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Adolph Schlatter's
Pocket Watch

 

Adolph Schlatter is my paternal grandfather.  He was born 11 October 1863 in  Ganterswil, Switzerland, a small town in St. Gallen Canton, Switzerland.  He died in Shaw, Mississippi, 26 November 1930.  He was a baker.

I know almost nothing about him -- he died 14 years before I was born and my father never talked about  him.  My paternal grandmother, Emma Waldner Schlatter, and Adolph were married in September 1910 in Switzerland.  They arrived in the US at Ellis Island on 31 October 1910. 

Adolph was one of five children, two of whom died in infancy.  All three of the surviving sons came to the US.  Adolph made three trips between Switzerland and the US.

  •  August 1890.  He probably remained in/around the New York City and Long Island areas.  His brother Alfred came to the US in 1891 and lived on Long Island until his death in 1905.  Adolph's youngest brother, Heinrich Reinhold Schlatter, came to the US in 1893, went to Brunswick, Georgia, and died there of yellow fever only a few months after arriving in the US.
     

  •  June 1897.  After arriving in the US in August 1890, Adolph returned to Switzerland, date unknown.  At some point, Adolph went to Senatobia, Mississippi, and, likely, to Memphis, Tennessee. 

    • In 1906 he married Louise Kleiner, another Swiss immigrant who was divorced and living in Memphis at the time. 

    • Adolph operated a bakery in Senatobia from 1903/1904 until August 1908 when he, Louise, and "Baby Louise" returned to Switzerland.
       

  •  October 1910. He arrived in the US on 31 October 1910, accompanied by my grandmother, Emma Waldner Schlatter.  Adolph and Emma had three sons:

    •  John; born 21 May 1911, died 30 September 1960

    • Joseph (my father); born 1 August 1915, died 29 November 2005.

    •  Fred; born 26 October 1921, died 3 January 2010.

Adolph's Pocket Watch

This watch has been in my family for as long as I can remember.  I recall when I was quite young -- around 8 or 9 years old -- my father kept this watch in a drawer in his dresser.  He showed the watch to me one time and told me it belonged to his father.  My father died in November 2005 and my mother in March 2007. 

I do not recall when my father gave this watch to me but it was in my possession in January 2005 when we moved to Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi.  The watch was in our apartment that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, 29 August 2005.  I retrieved the watch from the ruined apartment where it had been under salt water for several hours.  In late 2005, after returning to Knoxville, TN, I took the watch to a local watch repairman who serviced and cleaned the watch.

Here are photos of the watch.  The first photo is the face.

 

These are features of the watch you can see in this front view.

  •  Silver color.  The watch case is not sterling silver; there are a couple of rubbed places where a non-silver metal shows through.  I suspect it is silver-plate, or, a silver alloy.
  •  The maker's name, which is not clearly legible, is LANDI.  The name is written in ornate letters just below the Roman numeral XII.
  •  There is what appears to be hand-painted decorations around the base of the hands.
  •  The hands are somewhat ornate.
  • The watch is 2 inches in diameter, 1/2-inch thick.

 

Here's a view of the back of the watch.

 

 

The back of the watch is decorated with a bas-relief scene of a man, a woman, and some cows in a barn.  The woman is standing on the left side of the watch.  In the center of the watch the man is seated with his back to the viewer; he is milking a cow.  Two cows are on the right side of the watch.  Other items in this scene are hay and some of the timbers of the barn.


The back of the watch folds down so the watch can sit upright.  This feature makes it possible to use the watch as a stand-alone timepiece that, for example, could be placed on a night stand next to the bed where it will show the time to someone lying in bed.

 

 


History of the watch

I know nothing of the history of this watch.  It could have been in my grandfather's possession since the time he was a young man, which would be the 1880's.  Or, he could have purchased it in the 1900's, either in Europe before leaving for the US, or, in the US after he arrived.

I hope perhaps someone can read this article and tell me more about the watch.  Until then, it will remain a mystery.

The watch works and keeps time accurately.  Notice the chain on the watch -- I wear the watch from time to time.  When I'm not wearing it, it stays on a hanger in a bell jar where I keep it wound.  It keeps time quite accurately.

 

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