J&W Moir

[silverly]

A little about a pair whose mark shows up on coin silver fairly often:

John and William Moir appear together in a listing as jewelers at 233 Hudson in the 1842-'43 New York City Direct published by John
Doggett Jr which means that they were in business in 1841.

Mrs Moir age 40, Helen Moir age 8, Agnes Moir age 18, and William Moir age 10 immigrated from Aberdeen, Scotland
to New York in 1835.

John Moi,r address 233 Hudson, petitioned for naturalization in New York City in 1842.

[Chris the Greek]

I inherited 2 beautiful pieces of silver in different patterns, soup spoons or serving spoons, one of the general fiddle pattern but with a delicately fluted bowl (7 flutes if anyone is counting), from my deceased (d.1992) wife, Elizabeth Durland Pacer, DAR, born in Buffalo, NY and buried in Windham, NY with engravings "Durland" and "MD" (for Margaret Durland, her great great grandmother). In the course of my inquiries, I came across another account of the Moir brothers which appears generally consistent with silverly's account quoted below but for the street address on Hudson [315 vs. 233] and the date of acquisition of the Mohr business [1841 vs. 1844]:
(admin edit - see Posting Requirements )

Prominent jeweler William Moir (1826-1896),
resided at 6 West 20th Street. Born in
Aberdeen, Scotland, Moir immigrated to New York
City around 1840 and was apprenticed to watchmaker
Alexander Martin. He later became a journeyman to
jeweler Emmet T. Pell at 315 Hudson Street, and after
Pell retired in 1844, purchased the business with his
brother John Moir (d. 1895). J. & W. They ran a
successful operation at that location for 25 years, until
John’s withdrawal from the firm. In 1870, William
Moir commissioned a five-story, cast-iron-clad
structure (Theodore A. Tribit, architect) for his own
business at No. 711 [originally 373] Sixth Avenue, at
the southwest corner of West 23rd Street. Moir’s
business in 1872 included
a fine selection of French clocks and bronzes,
specially imported by him, and a yet larger
stock of watches, native and foreign, jewelry,
diamonds, and silver-plated ware. The
diamond jewelry is noticeably good, and is
all made on the premises.
At the time of his death, William Moir was called
“one of New York's oldest and best known retail jewelers.”

Source: http://www.etsy.com/listing/35325929/j- ... poons-tbsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A little about a pair whose mark shows up on coin silver fairly often:

John and William Moir appear together in a listing as jewelers at 233 Hudson in the 1842-'43 New York City Direct published by John
Doggett Jr which means that they were in business in 1841.

Mrs Moir age 40, Helen Moir age 8, Agnes Moir age 18, and William Moir age 10 immigrated from Aberdeen, Scotland
to New York in 1835.

John Moi,r address 233 Hudson, petitioned for naturalization in New York City in 1842.

[silverly]

Is it possible that the the fluted soup spoon you have is a sugar shell? I think it's fantastic to have family heirlooms like yours.