Today in Wheeling History: June 26—Otto Jaeger, future glass artist and founder of Fostoria, Seneca, and Bonita Art Glass with strong ties to Wheeling’s glassmaking legacy, is born in St. Goar, Rhine Province, Germany (1853).
Otto Jaeger was born on June 26, 1853, in St. Goar, a Rhine province of Germany. He immigrated to the United States at age 13, settling in New York City with his family. His father, Frederick William Jaeger, was a former Prussian army captain and attorney-general at Cologne. Otto studied English, French, and German in school before leaving formal education at 16 to apprentice as a glass engraver. In 1877, he moved to Wheeling, West Virginia, where he became head of engraving at the Hobbs & Brockunier Glass Plant. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-found the Fostoria Glass Company in Ohio in 1888 and the Seneca Glass Company in 1891. Returning to Wheeling in 1901, he established the Bonita Art Glass Company on Bow Street, specializing in artistic decoration of glass and china. Jaeger was also a city councilman, a 32nd-degree Mason, and a gifted musician who directed Presbyterian church choirs for over 30 years. He married Ida Frances Ratcliffe in Wheeling in 1879; their two children died young. Otto Jaeger passed away on June 9, 1941, in Huntington, West Virginia, and is buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Cabell County. His artistic and civic legacy remains part of Wheeling’s rich industrial heritage.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling, WV (https://tinyurl.com/36v5nfjy); Find a Grave (https://tinyurl.com/5aa9ubra), Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/4d4yu765), WVGenWeb Archives (https://tinyurl.com/4j8tm5ep)
Photo credits: Wikimedia Commons, Find a Grave
Otto Jaeger was born on June 26, 1853, in St. Goar, a Rhine province of Germany. He immigrated to the United States at age 13, settling in New York City with his family. His father, Frederick William Jaeger, was a former Prussian army captain and attorney-general at Cologne. Otto studied English, French, and German in school before leaving formal education at 16 to apprentice as a glass engraver. In 1877, he moved to Wheeling, West Virginia, where he became head of engraving at the Hobbs & Brockunier Glass Plant. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-found the Fostoria Glass Company in Ohio in 1888 and the Seneca Glass Company in 1891. Returning to Wheeling in 1901, he established the Bonita Art Glass Company on Bow Street, specializing in artistic decoration of glass and china. Jaeger was also a city councilman, a 32nd-degree Mason, and a gifted musician who directed Presbyterian church choirs for over 30 years. He married Ida Frances Ratcliffe in Wheeling in 1879; their two children died young. Otto Jaeger passed away on June 9, 1941, in Huntington, West Virginia, and is buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Cabell County. His artistic and civic legacy remains part of Wheeling’s rich industrial heritage.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling, WV (https://tinyurl.com/36v5nfjy); Find a Grave (https://tinyurl.com/5aa9ubra), Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/4d4yu765), WVGenWeb Archives (https://tinyurl.com/4j8tm5ep)
Photo credits: Wikimedia Commons, Find a Grave
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