Bierbower & Co. Maysville, Kentucky Merchant Jar

Circa 1870-1890: This fantastic 8.75" tall half gallon wax sealer advertises the Maysville Kentucky merchant Bierbower and Company, who sold "stoves, tinware &c." at 39 Market Street in the thriving business district a stone's throw from the banks of the Ohio River, the city's primary delivery route in the second half of the 19th century. The Bierbowers were important in Maysville, and Alexandria Coom and James Lucas explain in their article "National Underground Railroad Museum at the Bierbower House" that the family "left the abolitionist state of Pennsylvania in 1837 to settle in the slave-holding frontier lands of Kentucky in the busy river town of Maysville, where they became successful local entrepreneurs and international history makers" and that their family home, now the Now Underground Railroad Museum in Maysville, was "a safe house" for runaway enslaved people seeking freedom in Antebellum America. Members in the family also fought for the Union in the Civil War and served in city's local political offices, including mayor, and, in addition to their general store, ran a very successful carriage making business. This super clean Kentucky canning jar has survived in pristine nearly as made condition with no chips, cracks, or repairs, a clear stencil, excellent contrast. and only very minor expected wear on the inside sealer rim. It would be difficult to find one in better shape.