Are You In The Mood For John Mood?

For my FYE, we had to research John Mood and his silversmithing business.

John Mood was born on January 11, 1792 and died on March 1, 1864. According to American Silversmiths He was married to Catherine McFarlane, and they got married on May 23, 1815 in Charleston, SC. He is most known for being a popular silversmith and jeweler in Charleston, SC.

According to Find a Grave, Mood was Born in Charleston, where he spent all his life except eight years of active and Labor in connection with the South Carolina Conference. Later in life, he joined the Methodist church in boyhood and was the first in the City of Charleston to establish a Sabbath school for African Americans.

He has one brother, Peter (1796-1879). According to The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, they were the sons of Charleston silversmith Peter Mood Sr. (1766-1821). The Moods came from a long line of German silversmiths, including the brothers’ grandfather John Peter Muth, who settled in Philadelphia in 1750 and died during the Revolutionary War. Their father moved to Charleston area around 1785 and 
began working as a silversmith. When John came of age and joined his father’s shop in 1814, the name of the firm changed to Mood & Son.

Pictured are some of the silver that he made. I am not sure, but almost certain that the writing on the object is his signature stamp. 

A signature stamp is when Silversmiths such as the Moods put signature stamps on their creations. That's how you can tell who made them.

Also according to Find a Grave, John is buried in the Bethel Untied Methodist Church Cemetery. Since I am from the Charleston area, it would be easy to go see the burial but unfortunately I can't leave the house so this is a picture our professor showed us.