Don J. Mozart was best known in Michigan as the designer of one of the, if not the best, American watches ever made. Born in 1819 in Italy, he migrated to the United states at 3 years of age where his parents settled in at Boston, Mass. His father was a watchmaker and young Don was mysteriously kidnapped to sea at the very early age of nine, spent three years at sea before he finally escaped from the ship, and eventually found his way back to the US after another four years. He never located his parents after searching the eastern United States and Italy.
At 34, Don settled down, married and opened a jewelry store in Xenia, Ohio. Finding that retail was not to his liking he began spending most of his time experimenting and developing his horological inventions. Soon he closed his store and relocated to New York, then moved on to Connecticut as he strayed from watches to begin development of his complicated clock of which he held several patents, August 1859 and December 1863. All of this resulted in failure due to clock manufacture difficulties.
After this brief interruption he moved again back to New York and his true love--watches. He invented a 3 wheel watch which was a cross between a lever and a chronometer. His idea was trashed while in Providence, RI and those involved began the New York Watch Company in a new location in Springfield, Mass circa 1866. Meanwhile Mozart moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan and incorporated the Mozart Watch Company in 1867.
On 2 December 1876, Mozart, at age 57, was working on improvements to his watches, and overtaxed his eye and brain by working night and day. Already stressed, he began worrying about problems with his jewelry store and business lossess, which led to insanity. He was committed to the county mental hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He was deemed incurable from his breakdown and was committed to the state hospital where he died in 1877.
Source: "A Wrecked Genius," The New York Times, published 12 Jan 1875; The Detroit Tribune, 9 Jan 1875; Jon Hanson
****
At 34, Don settled down, married and opened a jewelry store in Xenia, Ohio. Finding that retail was not to his liking he began spending most of his time experimenting and developing his horological inventions. Soon he closed his store and relocated to New York, then moved on to Connecticut as he strayed from watches to begin development of his complicated clock of which he held several patents, August 1859 and December 1863. All of this resulted in failure due to clock manufacture difficulties.
After this brief interruption he moved again back to New York and his true love--watches. He invented a 3 wheel watch which was a cross between a lever and a chronometer. His idea was trashed while in Providence, RI and those involved began the New York Watch Company in a new location in Springfield, Mass circa 1866. Meanwhile Mozart moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan and incorporated the Mozart Watch Company in 1867.
On 2 December 1876, Mozart, at age 57, was working on improvements to his watches, and overtaxed his eye and brain by working night and day. Already stressed, he began worrying about problems with his jewelry store and business lossess, which led to insanity. He was committed to the county mental hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He was deemed incurable from his breakdown and was committed to the state hospital where he died in 1877.
Source: "A Wrecked Genius," The New York Times, published 12 Jan 1875; The Detroit Tribune, 9 Jan 1875; Jon Hanson
****
Don J. Mozart was best known in Michigan as the designer of one of the, if not the best, American watches ever made. Born in 1819 in Italy, he migrated to the United states at 3 years of age where his parents settled in at Boston, Mass. His father was a watchmaker and young Don was mysteriously kidnapped to sea at the very early age of nine, spent three years at sea before he finally escaped from the ship, and eventually found his way back to the US after another four years. He never located his parents after searching the eastern United States and Italy.
At 34, Don settled down, married and opened a jewelry store in Xenia, Ohio. Finding that retail was not to his liking he began spending most of his time experimenting and developing his horological inventions. Soon he closed his store and relocated to New York, then moved on to Connecticut as he strayed from watches to begin development of his complicated clock of which he held several patents, August 1859 and December 1863. All of this resulted in failure due to clock manufacture difficulties.
After this brief interruption he moved again back to New York and his true love--watches. He invented a 3 wheel watch which was a cross between a lever and a chronometer. His idea was trashed while in Providence, RI and those involved began the New York Watch Company in a new location in Springfield, Mass circa 1866. Meanwhile Mozart moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan and incorporated the Mozart Watch Company in 1867.
On 2 December 1876, Mozart, at age 57, was working on improvements to his watches, and overtaxed his eye and brain by working night and day. Already stressed, he began worrying about problems with his jewelry store and business lossess, which led to insanity. He was committed to the county mental hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He was deemed incurable from his breakdown and was committed to the state hospital where he died in 1877.
Source: "A Wrecked Genius," The New York Times, published 12 Jan 1875; The Detroit Tribune, 9 Jan 1875; Jon Hanson
****
At 34, Don settled down, married and opened a jewelry store in Xenia, Ohio. Finding that retail was not to his liking he began spending most of his time experimenting and developing his horological inventions. Soon he closed his store and relocated to New York, then moved on to Connecticut as he strayed from watches to begin development of his complicated clock of which he held several patents, August 1859 and December 1863. All of this resulted in failure due to clock manufacture difficulties.
After this brief interruption he moved again back to New York and his true love--watches. He invented a 3 wheel watch which was a cross between a lever and a chronometer. His idea was trashed while in Providence, RI and those involved began the New York Watch Company in a new location in Springfield, Mass circa 1866. Meanwhile Mozart moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan and incorporated the Mozart Watch Company in 1867.
On 2 December 1876, Mozart, at age 57, was working on improvements to his watches, and overtaxed his eye and brain by working night and day. Already stressed, he began worrying about problems with his jewelry store and business lossess, which led to insanity. He was committed to the county mental hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He was deemed incurable from his breakdown and was committed to the state hospital where he died in 1877.
Source: "A Wrecked Genius," The New York Times, published 12 Jan 1875; The Detroit Tribune, 9 Jan 1875; Jon Hanson
****
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