Greensburg Pennsylvania Stoneware Merchant Jar

Circa 1880s: Although this scarce 9 5/8" tall one gallon Pennsylvania merchant crock reads "Leonard Keek / & Co. / Greensburgh. / PA.," it has two misspellings and was made for Leonard Keck's extremely succcessful general store in Greensburg PA, which was opened on Main Street in 1880 and would remain in business for over twenty years. Keck was born in Germany in 1849 and emigrated to America in 1866, settling in Greensburg, Westmoreland's county seat, three years later. He would marry in 1872, father eight children, and spend the rest of his life in Greensburg, where he would die in 1918 at 69 years of age. This jar, most probably made in Greensboro by Hamilton and Jones, T.F. Reppert, or Williams and Reppert, is in excellent nearly as made condition with some very minor chipping on the shoulder ring and no other chips, cracks, or repairs. This is a very clean and hard to find example of Southewestern Pennsylvania stoneware.