Typos

March 2nd, 2011 |

Our current temporary exhibit in the 1810 Goundie House features objects rediscovered during the course of a recent comprehensive inventory at the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts.  Hidden History explains one aspect of a curator’s job; researching and learning about objects and piecing them into our history.  And it’s amazing how a little typo can send this research into a dead end…

A great example of objects that speak to their history is a silver punch bowl and a matching candlestick set currently on display in the first room of the exhibit.  The piece is personalized with a monogram “KBW”, and the bottom is engraved, “Kate B. Wilbur Jan 15, 1917.”  The bottom is also marked with a manufacturers’ mark, “S. Kirk & Son Co.”  These details tell us that the piece was produced personally for Kate Wilbur, made by prominent Baltimore silversmiths S. Kirk & Son, and given to her in 1917.

Kate B. Wilbur’s silver punch bowl and candlestick set, S. Kirk & Son, Co., 1917

Being new to the area I was personally very intrigued by this piece and Kate.  Who was she?  Why was this extraordinary punch bowl and matching candlestick set given to her?

A little digging produced some solid answers.  Kate Brodhead married Warren Wilbur, the son of E.P. Wilbur, on January 15, 1901.  E.P. Wilbur was a vice-president of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and founded his own financial firm, E.P. Wilbur Trust Company.  Warren followed in his father’s business footsteps, managing several companies including the trust company.

Warren Wilbur

So we knew a little bit more…the set was probably given to Kate by Warren as a 16th anniversary present (silver holloware is known as the modern 16th anniversary present).  And by all accounts the couple lived at the top of the social elite in Bethlehem.

And this is where I hit the dead end…

Listing in the 1928 Bethlehem Directory

A Bethlehem City Directory from 1928 listed Warren and Kate residing at 513 West 3rd St.  (They were also one of the few listings to include a personal telephone number.)  I decided to pay the old Wilbur residence a visit, but found that this address does not exist.  I searched Google Maps and drove countless times back and forth along West 3rd Street, but to no avail.  I decided the house must have been torn down with newer houses replacing.

Fast forward several months…while searching through some old photographs for a research request I found the photograph below, labeled “Home of Warren Wilbur.”  I almost jumped for joy.  The house was immediately recognizable as one I had passed (over and over) on West 3rd Street.  And its address…531 West 3rd Street.  The Bethlehem Directory mistakenly mixed up the 1 and the 3 (or perhaps the Wilburs didn’t like visitors).

Warren and Kate Wilbur’s Home

Dead ends and mistakes happen quite often when searching through history.  Of course, this is one of the best parts of being a curator.  You never know when that missing piece of information, that last link connecting the story, will pop up.

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