T H E J O U R N A L O F T H E C O N T E M P O R A R Y L O N G R I F L E A S S O C I A T I O N VOLUME 4, NO. 2
SUMMER 2013
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T H E J O U R N A L O F T H E C O N T E M P O R A R Y L O N G R I F L E A S S O C I A T I O N
CONTENTS
Volume 4, No. 2 • Summer 2013 EDITOR Mel Hankla
2. EDITOR’S NOTE
ASSOCIATE EDITORS Art DeCamp Frank House William Russell Young
4. FLINTLOCK FOWLERS~OUR FIRST AMERICAN MADE GUNS Tom Grinslade
ART DIRECTOR H. David Wright PRODUCTION MANAGER William Scurlock
22. COLLECTING AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR SWORDS Richard Zeschke
COPY EDITOR Sharon Cunningham
38. THE WAR OF 1812~THE FORGOTTEN CONFLICT THAT CHANGED NORTH AMERICA Mark Sage
PHOTOGRAPHERS Ric Lambert Jan Riser ADMINISTRATION MANAGER Rachel Nolen
54. THE 2013 CLA FUNDRAISING AUCTION H. David Wright
RESEARCH DEPARTMENT Henry Bishop James Blake Dan Brawner Kyle Carroll
62. Book Reviews Chronicles of the Cumberland Settlements 1779–1796 A Demand of Blood: The Cherokee War of 1776 Reviewed by Mark Sage
AMERICAN TRADITION is the official publication of the Contemporary Longrifle Association and is published twice a year for the membership. Annual membership dues are $50.00. To join the CLA or for more information, contact: The Contemporary Longrifle Association, P.O. Box 2247, Staunton, VA 24402. Phone: 540 886-6189. Email: cla@longrifle.ws. Website: www.longrifle.com
64. SOURCES & RESOURCES Russ Young
Copyright 2013 by the not-for-profit Contemporary Longrifle Association, all rights reserved.
Front Cover: Adorning our cover is Ric Lambert’s handsome photo featuring American fowlers alongside a couple of mallard drakes. Above is an antique Hudson Valley fowler, below is a graceful cherrystocked fowler made by deceased CLA member David Dodds. To learn more about American fowlers, both antique and contemporary, see the article by Tom Grinslade on page 4.
CONTACTING THE EDITOR: For editorial inquiries, contact Mel Hankla at <melhankla@amhiss.com>, phone 270566-3370. Mail written material to: Mel Hankla, PO Box 156, Jamestown, KY 42629 Printed by Modern Litho Jefferson City, MO 65101 American Tradition
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Quilled neck knife sheath and knife by Zachary Callahan.
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our years ago Frank House, David Wright and I, riding on the wave of excitement, energy and momentum of the “House Brothers” fundraising project, conceived the idea of beginning a high quality publication that would showcase the art of CLA artisans. Proceeds of the very successful raffle would fund the endeavor, thus giving something back to our membership who so graciously supported the organization. With the enthusiastic support of the CLA/CLF boards of directors, in 2010, American Tradition—The Journal of the Contemporary Longrifle Association was first published. Our philosophy has been that articles about the “art” promote numerous artists and their work concurrently, thus more fairly serving our membership as a whole. In eight issues we have shown the work of more than 350 artists! The CLA is the heart of the arts of the Longrifle Culture. Our organization provides an annual venue for interaction between artists, collectors, shooters, builders, that is, any entity whose actions, interest, and/or way of life is influenced by some aspect of the American Longrifle. The continued goal with this journal is to promote the Contemporary Longrifle Association, its members and their art, and to educate, through dissemination of information about historical arms and related arts. Our mission is to encourage our membership’s focus upon the quality of art produced with acute consideration given to its relevance to our purpose. About this issue… Ric Lambert’s handsome front cover photo of two American fowlers accompanied by a couple of “green head” mallard drakes is supported by an indepth article by Tom Grinslade, “Flintlock Fowlers, Our First American Made Guns.” A seasoned author, Tom has written for numerous periodicals, as well as two successful books, Flintlock Fowlers: The First Guns Made in America and Powder Horns: Documents of History, both published by Scurlock Publishing Company of Texarkana, Texas. From the beginning one of our goals has been to present rare and seldom seen traditional items, providing inspiration for the artist and fascination to the collector. Dr. Richard H. Zeschke has broached perhaps the most intriguing of knife and blade topics in his article, “Collecting American Revolutionary War Swords.” Succinctly written, it is excellently illustrated 2
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with original and contemporary examples. Mark Sage’s “The War of 1812—The Forgotten Conflict That Changed North America” is one of the most readable articles I’ve encountered on this subject. Mark has concisely presented many details and idiosyncrasies of this historically significant conflict. The CLA is continuing its commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812 with articles about the second year of this historic event. In keeping with the theme this year, twenty-three CLA artists have handmade and donated one-of-a-kind items for a fundraising auction. David Wright covers this annual event and exceptional items are beautifully showcased in his article, “War of 1812/ Year Two—The Contemporary Longrifle Association 2013 Fundraising Auction.” To finish out this issue, Russ Young’s popular column “Sources & Resources” features Iron Stain for Powder Horns and Mark Sage reviews two new books; A Demand for Blood: the Cherokee War of 1776 by Nadia Dean and Chronicles of the Cumberland Settlements ~ 17791796 by Paul Clements. It is with mixed emotions, that Art Director, David Wright and I announce that this issue of American Tradition will be our last. We are now finishing our fourth year and the time has come to pass the torch. However, do not despair, Executive Director Gordon Barlow and the CLA staff is in the process of putting in place a new American Tradition team and the magazine will carry on building upon the foundation formed during these last four years. I wish to offer a special thanks to the staff of American to Tradition and every member for your encouragement and support through these last four years. This experience has facilitated friendships and conversation with many talented artists and writers from whom I have learned much. Sincerely,
Mel Hankla of
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Flintlock Fowlers
Our First American Made Guns Tom Grinslade
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Flintlock fowlers were first introduced in the 17th century as sporting guns for noblemen in France and England in contrast with their use in Colonial America where they were used for hunting to provide much needed food for the table.
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et us imagine we are living 260 years ago imported from many Old World countries. Heavy use in Colonial America, which in 1750, had a was made of these smoothbores. As the guns wore out, population of about 1,170,000 people scattered the still-usable parts were recycled by blacksmiths into a thinly up and down the Atlantic Coast. Before that, at usable fowler. With the progression of the 18th century, the beginning of the century there were approximately gunsmiths became capable of crafting entire guns. 250,000 people; forests covered most of eastern North Gunmakers grew in numbers from as few as a halfAmerica. Gradually the timberland was cleared to dozen at the start of the 1700s to possibly as many as permit farming, which occupied the majority of the 130 by the end of the century. According to J. R. Mayer, people in the American Colonies during the 18th century. by the time of the Revolutionary War, gunsmiths in the The population was increasing rapidly and by 1800 had shop of Medad Hills in Goshen, Connecticut, employed become 5,000,000. In 1750 ninety-five per cent of the twenty-eight blacksmiths forging barrels and locks. settlers were living on As gun building farms; the urban increased throughout populations were small America, different with no individual city styles developed in containing over 16,000 various geographical people. Small game was areas creating five plentiful and in addition distinct groups of to rabbits and squirrels, fowlers based on their turkeys were abundant. location of manufacture. In New England In the early years, there were reports of New Englanders passenger pigeons came in contact with passing overhead in predominately French such giant flocks that guns, either those they darkened the sky. that arrived directly In this environment from France, or with it was normal for those guns used by farmers to rely on wild the French traders in game to supplement Flint lock on an early New England fowler from New Hampshire marked “A WALDREN” Canada. Consequently, food supplies, which on the lockplate and “NH 1751” on the breech of the 64” barrel. when New Englanders consisted mainly of their began making guns for crops. A farmer’s need for a gun was great and was filled themselves, those arms followed the French design. by obtaining a simple flintlock fowler. This smoothbore Two very simple Revolutionary War fowlers are could not only be used to hunt game but also to protect pictured to show the average style smoothbore in the the settler’s family in case of Indian raids. The fact that homes of many early settlers. The stocks of these two guns most families commonly had a fowler of some kind is are very plain without any carving, the furniture is not shown by statements such as this one by the Governor of engraved and the locks and the barrels are reused from Virginia, Sir Jeffery Amherst, who wrote in 1759, “Most previous arms. The first fowler is interesting because it people in North America have arms of their own.” belonged to a member of the Halsey family, which came The origin of fowlers varied greatly, having been to America from England in 1637 and settled on Long American Tradition
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Typical of the New England fowlers pressed into service during the Revolutionary War, this gun was carried by Thomas Halsey and has his initials “T H” carved in the left side of the buttstock.
Below is a picture of the old Halsey Homestead located in Southhampton, Long Island, which is currently open to the public as a museum.
Island in 1740. Today the Thomas Halsey Homestead is a museum in Southampton, Long Island. The initials “T H” are carved on the buttstock. Accompanying the fowler is a large powder horn inscribed, “Thomas Halsey --- Fort Tyondrogy [Ticonderoga] 1776.” Genealogical records list Thomas Halsey on this horn as a fifth generation Halsey who served in the Revolutionary War. His cousin Jeremiah Halsey was a lieutenant in Colonel Edwards’ regiment and accompanied Ethan Allan in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. It is likely Thomas Halsey was with Jeremiah as a part of that expedition because his powder horn is marked with the misspelled name of Fort Ticonderoga. The second gun is remarkable because it was handed down in a Concord, New Hampshire family whose ancestor, Joseph Barns, was a Revolutionary War soldier. Members of that family trace their ancestry back to Thomas Barns,
Typical of the fowlers carried during the early part of the Revolutionary War this gun, used by Joseph Barns, was said by the family to have been used at Lexington and Concord.
because they were made over a long period of time and in a large geographical area. As early as 1626 the Massachusetts Bay colonists prepared a list of arms for their journey to America, which included fowling pieces 5 ½ to 6 feet long. At that early date they were probably snaphaunce guns, but reflected an early tradition of longbarreled guns used for fowling. Perhaps their length was attributed to the belief that gunpowder had a greater chance of complete combustion in a long barrel, which may be accurate, or not, but no doubt influenced their construction. The general design of New England fowlers followed that of French guns with a dominant feature of a downward-curved buttstock. The lower edge is concave and the upper edge is convex producing a silhouette
who immigrated to Marlborough, Massachusetts, on the ship Speedwell in 1656. Joseph Barns enlisted from New Braintree, Massachusetts, as a lieutenant in Captain John Granger’s Company of Minutemen for two weeks and three days starting April 19, 1775. Accompanying the gun is a powder horn marked “JOSEPH BARNS” on one side and “HIS HORN CONCORD” on the reverse. Oral tradition places the gun and the horn at the fight at Concord Bridge on April 19, 1775.
New England Fowlers New England fowlers constitute the largest group of guns made in the Colonies during the 18th century, 6
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RIC LAMBERT
The powder horn used by Thomas Halsey has his name, date and Fort Ticonderoga (misspelled) awkwardly carved on it.
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Along with his name, “JOSEPH BARNS,” this horn has “HIS HORN CONCORD” as well as a figure of a mermaid, a horse and a fish inscribed on it.
RIC LAMBERT
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An early, long-barreled New England fowler with French style hardware consists of a buttplate, triggerguard and sideplate made of brass. The stock has the usual French appearance of a drop to the buttstock and is plain except for a raised tree in relief on the wrist at the barrel tang.
that is often referred to as a “Roman Nose” design. The centers for producing guns in France—Tulle, SaintEtienne and Charleville, made muskets and fowlers for New France as early as 1720, whose characteristics provided a pattern for gunsmiths in New England. The long barrel lengths were gradually reduced to more of an average length of from 44 to 52 inches; this shorter barrel was found to be just as effective and much easier to carry in the woods. The French influence on New England fowlers is shown in the engraving and carving copied from the guns from France, but was generally not as well executed in America. Many parts were imported from France, including locks, sideplates, triggerguards and buttplates whose fine engraving exceeded the capabilities of Colonial craftsmen. The French carving also was more detailed than the average American gunsmith could produce. There were a few exceptional gunsmiths in New England, (Thomas Earl and Phineas Sawyer and a few others who were master craftsmen and whose ability could match the artisans from Europe), but they were decidedly few in number. Many gunsmiths who developed gun building in New England were mainly located in and around Boston and later along the Connecticut River.
The New England fowler shown here is a very unusual gun in that it is marked on a barrel flat, “NH 1751” and represents one of the early New England guns with an extra-long barrel of 64 ¼ inches. The lock is marked “ 1743” and in bold double-lined letters “A WALDREN” in a different hand from the engraving on the barrel. It is possible this name and the “1743” date are spurious markings as there was a gun dealer near Boston about 1930 named Kimball, who had many locks falsely attributed to very early gunsmiths by a gunmaker named Teft. The name Alexander Waldren is listed as a gunmaker in Kittery, Maine, from 1660 to 1676, obviously too early for a lock marked “1743” or a barrel dated “1751.” Therefore this may have been one of the guns falsely attributed to an early gunsmith by Teft. The triggerguard and the sideplate are typically French designs and the banana-shaped lock appear original to the gun. The simple carving to the rear of the barrel tang is typical of the period and the simplicity of construction is noted in the lack of a buttplate. Today the marking identifying it to New Hampshire and the date of “1751” are important engravings that make it a treasure to collectors of New England guns.
British Style Fowlers RIC LAMBERT
The second style of gun that developed in the metropolitan cities of New York and Philadelphia followed the style being manufactured in England; those American cities traded primarily with Great Britain for their arms. The guns imported from England must have included some very long-barreled fowlers manufactured in England for bird shooting early in the 18th century. The long-barreled fowlers copied from the British in American cities were long and heavy similar to the Hudson Valley fowlers and were confused with them by early collectors. However, the long barrels were the only common feature; the architecture of the stocks, the
The stocks of British style fowlers followed the outline of British sporting guns and muskets and also used British style hardware. Right: The carving on British style fowlers frequently had large leaf designs on the lower side of the buttstock and also, as shown here, at the rear of the British style triggerguard and at the rear ramrod thimble.
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