Arms Makers of Colonial America by James B. Whisker is a comprehensively documented historical survey of the broad spectrum of arms makers in America who were active before 1783. Complemented by a lengthy introduction and nearly 200 illustrations, this extensive listing was derived from original source materials, including the archives and public and state papers of the thirteen original colonies, tax records, Revolutionary War pensions, deeds, wills and estates, and the American Archives. With a full citation of the source, each biographical entry presents the type of arms production the individual was engaged in, the time period, and the location. The professions represented are many and varied: gunsmiths and gunstockers, armorers, gun barrel makers, iron and steel manufacturers, brass founders, pike and other edged weapon makers and cutlers, accoutrements makers, gunpowder makers, and gunlock makers and locksmiths. In each of the earliest settlements in America there was a gunsmith who mended the arms of his neighbors and sharpened their knives and taught them how to use these tools on which they depended for food and protection. John Dandy of Maryland, ca. 1635, is the first person who can be identified as a gunsmith who made guns - lock, stock, and barrel. Most of the earliest gunsmiths were armorers, that is, they repaired, cleaned, and maintained arms on government contract. In early New England each militiaman provided his own gun or the colonial administration provided one for him and charged him for it. The maintenance of the gun was the responsibility of the government, and thus it has been possible to identify many of the early armorers and gunsmiths through colonial records of their services. Militia service was neglected, however, during the early to mid eighteenth century, and when war came, public arms were generally in a deplorable state. During the French and Indian War many gunsmiths were impressed into service as armorers to restore the neglected arms. This exercise proved to be a grand rehearsal for arms production taken on during the Revolution. An English observer wrote that the Americans would have little difficulty arming themselves if war came between the mother country and her colonies because there were more than sufficient gunmakers and allied tradesmen to provide 100,000 guns a year. Pennsylvania was the center of the arms making trade. The home rifle, commonly called the Pennsylvania-Kentucky Rifle, an American modification of the German hunting rifle, had been developed in or near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. It was deadly accurate and gave the skilled marksmen of the backwoods a superior sniper weapon. The craftsmen of Lancaster, Philadelphia, and other cities stopped making their civilian arms and concentrated on making militia muskets in the early years of the war for independence. By 1780, except on the frontier, the supply of imported and domestic militia arms exceeded demand, and the tradesmen returned to rifle making. The golden age of classic long rifle making followed.
10. Francis Baily, Journal of a Tour in Unsettled Parts of North America in 1796 & 1797, ed. Augustus De Morgan (London: Baily Bros., 1856), 109. 11. Baily, Journal of a Tour, 127–128. 12. Baily, Journal of a Tour, 132–134. 13.
Ancillary areas such as locksmiths, powder makers and forge masters are also discussed. A complete bibliography and index are also included. Dr. Whisker is the author of Arms Makers of Colonial America and several other specialist studies.
A survey, with hundreds of illustrations, of the arms making industry in Pennsylvania from its beginnings until about 1900. it focuses on the Pennsylvania long (Kentucky) rifle, and identifies the...
Mann , Arms and Armour , III , 623 , 641. Stone , 3. J. Starkie Gardner , Foreign Armour in England , Glossary , 151 , 152 , 605. Il Manoscritto Messicano London , 1898 , 17-22 ; Armour in England , London ...
The brigade marched northwards for 100 miles , arriving on March 5 at Stade , located on the Elbe River , midway between Hamburg and the North Sea . At Stade , Faucitt administered the oath of loyalty to the brigade .
In Armed America, Cramer depicts a budding nation dependent on its firearms not only for food and protection, but also for recreation and enjoyment.
In this context , the argument of many scholars that the South was peculiarly militaristic does not make a great deal of sense . ... and Mind of James Johnston Pettigrew ( Athens , GA , 1990 ) , 123–29 ( quote p .
Guns on the Early Frontiers: A History of Firearms from Colonial Times Through the Years of the Western Fur Trade
Washington ordered part of his reserves commanded by General William Maxwell to make the assault. Cannon was brought to bear but the walls of the stone mansion were too thick and the shot did little damage. The Americans then tried an ...
On February 18, 1845, Robbins, Kendall, and Lawrence of Windsor, Vermont, contracted to make 10,000 stands at $11.90 each. This contract was followed by another for 15,000 at $12.875 on Ianuary 5, 1848. In the meantime, Kendall had sold ...