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The Sadtlers of Lutherville
Karen Morrissey, History Committee
Anyone familiar with the Lutherville story knows the drill: John and Charles Morris and Benjamin Kurtz founded Lutherville in 1852 to finance a Lutheran women’s theological seminary. Even those entirely unfamiliar with Lutherville history probably know Kurtz as a shortcut home from Kohl’s. But have you ever heard of the Sadtlers?
311 West Seminary Ave: George T. Sadtler's House
Neither had I. But the Sadtlers, prominent silversmiths and opticians in Baltimore City, once owned all the land from Francke to Front between Seminary and Lincoln Avenues. They built at least three of the houses still extant in “old Lutherville”: 307 Seminary, the gatehouse to George T. Sadtler’s mansion; 311 Seminary, the mansion itself; and 308 Morris, now called “Twin Gates.” In addition, the first owner of 308 Morris, Benjamin Sadtler, served as principal of the “Ladies’ seminary” (College Manor) from 1862 until 1875, when he became president of Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania.
307 W. Seminary - the Sadtler gatehouse
Sadtler history in Baltimore began when the family patriarch, Philip Benjamin Sadtler, emigrated from Germany in 1799, aged approximately 28, opening a silversmithing and optical shop in Baltimore by 1800. [See http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~ruppert/surnamess-z/sadtlerphoto03.html for reputed images of Sadtler and his wife, Catherine Sauerwein Sadtler.] At first he stamped his silver pieces “P.S.” or “P.B. Sadtler [Baltimore]”, but gradually migrated to “P.B. Sadtler & Sons” after 1824 as sons John P. (21 in 1824, according to the census of 1870) and later George T. (13 in 1824) joined the family business.
The family appears to have been fairly prominent in Baltimore. While Sadtler silver is neither as famous nor as pricey today as pieces by Baltimore compatriot Samuel Kirk, the Baltimore Museum of Art is said to have Sadtler pieces in its collection, and Sadtler items typically sell in the $20 to $50 range on eBay for a salt cellar or a few spoons. In addition, in their other capacity as opticians, the Sadtlers are listed in the Webster Instrument Makers Database as vendors of glass to the Adler Planetarium in Chicago.
As opticians, the Sadtlers were classified as “medical professionals” of their day, so their addresses were listed in the Baltimore City Directory of 1855-1856. It appears that the shop was located at 212 W. Baltimore Street, while George T. is listed at 273 Madison Avenue, John P. at 74 Park Street, and P.B. at 91 Saratoga Street. None of the Sadtler buildings appear to have survived to the present day, at least if Google satellite images are to be trusted, but some older buildings remain in the vicinity: the First Presbyterian Church at West Madison Street and Park Avenue, built in 1853; and St Alphonsus Catholic Church in the 100 block of West Saratoga, for example.
On 1 June 1859, 38-year-old George T. purchased a rectangle of land now bordered by Francke, Lincoln, Front, and Seminary for $3,500. In September 1861 he sold the western downhill half (roughly from present-day Barts Court and Starlight Place down to Front) to his brother John P. for $1,900, a pretty good deal – for George – since Louise Morris Leisenring Reese (Memories of Lutherville, Maryland, written in 1942 for her children) remembered the land along Seminary as “a low swampy meadow” from her childhood in the 1860s. I can personally confirm that certain parts of it are still a low swampy meadow.
– To be continued –