Christopher Werner
Christopher W. Werner (1805–1875) was a nineteenth-century wrought iron manufacturer, artisan, and entrepreneur based in Charleston, South Carolina, US. He was one of three noted German-American ironworkers in Charleston, who created most of its high-quality wrought iron. He had immigrated from Prussia in his late 20s, already an accomplished businessman. In Charleston he married a young woman from England, another immigrant, and they had a family.
Christopher Werner
April 13, 1805
June 10, 1875 (aged 70)
St. Laurence cemetery (Roman Catholic)
Charleston, South Carolina
Prussian, American
wrought iron designs
Isabella Hanna
6
Werner is known for crafting the "Iron Palmetto", dedicated to South Carolina's Palmetto Regiment that fought in the Mexican–American War. Erected in 1853, it is the oldest monument on the grounds of the state Capitol. He was highly influential, completing high-quality iron design and manufacture in Charleston and throughout the state, including gates, architectural ornamentation, and balconies.[1]
Biography[edit]
Werner was born in 1805 in Münster, in the Prussian Westphalia (now the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany). His father, Burnhard, was a wealthy carriage builder. The young Werner learned his initial blacksmithing skills of iron working in his father's blacksmith shop. Werner became known while still a young man as a carriage maker, blacksmith, wrought iron worker, and a businessman.[2]
In Prussia, Werner would have to serve compulsory years in the authoritarian Prussian Army.[3] He decided to emigrate to the United States, which he did in the early 1830s.[2]
He took up residence in Charleston, South Carolina, where he obtained American citizenship by naturalization in 1839. He almost certainly arrived in America more than five years before that, as the naturalization process at that time took at least five years to complete. In 1841 Werner married Isabella Hanna, an immigrant from Liverpool, England. They had six children, five of whom lived to adulthood, with a son named Bernard dying at the age of six. Their children were literate and some received formal schooling. John Hanna Werner, the youngest son, was sent to Germany for part of his schooling. The children were raised in the Lutheran church.[2]
According to the 1850 U.S. Census, in 1850 Werner was 45 years old and his wife about 13 years his junior, with an age of 32. The other family members were Robert H. Werner (9), Mary Werner (8), Bernard Werner (1), and Hannah Werner (65).[4] According to the next census, in 1860 Werner was 55 years old and his wife 14 years his junior, 41 years old, the other family members being Robert Werner (18), Mary Werner (15), Jno. H Werner (4), Grace Werner (1), and Ann Lee (70).[5] They lived in Charleston Ward 4,[6] Charleston, South Carolina.[5] Werner and his wife reared their children in his Lutheran faith.[1]
American career[edit]
Werner had followed in his father's footsteps and first became a maker of carriages. He later added a blacksmith shop, a wheelwright shop, and a moulding shop to his business as a carriage maker. His foundry was located in Charleston on the street corner of Cumberland and State. His business soon expanded into a large enterprise throughout the state of South Carolina. Werner had an excellent reputation for quality work.[1] It has been said that his work did not need the modest stamp "Werner, fecit" (Werner made it) as the grace and beauty of his work spoke for itself.[A]
During the nineteenth-century there was a type of guild of the "mechanic class" in Charleston, which was a group of men with special skills related to the mechanics of blacksmithing. They constituted a more or less secret society, keeping this "mechanic class" technology information to themselves. It was not shared publicly.[2]
Werner liked to construct new buildings and remodel older existing buildings. Because of this, he was temporarily located at his project while working on the "old house" and the "new house", and had his address there. He moved within different Charleston addresses, but always kept his foundry business address, near State and Cumberland Streets, as a permanent one. In 1859 he advertised in one of the Charleston directories, "C. Werner manufacturer of Railings, Verandahs, and Fancy Iron Works generally, together with repairing & smithery in all branches ... No.17 State, near corner of Cumberland St." Most of his temporary addresses were in the vicinity of his foundry business and located generally on State Street, Cumberland Street, and Meeting Street.[2]
Werner strove "to show what could be accomplished in Charleston in the adornment of edifices, to make it worthy of the name of 'Queen City of the South.'"[7] He was one of three German immigrants in Charleston who "created an abundance of the mid-nineteenth century ironwork." The other two were J. A. W. Iusti and Frederick Julius Ortmann.[7]
Death and burial[edit]
Werner died on June 11, 1875. A large wrought-iron cross was erected at his grave, near the entrance to the St. Lawrence Roman Catholic cemetery, Charleston.[1] Having grown up in the Roman Catholic faith, Werner wanted to be buried in the new Catholic cemetery south of Magnolia.[E] His family was surprised by this request because they were reared as Lutheran, but his wishes were honored.[1] Father Daniel J. Quigley, a priest from Charleston's Roman Catholic Cathedral, officiated at the funeral.[23]
Werner's grave is numbered Range Center Plat 1, Lot 1, Grave 1. His age at death was given as seventy years and four months, and the cause of death as chronic hepatitis. After his widow died on June 29, 1894, she was buried alongside him. When the monumental cross was dismantled to be restored, the remains of both were found beneath it.
Werner Palmetto Regiment Monument
Palmetto Regiment Monument
Christopher Werner
Rutledge House designs
Ruthledge House
porch design
Rutledge house
window design
Rutledge house
window cover
Rutledge house
stair design
Swords Gate House
32 La Gare St
Charleston, SC
Gate work by Werner
St. Peter's Churchyard fence design by Werner
Close up of the burial marker on the base of Werner Cross,
Charleston, SC
