Krider Gun Shop records

The Krider Gun Shop records include bills and receipts, circa 1850; a receipt book, April-June 1873; loose receipts and bills of ladings, 1909 for both the John Krider Gun Shop and Taxidermy business and L. C. Siner Gun Shop, both located on the northeast corner of Second and Walnut streets in Phila...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Corporate Authors: Krider Gun Shop (Creator), L. C. Siner Gun Shop (Creator)
Collection:Krider Gun Shop Records
Collection Number:3297
Format: Manuscript
Language:English
Subjects and Genres:
Online Access:Link to finding aid
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
LEADER 06247ntc a2200289 u 4500
001 ead-3297
008 211020i xx eng d
040 |e dacs 
041 0 |a eng 
099 |a 3297 
110 2 |a Krider Gun Shop  |e creator 
245 1 |a Krider Gun Shop records  |f 1845-1916, undated (bulk 1856-1909) 
300 |a 0.8 Linear feet  |f ; 2 boxes 
506 |a This collection is open for research. 
520 |a The Krider Gun Shop records include bills and receipts, circa 1850; a receipt book, April-June 1873; loose receipts and bills of ladings, 1909 for both the John Krider Gun Shop and Taxidermy business and L. C. Siner Gun Shop, both located on the northeast corner of Second and Walnut streets in Philadelphia.  
520 |a The records of Krider's Gun Shop span from the mid ninteenth century to the early twentieth century and are housed in two boxes. There are bills, correspondence, invoices, and receipts. They reflect the extensive engagement with the manufacturing and sale of guns and amunition, and the fields of taxidermy and ornithology. As John Krider received considerable fame for his shop and work, he made deals with many patrons from afar. Included here are receipts for those shipments by railway, and related inquires. Some of the records are housed in folders, which may have at some point been apart of an account book or ledger like the two housed here that remain entact. Other than Krider, the records of John Siner, his business partner; and the Farr family, the guardians of the Thomas Powers, payments and receipts patrons who engaged in a considerable amount of business. 
524 8 |a [Indicate cited item or series here], Krider Gun Shop records (Collection 3297), Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 
541 1 |a The bulk of the collection was a gift of John Taxin via Independence National Historical Park, 1967. The John Krider account book, 1863-1864 (Box 1, Volume 1), was purchased in 2003. Accession number 2003.056. 
544 |a At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania: David J. Kennedy watercolors collection (Collection V61). John Krider's Gun Shop. Timothy Horsfield receipt book, 1763 (Am .9085). Philadelphia Record photograph morgue collection (Collection V07). Shopping. 1934-1946. [V7:4642-4643] Philadelphia Record photograph morgue collection (Collection V07). Sporting Goods Industry. 1939-1942. [V7:3571] 
545 |a John Krider was born in Philadelphia in 1813 to William and Margaret Krider, the first of five children: William C., Jacob Henry, Elizabeth, and Peter Lewis. The family lived in the western part of the city, which is where he developed an early obsession with the wilderness of the wooded areas around the Schuylkill River. He would be become a well-known gunsmith, taxidermist, and ornithologist. Krider also served on the city's school board, the Common Council in 1858, and provided munitions during the American Civil War. He married a women named Elizabeth, and they had seven children, five daughters and two sons. In 1876, one of John Krider’s sons, Joseph, began working in his shop, as his health was in decline. Krider’s other son, John, also worked in the family’s shop, but he eventually veered off into other professions, such as clerk, bookkeeper, salesman, and shotmaker. John Krider died in Philadelphia in 1886. In 1826, John Krider began his career as a gunsmith when he took an apprenticeship with Prosper Vallee, a Frenchman, who operated his own gun shop near Second and Walnut streets (later 101 S. Second Street). Vallee opened the shop in 1816. (The same site was once the home of John Drinker, as well as the location where the British set up a headquarters for its officers during the American Revolution.) John Krider took possession of Vallee’s shop it in sometime between 1839 and 1856. He first named it the Krider Gun Shop, and he may have operated later under the name John Krider & Co. When the American Civil War broke out, not only was Krider called upon to provide weaponry and ammunition to the soldiers, but his gun shop also served as a cartridge loading station. Besides being a recognized and applauded gunsmith, Krider also worked in the fields of taxidermy and ornithology, which would lead to his having associations with famed practitioners like John J. Audubon. Krider’s own collection would eventually be housed at Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences, and he was elected to the society’s membership in 1859. Returning to his childhood interests, he also opened the Philadelphia Sporting Club in the 1840s, which remained in operation until 1853. As for his gun shop, while his sons John and Joseph worked there, it was managed by a businessman named John Siner as early as 1876. Siner continued to manage the shop after Krider's death, allowing it to enjoy a much longer history well into the twentieth century. Krider’s gun shop closed in 1955, and the property was demolished. The gun shop had become known to some as Krider’s “old-time looking shop,” as he had merged all of his interests into one business endeavor. He was a manufacturer of shot guns, rifles, pistols, and an importer of sporting goods, fishing tackle, and fine cutlery. All of which he was praised, receiving high honors at expositions held in both Philadelphia and New York, along with thirteen merits at the Franklin Institute's Exhibition of American Manufacturers. He published Krider’s Sporting Anecdotes in 1853. Krider was also a member of the Freemasons and the International Order of Odd Fellows, a trustee of the Progress Manufacturers Mechanical Loan and Build Association, and served on the Committee of Gentlemen of the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon.  
555 |a Finding Aid Available Online:  
650 7 |a Firearms industry and trade--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--19th century.  |2 Local sources 
650 7 |a Firearms industry and trade--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.  |2 Local 
650 7 |a Taxidermy--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--19th century.  |2 Local sources 
710 2 |a L. C. Siner Gun Shop  |e creator 
852 |a The Historical Society of Pennsylvania  |b Krider Gun Shop Records  |l 3297 
856 4 2 |y Link to finding aid  |u http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/k/Krider3297.html