10/13/2026
"Hear what I write to you..." This is the beginning of a poem (originally written in German) found on a old writing box, dated to January 31, 1795. While much of the poem has faded due to age, the orange-red colors of the tulips originally painted onto the box are still visible.
The box was made by John Drissel (1762-1846), presumably the carpenter of Milford Township, Bucks County. It was made for Jacob Rohr of New Britain Township, Bucks County, and is one of Drissel's many surviving wooden boxes. It was intended to be used as a document box where important legal documents and papers, such as baptismal papers and marriage certificates, could be stored. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, important dates and documents were not always officially recorded, so families often took to keeping and recording their own family's births, deaths, marriages, and baptisms. The papers would be placed into a hidden sliding compartment, which was painted with yellow stripes in this example. It was passed down in the Rohr family until its donation by Dr. George Gaugler of Hatfield, Pennsylvania, along with another box that was made as a reproduction of John Drissel's work.
The reproduction was made by craftsman Dwight Alderfer of Harleysville, Pennsylvania, and was painted by artist Roland B. Yoder, also of Harleysville, in 1983. The reproduction intended to copy the model and paint of the original piece.
