 5th edition - This is absolutely the best book for identifying silver hallmarks on American Sterling Silver & Silver Plate.

Waylander
.

[wev]

While it is certainly worth owning (if one takes the entries with a grain of salt), Rainwater does not list this firm that I can see. The brothers were mid-nineteenth century jewelers in Poughkeepsie -- old, perhaps, but not really.
.

[Waylander]

Wev

Thanks for the update. Yes, I should have pointed out that Rainwater is not 100% accurate (but which reference ever is?).

Waylander
.

[honeybellx]

Thank you, Waylander & WEV for your help.

Where did you get the info that Van Keuren Bros. was a jeweler in Poughkeepsie, NY from the mid-1800's?

I would have guessed this sterling flatware was older from the initials of my ancestor on it. I will have to look him up to find out when exactly he was alive.
.

[silverly]

William H and John A Van Keuren are listed as jewelers and watchmakers at 367 Main in Poughkeepsie Directories from 1874 to 1891.
.

[honeybellx]

William H and John A Van Keuren are listed as jewelers and watchmakers at 367 Main in Poughkeepsie Directories from 1874 to 1891.

Hi Silverly, thank you for letting me know!

honeybellx
.

[silverly]

I just had another look at this post and realized that it could stand a little clarification on my part. William and John are listed as jewelers in the 1860 census and their younger brother Theron was listed as an apprentice at that time.

I don't know what year the Van Keuren Bros business began; I only know that I first find mention of it in 1874, and I don't have access to any Poughkeepsie directories from earlier years.

I'm pretty sure that the brothers weren't in business prior to 1850's because in 1850 William was thirteen years old and John was sixteen.