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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Treasure Chest Thursday--Rhein:Preussen bottle


This bottle is part of my husband's treasure chest. It was given to us decades ago by his mother, Helena Smith Hiser, with the story that it came to America with her German ancestors. Now the question....all of her ancestors are German, which surname brought this bottle to Tiffin, Ohio?

The candidates and relation to my husband:

Maternal 4th great grandparents--
-George Ludwig Henry Lang and Catherine Scheutz

Maternal 3rd great grandparents--
-Peter and Katarine Schmidt, parents of John Schmitt
-Valentine and Christine Trumpler, parents of Christina Trumpler
-Phillip Seewald and his wife Louisa Lang, parents of Katherine Seewald

Maternal 2nd great grandparents--
-John Schmitt and his wife Christina Trumpler
-Jacob W. Oster and his wife Katherine Seewald

According to the book, History of Seneca County, Ohio, the family of George Ludwig Henry Lang and the Phillip Seewald family arrived in Tiffin, Ohio in 1833. The families of Valentine Trumpler and Peter Schmidt were also early settlers; however, the actual date of arrival in the town of Tiffin is unknown. They were in Seneca County by 1846 as there is a marrige record for their children, John Schmitt and Christina Trumpler dated 1846. Jacob W. Oster, another early resident, was living in Tiffin by 1848, the year he married Katherine Seewald.

The bottle could have belonged to any of them and also gives a good suggestion as to its age--between 1833 and 1848.

Close up view of name and maker's mark






View of chip showing ceramic like coating
and stone like interior


I was not able to locate much information regarding the bottle on the net. One site Antique Bottles shows the bottle and seems to indicate it was a gin bottle. And here I always thought it carried a vintage German wine across the pond.

Source:
William Lang. History of Seneca County, From the Close of the Revoutionary War to July, 1880, Transcript Printing Company, Springfield, Ohio, 1880, pages 251-253 and 255-257.

Seneca County Marriage Records, Probate Court, Seneca County, Ohio, Volume 3, Page 1. Marriage of John Smith and Christina Trumpler, September 10, 1846.


© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

14 comments:

  1. Interesting. Handsome bottle. Take the cork out and see if you can tell what was stored in there last?? NAHHHHHH Great photo of the mark and name.

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  2. How interesting. I can't tell from the photos but what is the stopper made from? I would guess that it has got to be fairly heavy, right?

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  3. This is a cool bottle! I have a couple that are similar but I bought mine at an antique show. I had to laugh about what Carol said about taking the cork out because I have a very old jug that has some kind of liquid in it. I have personally had the jug for 15 years and have never quite had the nerve to take the cork out (the cork is really ancient looking and is broken off below the lip of the jug) and all this time that liquid is still there and has not evaporated so I'm wondering just how old that stuff is! And I'm still very curious as to WHAT it is....looks like a moonshine jug to me.....

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  4. Hi Linda - Nice keepsake.
    Just want to let you know that I am passing along to you the "Ancestor Approved Award." You may pick up the "AAA" at my blog - http://thevintagevignettes.blogspot.com/
    I see that I'll be spending some time here reading past posts.
    Carole from Canada

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  5. Hi, my name is Tom from Maryland. I have the same bottle in great shape no chips. I am 50 now and found the bottle about 35 years ago when I was digging behind my house in Baltimore. I had a friend from Germany who told me it was a Gin bottle made in the 1800's in Germany. No further information. I have seen several around with other markings but my markings are the same as yours.
    Tom Beau601@verizon.net

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  6. Hi! We just purchased an identical bottle at an auction this past weekend. Very nice piece! I've been trying to find some history on its origin, but can't seem to find much.

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  7. Hi lindalee,
    I just purchased one of these at auction for $3.00. Auction was located in western Ky. I started researching and found one that sold for $14.50 on e-bay. Found several others on the web, some said it was a beer bottle and based on the name I took that to be gospel. I really appreciate you posting this info as it offers more light as to its origin.
    My bottle is exactly marked as yours, minus the chip but does not have the cork. Thanks again for posting. the history of the bottle makes it much more interesting and am very happy to own such a piece of history.

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  8. I have this bottle Mine does not have a cork and only a small chip on the bottom edge

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  9. i also found such a bottle on a garret in Speyer,Rheinland-Pfalz, Germnany.

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  10. habe auch so eine flasche gefunden in speyer *deutschland* in einem dachspeicher.sie ist im top zustand nur de hengel ist abgebrochen

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  11. My father just entered a nursing home and has had this exact bottle for DECADES. I will probably be selling the bottle on e-bay or something like it.

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  12. I have one too. Was given to me through my mother, is in fantastic condition and I am willing to part with it. Kw420bud@aol.com

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  13. I just bought one at an auction. They called it a wine bottle. The color and name is identical to this one.It is approximately 12 1/2" tall X 3 3/4" across the bottom.The gentleman who had the bottle was at the auction and I understand he was in his 80's and had it a long time himself.

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  14. i have recently inherited one from my FIL - while researching it, found this item that says it's a seltzer bottle https://www.etsy.com/listing/231712404/antique-rhein-preussen-german-jug-1800s

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