The Lux
Family Collection
Henry
Lux emigrated from Niederbrun, Alsace to the United States in 1844 at the age
of 12. He worked as a chore boy, an
engineer in a lumber factory, a railroad watchman and a butcher. Henry was best
known as the owner and proprietor of The Washington (meat) Market. He was a member of the Utica (New York)
Common Council for several years in the late 1860s and was also appointed as
the first Commissioner of Police of Utica in 1874. Henry passed away in 1881 at the age of 64.
According
to his obituary, Henry was one of Utica’s “Best Known, Prominent, and Popular
Citizens.” “After he had reached his
50th year, and when the ‘pedestrian craze’ was at its height, he engaged in a
walking match with a much younger man, and defeated him in a 100-mile walking
match at the Opera House, the proceeds of which were devoted to charity. His object was not to make a record as a
pedestrian, but to give the Orphan Asylums a substantial benefit as well as to
create some fun for the boys, all of which he accomplished.”
Henry’s
son, Arthur J. Lux was born in 1857. He and his brother, Henry G. Lux Sr., were
partners in the Henry Lux & Son’s meat market firm, carrying on their
father’s business after his death. Henry
Lux & Son’s had various locations in Utica, but in 1886 the brothers
purchased and remodeled the commodious Lux Building on Bleecker Street, where
the market was operated until 1907.
Arthur and his brother were considered pioneers of motion picture
theaters, establishing the Alhambra Theater in Utica in the Lux Building. This theater was one of the first in the
country. In 1916, they erected a second theater in Utica, the DeLuxe Theater on
Park Avenue near Oneida Square. Over the
course of his life, Arthur J. Lux was an avid coin collector. At some point
Arthur took a bad fall and sustained a traumatic head injury. He was in a coma
for approximately 10 years, and required constant nursing care, the cost of
which greatly affected the family fortune. Arthur died in 1948 at the age of
91.
Arthur’s
son Fordyce G. Lux was not a collector. However, in Fordyce’s son Walter
William Lux, Arthur found a numismatic kindred spirit. Arthur would give his
grandsons silver dollars at Christmas and for their birthdays. W. William always kept his and bargained with
his brothers for theirs, as they were more apt to spend them than to collect
them. W. William shared his grandfather’s passion for coin collecting and
before his injury, Arthur passed his coin collection on to W. William.
Walter
William Lux, born in 1922, was a collector of coins and stamps for his whole
life. He attended college at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Although his education was interrupted by a stint in the Navy during
World War II as an Electronic Technician’s Mate Second Class, he eventually
graduated with a degree in chemical engineering. W. William spent his entire
career working as a metallurgist and in copper tubular sales for Revere Copper
and Brass in Rome, New York.
This
coin collection reflects the dedication of three Lux family members spanning
four generations, going back to the mid-19th century. The collection has always
remained in the Utica/Rome, New York area, however the family is now excited to
see these treasures find homes with a new generation of enthusiasts.
