Jacob Frederick Reusch started as a jeweler's apprentice in Ionia, Michigan, in the year 1844, for $1.50 a week. After a year , his pay was increased to $6.00 a week, and by the time he moved to Petoskey in 1885, he was making $18.00 a week, considered a fabulous wage for that time.
He came to work as a watch maker for Will Searle, at the Little Will Jewelry Store on Lake Street, and was the official time keeper and watch inspector for the railroads in the area, the Pere Marquette, and later the C & O. His job was to make sure that all of the station clocks between Traverse City and Petoskey were synchronized and that all of the employees had accurate watches. In those days, this meant that Jacob would regularly ride the rails and check and maintain the clocks at the stations, and he would also maintain and certify the pocket watches of the railroad employees. Railroad employees were required to have their watches regularly maintained for accuracy. Each crew member of the trains was required to carry a card signed at least once a week by the inspector. Twice each year an inspection was made of all depot clocks at all of the depots. This was a very important job, since accurate timekeeping prevented trains from colliding with each other. Today we have highly accurate watches, but the old grandfather clock that Jacob used to regulate all of the railroad watches and clocks still keeps near-perfect time every day in his store, as it has every day for the past 160+ years.
Jacob purchased The Little Will Jewelry Store when the owner retired, and in 1926, shortly after his graduation, Fred Reusch joined his father in the family business. The store at that time was on the corner of Lake and Howard in Petoskey, Michigan, where Cutlers is now.
As was customary in the early days of the jewelry trade, Fred gained most of his knowledge and training by learning from his father. He spent many hours looking over his father's shoulder as a boy. Fred remembered repairing his first watch as an apprentice. He had decided to sort out the pieces as he dismantled it, and keep them in order so he could put it back together easier. His boss saw this and with a swipe of his hand jumbled all the parts. "He told me that that was no way to learn to repair a watch, that I should memorize where the parts went and not put them in a row along the work bench," Fred chuckled. "I never forgot that lesson.”
One of the largest repair jobs that Fred and Jacob handled was in the early 1930s when the town clock in the old court house refused to work. It was necessary to take the clock works apart and, as the size of the pieces were so great, jewelers' tools were hardly enough. Tools were borrowed from the plumbing department of the Bremmeyr-Bain Hardware store. One of the bronze shafts had become pitted and flat on one side. It was built up and machined by Leonard Paige, in his blacksmith shop. In this case it was no joke that a timepiece had been repaired by a plumber and a blacksmith.
In 1933, during the depression, Fred decided to try his wings at other jobs. But his real desire to be in the jewelry business was ever present in his mind. In 1936, the senior Mr. Reusch moved his jewelry store to its present location at 427 E. Mitchell in Petoskey. As Jacob's business flourished, the demands of running the store and repair shop required another pair of hands. Fred returned in 1947 to fill that need. He remained an employee until his father's death in 1951, when he assumed the operation and ownership of the business. Eventually his son and grandson assumed ownership.
Newspaper Obituary: http://www.gwood.us/ Greenwood Cemetery Genealogic Site; Biographical; Copyright 2014 Reusch Website
Name: Reusch, J. Frederick
Age: 84
Date of Birth: 5/29/1867
Date of Death: 7/30/1951
Cemetery: Greenwood, Petoskey:
Section / Block / Lot: A / 141 / 4 S 1/2
He came to work as a watch maker for Will Searle, at the Little Will Jewelry Store on Lake Street, and was the official time keeper and watch inspector for the railroads in the area, the Pere Marquette, and later the C & O. His job was to make sure that all of the station clocks between Traverse City and Petoskey were synchronized and that all of the employees had accurate watches. In those days, this meant that Jacob would regularly ride the rails and check and maintain the clocks at the stations, and he would also maintain and certify the pocket watches of the railroad employees. Railroad employees were required to have their watches regularly maintained for accuracy. Each crew member of the trains was required to carry a card signed at least once a week by the inspector. Twice each year an inspection was made of all depot clocks at all of the depots. This was a very important job, since accurate timekeeping prevented trains from colliding with each other. Today we have highly accurate watches, but the old grandfather clock that Jacob used to regulate all of the railroad watches and clocks still keeps near-perfect time every day in his store, as it has every day for the past 160+ years.
Jacob purchased The Little Will Jewelry Store when the owner retired, and in 1926, shortly after his graduation, Fred Reusch joined his father in the family business. The store at that time was on the corner of Lake and Howard in Petoskey, Michigan, where Cutlers is now.
As was customary in the early days of the jewelry trade, Fred gained most of his knowledge and training by learning from his father. He spent many hours looking over his father's shoulder as a boy. Fred remembered repairing his first watch as an apprentice. He had decided to sort out the pieces as he dismantled it, and keep them in order so he could put it back together easier. His boss saw this and with a swipe of his hand jumbled all the parts. "He told me that that was no way to learn to repair a watch, that I should memorize where the parts went and not put them in a row along the work bench," Fred chuckled. "I never forgot that lesson.”
One of the largest repair jobs that Fred and Jacob handled was in the early 1930s when the town clock in the old court house refused to work. It was necessary to take the clock works apart and, as the size of the pieces were so great, jewelers' tools were hardly enough. Tools were borrowed from the plumbing department of the Bremmeyr-Bain Hardware store. One of the bronze shafts had become pitted and flat on one side. It was built up and machined by Leonard Paige, in his blacksmith shop. In this case it was no joke that a timepiece had been repaired by a plumber and a blacksmith.
In 1933, during the depression, Fred decided to try his wings at other jobs. But his real desire to be in the jewelry business was ever present in his mind. In 1936, the senior Mr. Reusch moved his jewelry store to its present location at 427 E. Mitchell in Petoskey. As Jacob's business flourished, the demands of running the store and repair shop required another pair of hands. Fred returned in 1947 to fill that need. He remained an employee until his father's death in 1951, when he assumed the operation and ownership of the business. Eventually his son and grandson assumed ownership.
Newspaper Obituary: http://www.gwood.us/ Greenwood Cemetery Genealogic Site; Biographical; Copyright 2014 Reusch Website
Name: Reusch, J. Frederick
Age: 84
Date of Birth: 5/29/1867
Date of Death: 7/30/1951
Cemetery: Greenwood, Petoskey:
Section / Block / Lot: A / 141 / 4 S 1/2
Jacob Frederick Reusch started as a jeweler's apprentice in Ionia, Michigan, in the year 1844, for $1.50 a week. After a year , his pay was increased to $6.00 a week, and by the time he moved to Petoskey in 1885, he was making $18.00 a week, considered a fabulous wage for that time.
He came to work as a watch maker for Will Searle, at the Little Will Jewelry Store on Lake Street, and was the official time keeper and watch inspector for the railroads in the area, the Pere Marquette, and later the C & O. His job was to make sure that all of the station clocks between Traverse City and Petoskey were synchronized and that all of the employees had accurate watches. In those days, this meant that Jacob would regularly ride the rails and check and maintain the clocks at the stations, and he would also maintain and certify the pocket watches of the railroad employees. Railroad employees were required to have their watches regularly maintained for accuracy. Each crew member of the trains was required to carry a card signed at least once a week by the inspector. Twice each year an inspection was made of all depot clocks at all of the depots. This was a very important job, since accurate timekeeping prevented trains from colliding with each other. Today we have highly accurate watches, but the old grandfather clock that Jacob used to regulate all of the railroad watches and clocks still keeps near-perfect time every day in his store, as it has every day for the past 160+ years.
Jacob purchased The Little Will Jewelry Store when the owner retired, and in 1926, shortly after his graduation, Fred Reusch joined his father in the family business. The store at that time was on the corner of Lake and Howard in Petoskey, Michigan, where Cutlers is now.
As was customary in the early days of the jewelry trade, Fred gained most of his knowledge and training by learning from his father. He spent many hours looking over his father's shoulder as a boy. Fred remembered repairing his first watch as an apprentice. He had decided to sort out the pieces as he dismantled it, and keep them in order so he could put it back together easier. His boss saw this and with a swipe of his hand jumbled all the parts. "He told me that that was no way to learn to repair a watch, that I should memorize where the parts went and not put them in a row along the work bench," Fred chuckled. "I never forgot that lesson.”
One of the largest repair jobs that Fred and Jacob handled was in the early 1930s when the town clock in the old court house refused to work. It was necessary to take the clock works apart and, as the size of the pieces were so great, jewelers' tools were hardly enough. Tools were borrowed from the plumbing department of the Bremmeyr-Bain Hardware store. One of the bronze shafts had become pitted and flat on one side. It was built up and machined by Leonard Paige, in his blacksmith shop. In this case it was no joke that a timepiece had been repaired by a plumber and a blacksmith.
In 1933, during the depression, Fred decided to try his wings at other jobs. But his real desire to be in the jewelry business was ever present in his mind. In 1936, the senior Mr. Reusch moved his jewelry store to its present location at 427 E. Mitchell in Petoskey. As Jacob's business flourished, the demands of running the store and repair shop required another pair of hands. Fred returned in 1947 to fill that need. He remained an employee until his father's death in 1951, when he assumed the operation and ownership of the business. Eventually his son and grandson assumed ownership.
Newspaper Obituary: http://www.gwood.us/ Greenwood Cemetery Genealogic Site; Biographical; Copyright 2014 Reusch Website
Name: Reusch, J. Frederick
Age: 84
Date of Birth: 5/29/1867
Date of Death: 7/30/1951
Cemetery: Greenwood, Petoskey:
Section / Block / Lot: A / 141 / 4 S 1/2
He came to work as a watch maker for Will Searle, at the Little Will Jewelry Store on Lake Street, and was the official time keeper and watch inspector for the railroads in the area, the Pere Marquette, and later the C & O. His job was to make sure that all of the station clocks between Traverse City and Petoskey were synchronized and that all of the employees had accurate watches. In those days, this meant that Jacob would regularly ride the rails and check and maintain the clocks at the stations, and he would also maintain and certify the pocket watches of the railroad employees. Railroad employees were required to have their watches regularly maintained for accuracy. Each crew member of the trains was required to carry a card signed at least once a week by the inspector. Twice each year an inspection was made of all depot clocks at all of the depots. This was a very important job, since accurate timekeeping prevented trains from colliding with each other. Today we have highly accurate watches, but the old grandfather clock that Jacob used to regulate all of the railroad watches and clocks still keeps near-perfect time every day in his store, as it has every day for the past 160+ years.
Jacob purchased The Little Will Jewelry Store when the owner retired, and in 1926, shortly after his graduation, Fred Reusch joined his father in the family business. The store at that time was on the corner of Lake and Howard in Petoskey, Michigan, where Cutlers is now.
As was customary in the early days of the jewelry trade, Fred gained most of his knowledge and training by learning from his father. He spent many hours looking over his father's shoulder as a boy. Fred remembered repairing his first watch as an apprentice. He had decided to sort out the pieces as he dismantled it, and keep them in order so he could put it back together easier. His boss saw this and with a swipe of his hand jumbled all the parts. "He told me that that was no way to learn to repair a watch, that I should memorize where the parts went and not put them in a row along the work bench," Fred chuckled. "I never forgot that lesson.”
One of the largest repair jobs that Fred and Jacob handled was in the early 1930s when the town clock in the old court house refused to work. It was necessary to take the clock works apart and, as the size of the pieces were so great, jewelers' tools were hardly enough. Tools were borrowed from the plumbing department of the Bremmeyr-Bain Hardware store. One of the bronze shafts had become pitted and flat on one side. It was built up and machined by Leonard Paige, in his blacksmith shop. In this case it was no joke that a timepiece had been repaired by a plumber and a blacksmith.
In 1933, during the depression, Fred decided to try his wings at other jobs. But his real desire to be in the jewelry business was ever present in his mind. In 1936, the senior Mr. Reusch moved his jewelry store to its present location at 427 E. Mitchell in Petoskey. As Jacob's business flourished, the demands of running the store and repair shop required another pair of hands. Fred returned in 1947 to fill that need. He remained an employee until his father's death in 1951, when he assumed the operation and ownership of the business. Eventually his son and grandson assumed ownership.
Newspaper Obituary: http://www.gwood.us/ Greenwood Cemetery Genealogic Site; Biographical; Copyright 2014 Reusch Website
Name: Reusch, J. Frederick
Age: 84
Date of Birth: 5/29/1867
Date of Death: 7/30/1951
Cemetery: Greenwood, Petoskey:
Section / Block / Lot: A / 141 / 4 S 1/2
Bio by: Petoskey History
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