Jacob Knor: Cultural Interchange in Eighteenth-Century Germantown, Pennsylvania

Jacob Knor: Cultural Interchange in Eighteenth-Century Germantown, Pennsylvania MARK E. REINBERGER R rely is much known about the life and work of an eighteenth-century arpenter-builder, especially if the carpenter was not Anglo-American. Enough is known about Jacob Knor (also spelled Knorr), a German-American master carpenter ofcolonial Germantown, Pennsylvania, to merit attention. Knorwas aneducated craftsman,an entrepreneur, and definitely not afraid of change. Moreover, at least six major projects can be attributed to him. Besides being of interest as significant colonial structures, these projects suggest two major themes in Knor's work: they illuminate the interchange between English and German building design and construction practices and reveal a German artisan accommodating his craft for both English and German clients, and they raise the perennial question in materialculture studies of early Philadelphia-what is the nature of "plainness" (in a Qyaker sense) in architecture?1 Jacob Knor's Biography There were several Knor families in eighteenthcentury Germantown and no fewer than four Jacob Knors in the community. This Jacob Knor was probably born about 1730, married about mid-century, and enjoyed his most productive period between 1760 and the Revolution. The Knorfamily'sreligiousdenominationisunknown, but there is some evidence of a connection with the Lutheran church in Germantown. In 1771, Jacob and his wife, Hannah, joined the Germantown Mennonite Meeting, where he promptly began serving as minister and clerk, perhaps suggesting prior fellowship with the group. Although he was silenced as a minister in 1796 after a protracted dispute within the congregation, he remained a member of the meeting until his death in 1804.2 Knor also held localpublic offices,for example, Inspector of Fires, a natural job for a carpenter. He owned several properties in Germantown, and his house and shop were on land now occupied by the Kirk and Nice Funeral Home on what was then called the Great Road (now Germantown Avenue). This route had been an Indian trail and in colonial times was the most important route into the interior ofPennsylvania from Philadelphia. Knorfounded the predecessor business of Kirk and Nice, undertaking and carpentry being linked by coffin-making (he may have gone into undertaking to make up for the decline in construction during the economic dislocation of the Revolutionary period). The business passed from father to son-in-law from Knor to about the year 2000. When Knor died in 1804, he left the sizeable estate of $8,185, including much lumber, which suggests that he was dealing in that commodity. He left his house to his wife, and the remainder of his estate was divided among his two sons (George and Jacob, also carpenters) and his five daughters (Catherine, Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth, and Susannah).3 Knor was fluent and literate in both German and English and actively embraced the adoption of English as Germantown's primary language. He wrote English script and was the first clerk of the Mennonite Meeting to take minutes in English. He also helped found the Mennonite Concord School in Germantown, the first school in the community to give lessons only in English. 12 ARRIS Volume Sixteen MARK E. REINBERGER The Architecture ofGermantown Germantown is and always has been a unique locale that defies easycharacterization.4 Founded in 1683 (only one year later than Philadelphia), Germantown's pattern of development was unique among Pennsylvania settlements. Guided by the land-distribution policies of its founder, Daniel Pastorius, Germantown developed as a substantial linear town stretching along the Great Road. Lots were deep with narrow street frontages, presenting the appearance of a bustling provincial trading town with many shops and industries.5 However, immediately behind the streetscape, a rural, agricultural landscape reasserted itself This mixture of town and country was a foretaste of a specifically American landscape that would characterize the frontier of Pennsylvania and other colonies.6 Until the 1740s,Germantownwas dominated largely by German artisans. Craft industries, such as stocking-making, and mills along Wissahickon and Wingohocking creeks (which formed the township's long east and west boundaries) dominated the economy. Goods were sold primarily in Philadelphia.g However, beginning in 1744 with the building of Grumblethorpe,asummerhomeforPhiladelphia merchant John Wister, first a trickle and later a flood...