Dan grew up in west central Wisconsin, Karen in southeast Ohio.  We met at Ohio State in 1967 when we were both working on Master’s degrees in the biological sciences.  Married in 1969, we initially lived in DC while Dan was in the Army, Karen working on a research grant for National Institutes of Health at George Washington University Hospital.  At Cornell in 1971, the interest in antiques started as a result of auctions to furnish an apartment.  Predisposed to collecting as children, Dan at a farm (from insects to coins) and Karen (seashells while in Florida in the summertime), we were both mutually enthusiastic upon discovering early American antiques in central NYS.  Quickly meeting and learning from some dealers, Axtell in Deposit, NY among them, we collected what we could with resources we had.

Finishing a PhD in Insect Ecology at Cornell in 1973, we moved to northern NJ, Karen teaching high school biology, and Dan working as an Environmental Consultant until 1982 when he was laid off. Deciding to deal in antiques for the remainder of the year before looking for another position, the antiques business was successful, and became a permanent change.  Karen continued to teach until 2000.  She joined in a daily basis at that time, and we have continued to enjoy this world together to the present. 

Our first daughter Martha, born in 1976, died after eight months.  Our other daughters Sarah (1979) and Kirsten (1982) are married, and both have one child, McKenna (3 ½) and Ethan (6 months). Sarah lives near Philadelphia with husband Dan; Kirsten and her husband Mark, near Modena, New York. 

Since 1976, we have lived in the Silas Gardner House in the Town of Newburgh.  It is a three-story field stone house which is on the National Register.   We also have a few acres and the farm house and buildings in Wisconsin where Dan grew up, and where Swedish ancestors settled after the Civil War.

Dealing early American antiques since 1982, we have a building next to the house, which is always set up with everything accessible and priced.  We don’t have scheduled hours but are available when we are here.  We also do a number of antique shows throughout the year.  Aside from the antiques, we have always been active in our community and church.  We have been members of the Antique Dealers Association of America (ADA) since it started in 1984.  Dan served as the first president of ADA.