! ! ")! homes and businesses in Southwark, situated so close to the Delaware River and the heart of ’s shipbuilding industry, strongly suggest that William McMullin’s endeavors in carpentry involved the maritime construction trades.

By January 2, 1777, Captain William McMullin was assigned to lead nearly one-hundred men in a militia company of Philadelphia’s “City Guards of the Southern

District under the command of Lewis Nicola, Town Major.”95 The muster roll record also lists the name William McMullin, Jr., by then age fourteen, as a drummer.

The senior McMullin’s name appears in the member rolls of the Carpenters

Company for just two years, from 1768 to 1770.96 His two eldest sons names, Robert and

William, Jr. both appear in the Philadelphia City Directories as either ship joiners or ship carpenters, trades they most likely learned from their father. William McMullin and his adult sons lived within blocks of one another. All except John were employed in

Philadelphia’s ship building industry that burgeoned before and immediately after the

Revolution, so close to their homes. The name McMullen’s [sic] Wharf appears as a location in the City Directory of 1811 and existed still earlier. An announcement of

“The ship . Now lying at M’Mullin’s Wharf,” appeared in the

Pennsylvania Gazette of February 27, 1782.97

In a notice dated 1778, William McMullin offered the return of an assortment of men’s and women’s clothing and household textiles, “FOUND in a den of thieves

(supposed to have been stolen)…. Any person having lost any of the above articles, are desired to apply to the subscribers or to William McMullin, Esq.”98 This is the first known mention of the term “esquire” attached to his name. ! ! #+!

During 1779, America’s economic woes reached a crisis. To finance the

Revolution, the and individual states repeatedly issued paper money. Without tax revenues and with the expense of its military forces, “…by 1779 the nation was awash in public paper,” and the value of a Spanish milled gold dollar was a hundred Continental dollars.99 In the spring of 1779, more than seven-hundred American men sent to Congress a petition expressing their grave concerns over

… the Decay of Credit and the Depreciation of Money emitted on the faith of the . We have long viewed the melancholy Approaches of this Evil in silent Agony, but the rapidity with which it has lately increased and the threatening Aspect which it now bears to everything valuable and precious to us, constrain us to speak. That if possible this Torrent which is sweeping away our Liberties, Happiness, and Integrity in one common Ruin may be stopped.100

Among those Philadelphians whose names appear together as subscribers with

William McMullin, are his relatives, colleagues, and neighbors John Ord, brothers Jehu and Manuel Eyre, George Ord, William Linnard, and Stephen Beasley, all engaged in either house carpentry, building ships, or maritime trade. The signatures of silversmiths

William Hollingshead, William Ball, Abraham Dubois, and Richard Humphreys appear in proximity to William McMullin’s, perhaps because they all lived in Southwark. The silversmiths’ names in this document could also suggest clues to the master of the young

John McMullin who would have been apprenticed in 1779 at the age of fourteen.

Consideration of Possible Masters:

Born in 1728 in Rocky Hill, New Jersey, William Hollingshead worked from

1754 to 1785, the year that McMullin likely sold a dish cross to General Washington.

Hollingshead retired to Bucks County in 1785, where he died in 1808. His shop was ! ! #*! located at the corner of Arch and Second Streets. Hollingshead and William McMullin were the same age within one year.101

William Ball was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1729, the same year as

William McMullin. ,-!./0!/!.123456!0478-2094:;!<219!*'%$!:1!*'("!45!=;47/>-7?;4/!

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John McMullin as an apprentice due to his retirement four years before McMullin would have been fully trained.102

Abraham Dubois is thought to have been born around 1751. Though trained as a silversmith, he carried on an extensive business in trade goods in the West Indies. Dubois is listed in the city directories from 1785 to 1793 and from 1798 to 1802. He trained his son Abraham Dubois, Jr. as a silversmith and left him all of his tools when he died.

Dubois’s papers stored at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania likely would have yielded any additional apprenticeship indentures. Dubois died in 1807.103

Quaker silversmith Richard Humphreys was born February 13, 1750 on the

Tortola.104As a boy, his parents sent him to apprentice in Wilmington, Delaware with another Quaker, Bancroft Woodcock (1732-1815), from approximately 1764 to 1771.

Humphreys’s ad that ran in 1771 in the Pennsylvania Gazette still places him briefly in Wilmington after completing his apprenticeship though by 1772 he and his first wife

Hannah Elliott had moved to Philadelphia where she died the following year. When an ad in the September 23, 1772 Pennsylvania Gazette announced Philip Syng, Jr.’s (1703-

1789) retirement, it also introduced Humphreys as successor to both Syng’s business and his residence at 54 High Street.105 He married Ann Morris in 1774. ! ! #"!

Certainly old enough to have been McMullin’s master, Humphreys’s influence does not appear evident in McMullin’s work, in particular since Humphreys had begun making silver in the neoclassical style before the Revolution. Both Humphreys and

McMullin were ardent abolitionists; Humphreys’s estate earmarked a $10,000 gift to establish The African Institute in 1837, a school for African American young people to offer them training in mechanic arts, trades, and agriculture in Philadelphia. It is known today as Cheney University, the oldest historically Black college or university.

Silversmith John Myers completed an apprenticeship with Humphreys that began in

1773 and then plied his trade in Philadelphia from 1785 to 1804 the years that his name appeared in the city directories.106

Among these four silversmiths William Hollingshead may be the closest choice to possibly be considered McMullin’s master. He and McMullin’s father were virtually the same age and likely would have been acquainted in Philadelphia before the Revolution.

Hollingshead retired in 1785; the year John McMullin began his working career.

Hollingshead could easily have trained young McMullin, but without a great deal of silver to be compared, this is simply a calculated guess.

John David (1736-1794) could be another silversmith to be considered as

McMullin’s possible master. Three clues point toward this relationship: the location of

David’s shop on Front Street was within two shop fronts of McMullin’s shop throughout his life after 1794; David’s date of death in 1794 and burial in the graveyard of Third

Presbyterian Church where the McMullins worshipped until 1814; and David’s French

Huguenot ancestry and partnership with his brother-in-law, fellow Huguenot Daniel

Dupuy from 1763 until 1772. A French master may have influenced McMullin’s use of ! ! ##! the rivets that appear frequently as a step in a soldering technique in a good number of pieces he produced after 1800.107 (Explanation of the technique appears on pages 53 and

54.) To date, no records have been discovered that shed any definitive light on who trained McMullin.

A handful of Philadelphia silversmiths placed advertisements during the

Revolution including William Ball from 1752 to 1782; Henry Guest Brown in 1777;

John David between 1763 and 1777; George Dowig from 1770 to 1778, Abraham Dubois in 1778; John Jenkins in 1777; William Pinchon in 1779; William Seal, Jr. in 1775; and

Thomas Shields from 1769 to 1776.108 By the end of the Revolution in 1781, John

McMullin had reached the age of sixteen and would produce his first datable piece of silver by 1785.

One further possibility can be considered. Since he died prior to the publication of the first city directories, the trade of George Hutton, son of John Strangeways Hutton and John McMullin’s first father-in-law, is unknown. Within the cemetery at Third

Presbyterian Church, the burial plots of John Strangeways Hutton and William McMullin are nearly side-by-side. The senior Hutton, who worked with Joseph Richardson, Sr. when he first arrived in Philadelphia, could have assisted in arranging an apprenticeship.

William McMullin’s Appointment as Agent for Confiscated Estates:

On March, 1, 1780, the Pennsylvania Gazette announced William McMullin’s appointment as, “… Agent for confiscated estates for the county of Philadelphia, in the room of Thomas Hale.”109 In this capacity he is mentioned in three actions, two involving the forfeiture of land and one to secure a tenant for a large and grand estate of historic note. In the case of the two forfeitures, both notices state, “…to prevent all difficulties ! ! #$! with respect to payment, the Agents will attend at the house of William McMullin, Esq.; below the New Market,” thereby agreeing with the location of his residence shown in the

1790 Census. William McMullin was listed at dwelling 19 on Vernon Street. His home was not far from the waterfront and below the New Market, built in 1745 on South

Second Street between Pine and Cedar Streets, six blocks south of Philadelphia’s earlier market on High Street.110

In November of 1780, William McMullin announced in the Pennsylvania Gazette,

“TO BE LETT, THAT elegant Seat called MOUNT PLEASANT, about four miles from

Town, on the Wissahickon road, with or without the Farm belonging thereto. For Terms apply to WILLIAM McMULLIN, Esq; in Southwark.”111 Mount Pleasant Mansion was the magnificent home built in 1761 by Captain John McPherson, the vastly successful, former privateer, who published one of Philadelphia’s first two City Directories in 1785.

During the Revolution, McPherson sold Mount Pleasant in 1779 to Benedict Arnold, then the Military Governor of the city. In September of 1780, once Arnold’s treason was discovered and he fled to British-occupied New York, the property was confiscated by the city and rented briefly to Washington’s Inspector General, Baron von Steuben.112

William McMullin’s name appears in various Philadelphia city directories between 1785 and 1797 listed either as a justice of the peace or a gentleman. Of Scots-

Irish heritage, McMullin and his family embraced the Protestant faith and became members of Third Presbyterian Church on Pine Street between South Fourth and South

Fifth Streets, sometime around 1789 or earlier. Records for Old Pine for the period of

1789 to 1791 show William McMullin, Sr., Robert, and William McMullin, Jr. each ! ! #%! renting a half-pew, William Linnard sharing the other half with William, Jr., with John

McMullin being in arrears to Mrs. Mary Palmer for payment of his half of a pew.113

In the 1790 Census, William McMullin, Sr. and his family were listed as residents of Southwark, residing in dwelling 19 on Vernon Street with two males over sixteen, one male under sixteen, one female, and one other free person.114 The identity of these family members are likely William McMullin, listed as a gentleman, possibly his son James, since James is not enumerated as head of household elsewhere, and William’s wife

Margaret. Both the male under sixteen and the “free person” could have been indentured servants or apprentices. The earlier reference from the 1773 advertisement for a runaway indentured servant provides evidence that William McMullin may have had similar individuals living in his household in 1790.

McMullin’s Siblings:

A close examination of Philadelphia’s earliest city directories compared to its first census redresses the long-held misidentification of one of John McMullin’s older brothers, William McMullin, Jr,. being cast in the role of a silversmith. White’s 1785 directory lists no McMullins or McMullens. McPherson’s 1785 directory, with a handful of trades sprinkled throughout its pages, lists two “William McMullens”, one each at 4

Lombard Street and 11 Vernon Street, both likely William McMullin, Sr.’s place of business and home and a Mr. McMullen with no first name at 9 Lombard Street, possibly an error. The identities of two Robert McMullens, one at 16 Almond Street, the other at

408 Water Street are likely the home and business addresses of the eldest McMullin son.

In the 1790 Census, William McMullin, Jr., age twenty-eight, listed as a ship joiner, resided at dwelling 60 on Almond Street as the one male over 16, living with one ! ! #&! male under 16, and five females.115 The 1791 city directory published by Clement Biddle lists “William McMullen,” [sic] silversmith, doing business at 47 Shippen Street, the location of John McMullin’s residence in the first Census. This is likely the publisher’s error. Contrary to the listing in Maurice Brix’s Philadelphia Silversmith’s and Allied

Artificers, John McMullin’s name does in fact appear in the 1794 directory as a silversmith on page 102, indicated with a straight line drawn for his first name next to his last name that appears immediately beneath the listing for a “John M’Mullen, blacksmith at 373 So. Front Street,” the common period practice to indicate a repeated first name.116

“William M’Mullen, Jr., ship joiner, 22 Almond Street,” appears on page 103 in the same

1794 directory and in subsequent directories as “William M’Mullen Jun’r” or “M’Mullin,

Jun’r”, ship joiner or joiner in dwelling 22 or 24 Almond Street, as long as their father was still alive. William is never listed again as a silversmith. Notably, William, Jr. is listed as a member of the Carpenters Company from 1800 to 1814, underscoring the true identity of his trade.117

McMullin in the City Directories:

Overlooked by the first two city directories published in 1785, the First Federal

Census must be used to officially cite John McMullin’s existence as a silversmith.118

(Appendix 3) The 1790 Census lists John McMullin, age twenty-five, silversmith, at dwelling 47 on Shippen Street with five males over sixteen, two males under sixteen, and three females. A chart of the five Censuses taken during McMullin’s lifetime from

1790 to 1840, (Appendix 4) details the working population of his shop.

He must have commenced his silver-smithing operation at 47 Shippen Street, the location of his first residence. Exactly when he relocated his shop and his family to the ! ! #'! address on the west side of Front Street in the block between Dock Street to the south and Walnut Street to the north can only be speculated as being between 1794 and 1795.

Confirmation of McMullin’s Front Street address does not appear until publication in the City Directory of 1795. In fact, White’s 1785 City Directory lists no McMullins or

McMullens at all. Biddle’s City Directory for 1791 included father William McMullin and eldest brother Robert but overlooked James McMullin, William McMullin, Jr. as well as John McMullin.

McMullin’s Marriages:

In 1788 John married his first wife, Mary Hutton, granddaughter of silversmith

John Strangeways Hutton (1684-1792). Her parents were Mary Moore and George

Hutton who had married August 11, 1760 at Christ Church.119 George Hutton (1737-

1782) was silversmith John Strangeways Hutton’s eldest son, one of twelve children by his second wife Ann Van Lear (1716-1788). The names of three of George’s four brothers, John, born in 1742, date of death unknown; Benjamin, born in 1752, date of death unknown; and Nathaniel, born before 1756, date of death unknown, appear in the

City Directories of 1791, 1794, and 1796, all working as ship carpenters, placing them in close proximity to John McMullin’s three older brothers who all worked in the maritime trades in the same neighborhood, primarily on Swanson Street, one block off the waterfront.

After the 1790 Census, street names and occupations were omitted. They were never intended to be collected, so the occurrence was a fortunate accident. The 1800

Census taker’s notes show John McMullin on line eight. James Black, who would partner ! ! #(! with him from 1811 to 1813, appears as his neighbor listed on the fourth line. John

McMullin’s brother William McMullin’s name appears on line twenty-six.

John McMullin and Mary Hutton had six children. Mary (1789 -1850), son John, born in January 1791, died August 9, 1791 and was buried at Old Pine Third Presbyterian

Church. Daughter Susannah, born in 1795, married her first cousin, lumber merchant

Robert McMullin, Jr. Twenty-five-year-old Susannah died instantly on August 1, 1820 after being struck by lightening.120 Another infant, Margaret, was born and died soon afterward. Her exact birth and death dates are unconfirmed. Their daughter Margaretta, born on or before September 25, 1797, survived into adulthood though the date of her death is unconfirmed. Their fifth child, son James, was born December 20, 1786 and died

April 4, 1836, pre-deceasing his father. James married his step-cousin Maria Ann

Pinkerton and moved to Tallahassee, Florida where he became a merchant. His wife was the daughter of David Pinkerton and Ann Ord whose sister Maria Ord became the silversmith’s second wife.

A handwritten McMullin family history records John McMullin’s loss of his first wife Mary Hutton in the fall of 1797 to yellow fever, the dreaded calamity that struck down Philadelphians year after year from late summer through the fall, carrying off the greatest numbers in 1793 and 1798. Afflicted with the disease himself in 1793, McMullin survived.121 Before her death, Mary and John lost baby John on August 9, 1791 and the unclear transcription of little Margaret’s date of death reads August 22 either in 1791 or in 1797. The three of them are buried in the cemetery at Third Presbyterian.122

At the age of thirty-seven, John McMullin married Maria Ord, fourteen years his junior, daughter of sea captain George Ord (1741-1806) active in the China trade. A brief ! ! #)! three-line marriage notice appeared in the January 27, 1803 edition of The Philadelphia

Repository that read, “on the 27th ult. by the Rev. Mr. Milledoler, . . both of

Southwark.”123 Between 1800 and 1803 the Reverend Milledoler served as Pastor at

Third Presbyterian Church; he was president of Rutgers University from 1825 to 1840.

John and Maria Ord McMullin had five children. Son John S. (1805-1876) became a successful accountant and business executive. Rebecca Ord McMullin was born before 1805, never married, and died in 1880. Daughter Anna M. McMullin (1812-1880) married John McClure, an Irish-born brick mason and wealthy house builder. The

McClures two children were Dr. William W. McClure (1842-1923) and Maria Ord

McClure, born between 1848 and 1850.124 The 1880 census lists Anna McMullin

McClure as a widow living at 2000 20th Street with her daughter Maria McClure and her unmarried sister Rebecca McMullin.

Other Family Marriages:

John McMullin’s older sister Mary, born in 1758, married Colonel Joseph Biays

(1753 – 1820), son of a Baltimore rope maker and shipbuilder. In 1804, their daughter,

Margaret Biays (1781-1808) married George Ord, Jr. (1781-1866), the son of

Philadelphia sea captain and ship chandler George Ord (1741-1806) and Rebecca

Lindmeyer who had belonged to Old Swedes Church. Captain Ord and his sloop “Lady

Catherine” were engaged by the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety in 1775 to sail to

Bermuda to trade for gunpowder at St. George’s in exchange for exempting the island from the American embargo against the British.125 When John McMullin married his second wife, Maria Ord, he became George Ord, Jr.’s brother-in-law. Since Ord had ! ! $+! married McMullin’s niece Margaret Biays, it is probable that John McMullin met

Maria Ord through this family connection. (Appendix 6, Marriages)

George Ord, Jr. perpetuated his father’s rope making trade until his retirement in

1829 at the age of thirty-eight. By 1815 he was following his passion for nature, and held membership in the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia (ANSP). George and

Margaret’s only surviving child, Joseph Biays Ord (1805 -1865), became an accomplished and widely exhibited still-life artist, and eventually painted the portrait of his great-uncle, John McMullin, that hangs in the silver gallery of the Philadelphia

Museum of Art. (Figure 107) Joseph Biays Ord never married and predeceased his father at the age of 60 in 1865. He is buried at Old Pine.

John McMullin’s youngest surviving daughter, Margaretta, born in 1797 from his marriage to Mary Hutton, married her first cousin, James Biays, son of McMullin’s older sister Mary McMullin and Joseph Biays. John McMullin’s youngest surviving son, James

(1786–1836) from his first marriage, married his step-cousin, Maria Ann Pinkerton, daughter of Ann Ord and Daniel Pinkerton. These are the relationships of extended family and friends, the intimate sphere that likely nurtured and contributed to John

McMullin’s success.

Notice of McMullin’s death on September 12, 1843 appeared in the Philadelphia

Public Ledger on September 13, 1843. “On the morning of the 12th last, John McMullin in the 78th year of his age. His friends and family are invited to attend his funeral from the residence of his son-in-law. John McClure, No 122 North Tenth Street to-morrow afternoon, at 3 o’clock, without further notice.”126 In his will dated June 22, 1843,

McMullin left bequests of family silver with personal inscriptions by name to each of ! ! $*! his children and grandchildren. The rest of his estate he left in equal shares to his five surviving children, Mary Hutton Harper, Margaretta McMullin Biays, John S. McMullin,

Rebecca Ord McMullin, and Anna McMullin McClure. He forgave all debts owed to him by the children of his deceased son James.127 McElroy’s Philadelphia Directory for 1842 lists son John S. McMullin at 114 South Front Street as an accountant, appointed by his father as executor of his will along with son-in-law William Harper, a sea captain.

His death certificate provides his original place of burial in the cemetery of the

Sixth Presbyterian Church, although in 1873 he was reinterred in an obscure, family burying ground when that church disbanded and the building was taken over to become the Horace Binney School.128 While John McMullin’s exact, final resting place is unknown, his grandson, Dr. McClure referenced the location in the 1921 exhibition catalogue from the Pennsylvania Museum of Art, “A prominent Scotch-Irish

Presbyterian, born in 1765, died in 1843 and buried in the family burying ground on the

Brandywine. He was the grandfather of Dr. W. W. McClure, who furnished this information. He continued working at his trade when a very old man.”129 (Appendix 1,

Dr. McClure’s career)

! ! $"!

Chapter III

McMullin’s Many Marks

! ! $#!

Chapter III

McMullin’s Many Marks

An Analysis of McMullin’s Marks with Examples of Their Application:

Though the exact significance of McMullin’s many marks may not be understood as yet, it is important to establish once and for all an exact description of each mark documented with photographs to illustrate how it appears on silver attributed to John

McMullin. While other scholars have documented McMullin’s marks, no one has gathered them into one definitive description nor presented them as such in order to explain their distinct differences. The marks need this clarification before examining the silver.

John McMullin used at least six different dies to mark his silver with his name or initials. In the past, silver bearing the name McMullin has been identified without an exact description of that mark. Some of the marks may indicate that silver bearing his name was not always made in his shop under his supervision. After all of the marks have been introduced and named, further discussion of their use and appearance will reference the names initiated below:

1. This early “first” mark shall be referred to as Original McMullin Italic or OMI.

(Figure 15) The thickness and serifs of the letters are what to look for when stating that a piece is marked “I.McMullin” with the OMI mark. He used this mark on pieces produced between 1785 and ca. 1820.

2. “I!M” appears both in raised letters on silver made by McMullin and in an incuse form probably an indication he was retailing a piece of silver from elsewhere.

130Thicker silver allowed the raised mark to be formed. Thinner silver or delicate pieces ! ! $$! better tolerated the incuse mark. (Figures 1, 4, and 5) It should be noted that McMullin’s

“I!M” mark probably always had the pellet between the “I” and the “M”. An “I!M” mark without the pellet is likely not McMullin’s, though others have attributed IM marks without the pellet to him.

Silver marked “I!M” tends to be his earlier work, made before 1800, mostly spoons and tea tongs. Occasionally he marked “I!M” in all four corners underneath the square bases of helmet style cream pots, sugar urns, or on the flat bottom of a cream pot.

On a fluted coffee pot circa 1800, he combined both his OMI mark and his “I!M” mark incuse struck twice on the exterior of the base. (Figure 71)

3. McMullin’s manifesto mark, MMM: (Figures 9, 10, 12, 13, 28, 30, and 54)

There are imperceptible yet critical differences between this mark and OMI. This clearly sharper mark created from balanced, thick and thin, italicized letters appears on all but the tray of the Physick presentation silver. In addition to the more slender, elongated lettering are three pellets: one between the “I” and the first “M” but placed lower than halfway between the top and bottom margins of the letters; and beneath the superscript

“c” of McMullin appear two pellets that create a colon. This mark also appears on the twelve-sided sugar urn previously in Maurice Brix's collection, now owned by collector

Ruth Nutt (Figures 8, 10, 28, and 29).131

The Nutt sugar urn looks like a miniature version of the Physick hot water urn, with its domed lid and ornate engraving, however without the eagle finial or spherical feet. One wonders if McMullin created complimentary pieces in this domed, faceted style. If so, this service would have made as grand a statement as the Physick coffee-tea service and would date roughly to the end of the century. MMM appears on another ! ! $%!

McMullin sugar urn with a pineapple finial, circa 1790, also in Ruth Nutt’s collection

(Figures 30 and 31). One other example, a galleried sugar urn with an urn form finial bears this MMM mark (Figures 54 and 56).

One explanation for its disappearance is that this die broke and McMullin chose not to replace it. The cost to have a die made was expensive. McMullin continued to use his OMI mark that appeared often with an eagle, detailed in Number 6. Unlike the OMI mark, the MMM mark has not been found with an eagle.

4. Roman capitals “I.M’MULLIN” in a serrated rectangle: RCMS (Figures 32 and

33) and roman capitals “I.M.MULLIN” in a clean rectangle: RCMC (Figure 34)

Once McMullin embarked on the path of greater production, probably circa 1815, the majority of his surviving silver bears one of these two similar marks. The use of all

Roman capital letters gives each mark a similar look. Close inspection shows the letter styles to be quite different in each of the two marks. The extremely thick and thin, serif letters used for RCMS contrast markedly with RCMC. In the serrated form, a large pellet is equidistant between the upper and lower lines of the type between the “I” and the first

“M.” Instead of the superscript “c” found in OMI, an upside-down comma or reverse apostrophe takes its place and there is no second pellet. The letters are contained within a rectangular shape with an acutely jagged, serrated edge.

By comparison, the alternative capital mark, RCMC, appears within a rectangle with straight, clean edges. Its plump, consistent serif letters are relatively all the same weight. A small pellet appears between the “I” and the first “M.” The pellet between the two Ms represents the “c” in McMullin. There is no second pellet beneath it.

Replacing the lower case letter “c” with an apostrophe references the typesetting ! ! $&! practice used for Irish and Scottish names as they appeared in print.

5. Journeymen’s Marks: Because these marks were thought to mimic England’s

Goldsmith’s Hall marking system, American journeymen’s marks hitherto often have been referred to as pseudo-hallmarks.132 On McMullin’s silver, seven different journeymen's marks can be identified that appear on objects accompanied by one of the two different dies used to strike McMullin’s name in all Roman caps, either RCMS or

RCMC. Objects with these marks were produced in all likelihood after 1810. With no surviving business documents, the only identity of these journeymen comes from their marks.133 Perhaps so much silver was being produced in McMullin’s enterprise that the marks were used to track and pay each journeyman for his work, as well as provide a means for quality control, as McMullin would probably have inspected pieces before allowing them to leave his shop. In fact, on some of McMullin’s work marked from this period, in addition to scratch weight, some these pieces have a set of initials scratched to the left of the weight that does not appear with scratch weights on his earlier silver probably made before 1810 to 1815. The marks are:

A: Six-pointed Burr or Star: Two of these marks resembling asterisks appear on the bottom of the two mugs McMullin made for the New Castle Presbyterian Church,

New Castle, Delaware. (Figure 47) Above them is the OMI mark; below them is

McMullin’s eagle, to be discussed in example No. 6. Dated to 1816 by their engraving with the church’s name and dedication establishes a date for this journeyman’s mark, however, this mark doesn’t appear on a great many surviving pieces. It may simply be an earlier version of the mark discussed next, the double six-petaled floret. McMullin's

OMI mark on the New Castle mugs with this early journeyman’s mark are one of the ! ! $'! few extant examples that may help to establish the approximate date at which McMullin embarked in this new direction for marking his work.

B: Double Six-Petaled Florets: (Figure 38) This mark always appears as a pair, flanking the center punch. The rectangular stamp RCMC with McMullin’s name appears above the florets while McMullin’s eagle is stamped below them. Another example of this mark is found on the bottom of a covered sugar bowl with the RCMS in the collection of the Huntington Library. (Figure 42)

C: Triple Five-Petaled Florets: (Figure 41) This journeyman’s mark, a trio of florets, is larger and more pronounced than the six-petaled florets as it appears with

McMullin’s RCMS mark on the bottom of the cream pot in the collection of the

Huntington Library.

D: Tree Fountain: (Figures 38, 39 and 40) Tree fountain marks always appear in pairs and are found struck both vertically and horizontally, except for a single mark seen on flatware. The examples show the tree fountain marks accompanied by either the

RCMS or RCMC marks.

E: Four-Pellet Diamond: The four-pellet diamond appears singly or in pairs depending on the size of the area to be marked, shown on both a beaded lady’s handbag frame (Figures 21 and 22) and in pairs on a marrow spoon. (Figures 26 and 27)

F: Cravat: (Figure 44) Examples of the cravat journeyman’s mark are exceedingly rare. It appears on flatware rather than hollowware. A solid diamond with two solid triangles attached, one to the right of the diamond, the other to the left, form the mark.

Each triangle’s longest, vertical side is slightly bowed or domed. This mark has appeared in the company of the tree fountain and McMullin’s eagle on flatware, and singly on tea ! ! $(! tongs (not pictured).

G: Pellet in a Square: John R. McGrew, author of Manufacturer’s Marks on

American Coin Silver reports seeing this journeyman’s mark on an unidentified coffee and tea service.134

All of the journeymen’s marks except the cravat appear to be mixed randomly with either of McMullin’s two capital rectangle marks and also mixed within the various pieces of hollowware contained in particular coffee/tea service, particularly in the round style body where the best examples of these marks are found. They may even help to pinpoint production dates, especially since in the decade between 1810 and 1820, four journeymen and two apprentices likely populated McMullin’s shop. (Appendix 4)

The possibility that these six-piece coffee and tea services were made elsewhere in Philadelphia presents another thought-provoking point. The round style form adorned with milled bands for these services grew in popularity and production after 1815. A fair number of examples survive from by McMullin and by a number of other makers,

Samuel Richards among them, McMullin’s neighbor on Front Street. In support of this idea, both the 1820 and 1830 Census show McMullin working alone with just a single apprentice, yet many examples made in this style bearing McMullin’s RCMC or RCMS marks with the various journeymen’s marks are found in museum collections and for sale at auction. The Philadelphia Museum of Art owns a McMullin teapot of this period

(*)'&G*+#G*) that looks very similar to the pieces in Figure 78, while the Huntington

Library owns a tea pot (Figure 82), as noted earlier, a milk jug, and a covered sugar bowl with wide milled bands combining shells, fruit, and flowers that indicate McMullin’s change in style moving toward the Rococo revival. ! ! $)!

6. The McMullin Eagle: McMullin’s eagle (ME) sometimes accompanies the

OMI mark on objects dating as early as 1805 (Figures 36 and 42). His eagle always appears with either mark in all capital letters, RCMS or RCMC and these marks always appear with journeyman’s marks discussed in No. 5. I assert that this particular form of eagle was McMullin’s mark exclusively, so am in agreement with John McGrew.135

The eagle’s right wing sits higher than its left and its feathers are well defined, especially in the left wing when the die makes an exact strike.

Three examples of McMullin’s eagle dies in three different sizes survive among a collection of McMullin personal effects owned by his great-great grandson, Victor

Ballou, Jr. (figure 203). Extant examples of silversmiths’ dies of this period are extremely rare.

McGrew cites one instance of this particular eagle showing up on a spoon with the mark of retailer James Watson, who partnered with Samuel Hildeburn as Hildeburn

& Watson from 1816-1819, then again as Watson & Hildeburn from 1840 -1849 although this partnership might have been with the sons of Samuel Hildeburn.136 By then

Mr. Hildeburn was in an importing business with his son William. They are listed in the city directories as such.

Watson over-struck his mark on McMullin's in one excellent example from

DAPC files at Winterthur’s Library (Figure 49). The other example is Watson’s mark shown in Belden accompanied by McMullin's eagle and the mark of one of his journeymen (Figure 50). McMullin could have been retailing to Watson. Neither

Watson nor Samuel Hildeburn made silver.

From his earliest known documentable piece, the dish cross given to Bushrod ! ! %+!

Washington (Figures 83 and 84) as a wedding gift by his uncle, General George

Washington in 1785, comes the first datable example of McMullin’s mark, one that he would use throughout his long career. “I.McMullin” is spelled out in italicized or right leaning, upper and lower case letters (Figure 84). Centered midway between the “I” for

John and the initial capital “M” of McMullin is a pellet, between the top and bottom edge of the clean, surrounding straight-edged rectangle. To the right of the first “M” is a smaller “c”, sometimes catalogued as “superscript,” and beneath it a smaller pellet about half the size of the first one. Next, another capital “M” leaning slightly further to the right than the first one, followed by individual lower case letters, “ullin.” The imprint of this mark measures 7/16” wide x 3/32” high. Any past cataloguer’s description of this mark as being “script” is misleading, especially when the mark is not shown. None of

McMullin’s marks ever appeared in a script typeface with letters truly connected.

This earliest known mark ‘Original McMullin Italic’ or OMI never varied and he seems to have used it at least until 1820 if not later. This mark often stands alone but may be accompanied by his left-facing eagle with talons grasping a branch in a conforming outline.

According to McGrew, when struck smartly, McMullin’s eagle appears clearly as described above. A second impression of McMullin’s eagle in the exact same style and form appears in a slightly less detailed version.137 McGrew has collected, examined, and compared marks of makers on hundreds of silver spoons for more than thirty years.

McMullin’s eagle makes its earliest appearance estimated around 1805, as seen on an oval cream pot with no inscription (Figures 189 left, 190 right, 191 top and 193), compared to the Alexander cream pot (Figures 189 right, 190 left, 191 bottom, and 192) ! ! %*! in form and decorative elements but it is marked OMI without the eagle.

McGrew bases his conclusions on silver spoons made after 1825, so one cannot necessarily assume that McMullin’s eagle constitutes a manufacturer’s mark since it appears on much of his earlier work produced closer to the turn of the century but not on objects made before 1800. Since the ME appears on datable objects produced after

1800 with known provenance, one might speculate that McMullin added his eagle to pieces being sent to customers outside of Philadelphia.

Why McMullin began using his eagle mark is unclear. It may be due to the volume of objects being produced in his workshop and could indicate he intended to retail them outside of Philadelphia.138 The validity of this theory can be questioned when looking at McMullin’s church silver beginning in 1810 with his first Communion service, produced for Old Pine Third Presbyterian Church marked with both OMI and ME. His eagle appears on all of his liturgical silver, a clue for further consideration. (See Figure

147 with OMI and ME marks on a mug from this service.)

However, early examples to support this argument include two cream pots

(Figures 191 bottom and 191 top) and a mug, (Figures 179-181) datable by style and period engraving.

Cream Pot, ca. 1804 (Figure 191, bottom)

H: 5” W: 4 "” D: 2 "”

Scratch weight: 5 oz. 19 dwt. Inscription: Janetta Waddel Alexander/1804

Mark: Original McMullin Italics I. McMullin Provenance: Perry estate, Princeton,

Massachusetts, 2011, Private Collection, 2011.

The oval body of this cream pot was formed from sheet silver, seamed beneath ! ! %"! the applied strap handle, and raised on a stepped, oval applied foot. A band of applied gadrooning covers the attachment of the upper collar and pouring lip, while a second gadrooned band surrounds its upper edge. Attached with a single scalloped-shape drop at the top, the handle bends in sharply, makes almost a ninety-degree backward flourish before its gently curving descent to the lower portion of the body where it was soldered in place, its tip curled tightly away from the solder joint in a concise volute. McMullin’s

OMI mark is neatly centered on the underside of the oval inserted bottom.

The cream pot belonged to Janetta Waddel Alexander (1782-1852) who married

Archibald Alexander D.D (1771-1851), on April 1, 1802 in Louisa County, Virginia.139

Alexander served as minister at Third Presbyterian Church from 1807 to 1812 before departing to take up the post of first professor at Princeton Theological Seminary,

Princeton, New Jersey.140 The Alexanders remained in Princeton until their deaths.

Surely John McMullin and members of his family must have had a close relationship with the Alexanders, even before the Reverend Alexander came to Old

Pine’s pulpit. In a memoir written by the Reverend Robert Baird D.D., about McMullin’s niece Anna Jane Linnard (1800-1833), Baird characterizes her mother Susannah Linnard,

McMullin’s older sister, as “… a godly woman, and deeply interested in the spiritual and eternal welfare of her children.”141

While they were members of Third Presbyterian’s congregation, the teachings and company of the Reverend Alexander had a profound influence on members of the

McMullin and Linnard families. About Anna Jane Linnard who succumbed to tuberculosis (1800-1833), Baird noted, “During the first twelve years of her life, Miss

Linnard enjoyed the privilege of living under the ministry of the Rev. Dr. ! ! %#!

Alexander….”142 Baird dedicated his book, A Memoir of Anna Jane Linnard to the

Rev. Alexander:

REVEREND AND DEAR SIR, This memorial of the excellence of religion, as illustrated by the eminent usefulness in life, and peace in death, of one who was, for several years, a lamb of the flock over which to you, as a humble testimonial of the since regard and affection of THE AUTHOR. 143

The date of 1804 inscribed on Mrs. Alexander’s cream pot may commemorate some important event prior to Reverend Alexander’s appointment to the church. Perhaps

McMullin made it as a gift to Janetta Alexander. Its inscribed date helps establish the cream pot’s style and adds to the timeline of the use of McMullin’s OMI mark within twenty years of its appearance on the Washington dish cross.

Cream Pot, circa 1805 (Figure 191, top):

H: 5 3/4” W: 4 #” at handle D: 2 7/8” at base

Scratch weight: 5 oz. 7 dwt. Inscription: none

Mark: Original McMullin Italics, I . McMullin, McMullin eagle in shaped shield

Private Collection

This cream pot exhibits a fascinating detail of the silversmith’s art. The method for joining the upper collar with its pouring lip to the lower oval body of the cream pot uses tiny silver rivets attached on the inside of its lower edge Next, a series of little aligned holes were drilled through the upper edge of the pot’s lower body. The top portion was then slipped over the rivets and soldered on the inside, creating a very reliable joint. The solder joints are neatly made and appear as small round dots of silver.

On examining the outside of the cream pot, this process is imperceptible. The exterior edge of the upper portion was incised with a gadrooned band before the two pieces were