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1826 Dart & Van Keuren druggist billhead - Part 1

I picked up this billhead recently on ebay and I was somewhat surprised it went so cheap. Nice early billhead with left side graphic of a bottle and funnel with the words across the bottle - drugs, paints and dye stuff. really faint plate mark on left side. I love researching the billheads I buy and this one was very interesting.I usually start my research by typing in the firm name with quotes in google to see what pops up. Nothing of any substance came up for Dart & Van Keuren. Next it’s on to searching google books by firm name, then include the city, then include the type of business. Nothing too helpful yet for Dart & Van Keuren. I have a link to a listing of online state and city directories, so I check there. There was an 1827 Longworth directory free through google books so I checked it and there was no Dart listed as a druggist, there were three Darts listed: Anson, Norman and Russel. There were two Vankeurens listed: Peter and Abraham. So, back to regular google – there is another website that offers free views of books – sure enough, I found the Longworth directory for 1825-1826 and bingo – listed is Anson Dart as a druggist and Peter Vankeuren as a druggist – with the same address as listed on the billhead. Once I get partner names, I start over from the top researching each partner. Below is information about Anson Dart.

Anson Dart was born in 1797 in Brattleboro Vermont. Dart gained some knowledge of drugs and became a druggist in New York City where he imported from France the first ounce of quinine brought to America. Later he moved to Oneida County New York and became a miller, having a large mill in the town of Delta. Afterwards he lived in Utica being construction superintendent of the asylum there. He came west in 1835-1836 and made investments in Milwaukee and in pine lands, but lost it all to speculation. Afterwhich he took up residence in Green County.

His son, Richard gave a narration of the family’s time in Green Lake County – which had just recently been surveyed and opened to market. In 1843-1844, Dart built a grist mill with Samuel Beall on the south side of Green Lake. Dart ran the mill for two years when the lake began to dry up and the mill lost its power source. The mill was abandoned and torn down. In 1846 Dart built a sawmill at Dartford. That same year Dart sold his 200 acre farm to a Southern Lowther Taylor for $12 an acre and moved the family to Dartford. In 1850 Dart built a grist mill in Dartford and took on John Sherwood as a partner.

Dart was a Whig in politics and in 1848 threw himself into the presidential campaign. Upon success of the Whigs, in 1850 Dart received an appointment of superintendent of Indian Affairs in Oregon with a salary of $8 per day. Dart took two sons with him to Oregon and the remainder of his family stayed at Dartford. Dart never returned to live in Wisconsin, he took various political appointments, went to Europe and died in August 1879 at Washington DC.

Dart would be the superintendent of Indian Affairs in Oregon from 1851 to 1852. He negotiated treaties with the tribes in Oregon and Washington.

Part 2 will be about Peter Van Keuren.

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