HISTORICAL EDUCATION AT PROVIDENCE PLANTATION

"GUNSMITHING" Historical Origins of the American Longrifle

Pre-Revolutionary War Gunsmithing

Gunsmithing in Eastern Pennsylvania

Pre-Revolutionary War Gunsmithing

Gunsmithing in Eastern Pennsylvania

Pre-Revolutionary War Gunsmithing

Gunsmithing in Eastern Pennsylvania

More important for the history of the upper Ohio valley frontier than European

military weapons, was the Pennsylvania rifle. The former were not adequate to the

conditions of the frontier due to their clumsy construction with bad sights and

large bore, and the time required to load. The latter came into being around 1725

because of the demands of the fur trade and the need of frontiers-men for hunting

to provide food for their families and to protect against Indian invasions of the

settlements and early frontiers in eastern Pennsylvania.

While the longrifle was a distinctively American product, it has Europe origins.

The process known as rifling-cutting spiral grooves inside the barrel to increase

velocity and accuracy- probably began in Germany as early as the late fifteenth or

sixteenth century. A gradual evolution of the rifle occurred during the next two

centuries. About 1630 the invention of the flintlock brought great improvement to

the ignition system; until then rifles used unreliable matchlock or wheel-lock

ignition systems. At the same time, he shape of the stock evolved from a straight,

uncomfortable stock into one that was more natural and a buttstock cavity for

carrying gun tools and accessories was added. A significant technical improvement

was the recognition that a slightly undersized ball enveloped in a greased linen or

leather patch could be rammed down the barrel more easily than a full-size lead

ball, particularly if the bore of barrel had been fouled by previous shots. The

European rifle was fully developed by the end of the seventeenth century and thick

butts often adorned with carving. It often had a barrel 30 to 36 inches long, a

bore size of .60 to .75 caliber, and a butt cavity with a sliding wooden cover. No

surprise that the earliest rifles manufactured in America were very similar,

especially since most of Pennsylvania's early rifle makers were either Germans or

non-Germans apprenticed to them.

Among the European immigrants to the British colonies in North America in the early

eighteenth century there were numerous and varied tradesmen. Gunsmiths were among

them largely German and Swiss. Although most of earlier arriving peoples were

Scotch-Irish were often spread throughout the region, the Germans were notorious

for their clustering in their own communities, including Philadelphia, and in the

in-land settlements of Lancaster, Reading, and Bethlehem. The gunsmiths in each

settlement developed styles of rifle construction and carving. Characteristics of

the Reading and Bethlehem rifles remained largely indigenous. The features of the

Lancaster rifles were more varied.. An early manufacturing and trading center,

Lancaster served as a point of departure for immigration to the south and to the

west. As in the case of other trades, gunsmiths from there followed the migrants to

Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, and to the upper Ohio frontier and beyond.

It is no wonder that most students regard Lancaster as the birthplace and the

center of the development of the American longrifle. For the provision of meat and

the protection of the early frontiersmen on the weapon needed to be highly

accurate, long-distance in range, light weight, and efficient in its use of powder

and shot. As the American longrifle slowly evolved from 1725 from its European

ancester over the next fifty years, it became the finest firearm in its time. Great

accuracy was achieved by lengthening the barrels to between 40 and 48 inches. This

also provided a longer range by permitting the slow-burning powder of the time to

burn completely and thus elevated the velocity of the ball as it exited the barrel.

There was also the modification of the bore size to an average of.40 to .50

caliber, which, in turn, required less lead and powder for each shot. A further

consequence of reducing the bore size was that the barrels could be made lighter in

weight. Obviously this downsizing process resulted in a more slender and attractive

appearance. Some students of the longrifle see this process as a blending of

features of the European rife with the long slender English fowling piece of the

same period. Not only did the buttstocks become narrower, the European butt cavity

was modified, probably by 1760, so that the easily lost wooden cover was replaced

by a hinged brass lid. This was known as the "patch box," since it housed the

grease or grease patches.

Since longrifles before the American War for Independence were strictly functional

in purpose, they were most often plain with no decorative carving on the wooden

stock (usually maple or walnut) or engraving on its metal (often brass) parts or

mountings. Upon request or when the urge struck him. a gunsmith would add such

ornamentation or incorporate inlays. It is noteworthy that few of these guns were

signed by the German makers because they feared it would be taken as irreverent

boasting instead of giving the glory to God for their talents. By mid-eighteenth

century specialization in manufacturing occurred, such as the several mills who

made unrifled gun barrels near Reading, Pennsylvania, and European gun locks were

imported chiefly from Germany.

Gunsmithing on the Upper Ohio Valley Frontier

The first entrepreneurs on the far flung backcountry were the Euro-American traders

with the Ohio Indians. The first gunsmiths were in some instances men who operated

trading posts themselves and built and repaired guns for the hunters and traders as

well as for the Indians. The mid-eighteenth century witnessed a strong dependency

of the Mingo (Seneca), Delaware, and Shawnee on European goods gained in exchange

for the furs and deerskins that would be made into hats and other articles of wear

on the western European continent. While the French initiated the trade with the

Indians at Logstown, the Euro-American traders opened their posts on the Ohio

(including Logstown), the Allegheny, the Monongahela, and the Youghiogheny rivers.

They also did so at such locations as Venango, New Castle, Chilocothe, near

Detroit, and Illinois country. Perhaps the best known, probably the earliest,

trader-gunsmith in the region was John Frazer (or Fraser/Frazier). He probably was

trained as an apprentice to a German master gunsmith in eastern Pennsylvania, since

he had lived there earlier among the "Dutch." As early as 1737 he may have arrived

at Venango where a Delaware village (under Custaloga) was located, competing with

the French for trade with the Indians who had also come from eastern Pennsylvania

under pressure from the provincial alliance with the Iroquois. In 1747 he received

his traders license At this location, Frazer did gunsmithing and repairing of tools

and traded with the Indians until 1753 when the French secured the Indians'

alliance against the English and drove Frazer from the area, forcing him to

relocate at the mouth of Turtle Creek on the Monongahela. He provided gunsmithing

assistance to Washington at Fort Necessity the following year. In 1755 Braddock's

British army and colonial militia passed by his log house and shop into disaster at

the hands of the French and their Indian allies. He suffered the loss of his

trading post and shop (including his gunsmithing tools) as well as trade goods. To

recoup his losses in both battles, Frazer subsequently billed the British

government for "goods taken by the French and Indians at the battle of Great

Meadows July 3, 1754, and the battle of the Monongahela, 1755." A set of armorer's

tools was among the goods for which he sought payment.

Frazer would never rise to the level of success achieved by gunsmith William Henry,

who was trained by Matthew Roesser, the finest gunsmith at Lancaster. Just as he

became a master in his own shop Henry was made armorer to General Braddock. He

survived and returned to Lancaster where he made guns for the frontier trade and

retailed hardware and traders' supplies. Eventually he became a partner with the

Jewish merchant Joseph Simon until 1759. Among other enterprises, Henry and his

son, William Jr., operated the largest gun manufactory in the British colonies.

Although their paths likely crossed at the Battle of the Monongahela, Henry's

successes were as great as Frazer's losses.

Richard and William Butler, and Moses Henry (a relative of William?) carried on the

trade of gunsmithing at Pittsburgh, after Forbes' army in November 1758 drove the

French and their Indian allies from Fort Duquesne, which they blew up and burned as

they took flight. Forbes had Fort Pitt built in 1759-1760, symbolizing British

imperial control of the strategic forks of the Ohio. It also represented the

resumption of the trade with the Indians and served as the hub of its traffic.

Traders' account books disclose considerable information about the sales of

longrifles to both frontiersmen and Ohio Indians, averaging a price of "25 bucks" (

9.7s colonial currency) i.e. 25 male deerskins. Their books list many transactions

for repairs and rifles they made. The rifles had a large caliber (.40-.50) and

heavy stocks. Only a few of these guns have survived; none are known to exist that

were made in western Pennsylvania.

Euro-American settlers resumed possession of their lands after being driven out

following the battles of Great Meadows and Monongahela. They were accompanied by

new immigrants as well. But most of these white frontiersmen brought their

longrifles with them. The trade with the Indians continued to form the chief market

for gunsmiths. During the Indian War for Independence, led by Pontiac (and other

chiefs such as Kuyasuta), the Ohio Indians and several western nation allies laid

seige to Fort Pitt. They demanded the return of the Anglo-American military and the

white settlers to return to the eastern settlements. The traders and gunsmiths,

they insisted, should remain in the region. But Colonel Henry Bouquet lifted the

seige by defeating the Indians at Bushy Run on August 10, 1763. One year later his

expedition west to the Muskingum forced the Indians to coply and return all the

white and black prisoners whom the Indians had taken from the eastern settlements.

This circumstance resulted in a still larger immigration of new settlers from

Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, bringing artesans, including gunsmiths, with

them.

Gunsmithing on the Upper Ohio Frontier During The Revolutionary War

During this period there was a considerable increase the demand for guns. Since

European trade was cut off, arms were domestically produced. Pennsylvania continued

to serve as the center of gunmaking during the war, with a rise in the number of

apprentices commensurate with the increase in the number of blacksmiths-turned

gunsmiths. Larger shops were awarded contracts to mass produce longrifles and

muskets, most of which were plain, utilitarian firearms.

Given the history of the Euro-American warfare with the Ohio and other western

Indians on the backcountry of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and westward, the use of

the longrife was commonplace. It was also a given that any military or group of

rangers had in their midst a gunsmith who could repair their weapons. This would

certainly have been true at Fort Pitt. When Captain John Neville of Winchester,

Virginia, took control of the fort in August, 1775, he commanded five independent

companies of riflemen whose duty was to protect the Virginia frontier, which was

believed to extend northwestward to the forks of the Ohio on the south side of the

river. General Edward Hand of the Continental Army took command of the fort, ending

Virginia's military and political dominance in the area. In both cases, a gunsmith

would likely have been in demand at Fort Pitt. Similarly the Continental Congress

acted in 1775, in response to Washington's prompting, to authorize ten companies of

expert riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland. and Virginia as the first units to

become "the Continentals." The response from the Pennsylvania frontier to this

invitation to enlist was so large that on June 22, Congressed raised the colony's

quota from six to eight companies.

But the longrifle was not only critical to the War for Independence, it was also

necessary among civilians to protect themselves from Indian invasions in the

backcountry in the upper Ohio valley. Congress did show its recognition of the need

to defend the borderlands when in July 15, 1776 they raised the Eighth Pennsylvania

Regiment. It was made up of seven companies from Westmoreland County and one from

Bedford. Placed under the command of Aeneas Mackay, the regiment was stationed at

Kittanning on the northernmost east-west Indian trail in the colony, although it

only remained there until December 5, 1776 due to needs for additional troops in

the Continental Army in the east. Although the Army kept some troops at Fort Pitt

during the War, it was able to do little to protect the frontier from Indian raids

on the settlements. The British exaccerbated the problem by furnishing the Indians

incentive and supplies. To counter this problem, the civilian population formed

colonial militia units referred to as "ranging companies." Their longrifles served

as the weapon of choice to counter the Indian threats.

It may be supposed that a local gunsmith repaired their guns and kept their knives

and hatchets sharp for them.Unlike artesans who carried on their trades only in the

established eastern towns and countryside shops, gunsmiths moved westward to the

frontier long before other most other artesans arrived. Their small shops may have

only produced fifteen to thirty rifles in a year's time, but as noted above, many

repairs would have been required. The extensive and exacting requirements of

becoming a gunsmith are mirrored in the fact that it often required twice the time

an apprentice was required to serve.

The Post-Revolutionary War Period on the Upper Ohio Frontier

As one might expect, the demand for longrifles lessened considerably after the War.

A special problem faced the gunsmiths at this juncture. While the number of

gunsmiths rose during the War, the decrease in the demand for their products meant

a lowering of prices in a highly competitive marketplace. This challenge was

frequently met by the production of longrifles with a rise in artistic design. The

result was the so-called Golden Age of rifle making in North America. To lend value

to their creations, the better gunsmiths began to sign their weapons as limited

editions.

The signing of the second treaty of Fort Stanwix on October 23, 1784 resulted in

the Iroquois relinquishing the land north and west of the forks of the Ohio. With

the War's coming to an end a flood of immigrants entered the region, chiefly the

Monongahela Valley. There they found a bounty of wood, limestone, sandstone, coal,

and iron ore. Boat building was the region's first industry, but iron and glass

followed by the end of the 18th century. Farming, the most common "trade" produced

abundant wheat for flour and rye for "Monongahela rye" for whiskey. All of these

products were marketed between Pittsburgh and New Orleans. For hunting and

protection from occasional Indian attacks. the settlers more than ever needed

gunsmiths to produce and repair their longrifles. Artesans came from Pennsylvania,

Virginia, and Maryland, among them the gunsmiths. Here they would develop a

distinctive style of longrifle Largely Germans from the center of longrifle-making,

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, they set up shop throughout the Monongahela Valley, often

choosing a location near a mill on a stream.

Albert Gallatin advanced gunsmithing in the upper or south Monongahela Valley. He

arrived in FayetteCounty in 1785 and purchased a 400 acre plantation, which he

named "Friendship Hill." Becauseof his concerns for the common man, residents voted

to send him to the state assembly in 1791 and the House of Representatives in 1794.

The following year he purchased the neighboring estate of George Wilson (modern New

Geneva) and formed a partnership with some Swiss-American investors ("Albert

Gallatin and Company") with the plan of hiring Philadelphia gunsmith and related

artesans ro relocate to his land. Although he did secure a contract with

Pennsylvania in 1798 to produce 2,000 muskets, the results of his efforts were

largely unsuccessful. Nonetheless, in the same year Gallatin's manager in New

Geneva wrote to inform him that a local gunsmith, by the name of Melchoir, could

manufacture the same number of muskets at less than the contracted costs. Baker had

relocated from Lancaster, before 1781, to Haydentown (Fayette County). Gallatin's

plans were once more stalled when the British and their Indian allies took Baker

and his commander, Archibald Lochery, prisoner. Although Gallatin and Baker became

business partners in gun manufacturing at the turn of the century (1801), the

former withdrew to become secretary of the U.S. Treasure during the Presidency of

Thomas Jefferson. In Pittsburgh, The Tree of Liberty, October 11, 1800, gave the

notice that there were "nearly 100 persons working on Arms for the State Militia

west of the mountains."

County records for Fayette and Greene counties provide an extensive list of

gunsmiths working during the period of the musket production (Bake's contract

extended to 1806). Most prominent were the Hertzogs. Along with George Baker,

likely the son of Melchoir, they subsequently furnished rifles to the State of

Virginia. Others were the Ross brothers (Fredericktown, Washington County), Peter

Engle and his sons (Greene County), and the McClelland family of German Township

(Fayette County). Alleghenay and Westmoreland Counties gunsmithing developed from

the influence of the Monongahela Valley. The most distinctive designfeature of the

latter school was the elaborately pieced and engraved patchbox. On a large scale

the Monongahela Valley school of gunsmithing did not last long, since after General

"Mad" Anthony Waynes victory at Fallen Timbers in 1794, the Valley gunsmiths the

market demands down the Ohio River and followed the frontier on its movement west.

Gunsmithing Operations

The involved system of producing an authentic reproduction longrifle takes over

three hundred hours.

First, the shaping of the barrel. It begins at the forge, where bar iron (now

steel) is brought to a white-hot heat and hammered flat and then shaped into a

crudely formed tube or skelp. The formation of the barrel requires hundreds of

heatings as it is held around a poker-like mandril and hammered across the shapesetting

contours of a swage block.

Second, the gunsmith bores out the inside of the barrel to achieve a straight,

smooth tunnel.

Third, the exterior of the barrel is hand filed to near perfection. The top five

flats are given an extra polish with emery compound.

Fourth, the bore is rifled with seven, well-spaced spiraling grooves on the

ingenious machine that functions like a giant corkscrew. The term rifling is

applied to the machine and is that from which the longrifle takes its name. It

function is to give the bullet its spin, which increases velocity and accuracy.

Fifth, following the six days required to make the barrel, the smith tests it. He

takes the barrel out doors, lashes it to a large oak board and by a lighted powder

train fires a charge four times the weapon's usual load.

In additiion to the barrel, making the lock is one of the most difficult steps in

making the longrifle. The "flintlock system" was developed in the early seventeenth

century. Dominant for over two hundred years, it was the chief device for striking

sparks. A piece of sharpened flint, locked in a small moveable vise designated the

"cock" (sometimes incorrectly called the "hammer") smashes into a spring-loaded

projection, termed the "frizzen, " thus pushing it forward and directing a shower

of sparks into the exposed gun powder. The flash of igniting powder then travels

through a tiny hole in the barrel to set off the main charge.

First, though forging the lockplate from white-hot steel takes only half an hour,

hand-filing it to shape requires many hours.

Second, all the tiny moving parts are forged and filed in relationship to each

other. Each lock requires a mainspring and two small springs made of expensive

spring steel. These must be forged to shape, filed, polished, and heated in boiling

lead, and quenched in linseed oil.

Third, two major brass parts, the butt plate and trigger guard. are cast by setting

the pattern in wet sand, heating brass to the boiling point, and pouring the liquid

brass into the molds. These rough castings are then filed to near perfection.

The stock is often made of curly maple, whose blank has been air-dried for three

years. "Bedding" the barrel in the stock is critical. The barrel eases into a solid

groove which has been scribed, gouged, planed, and received fine chiseling. Heat

may be applied to nitric acid to darken the finish of the stock.

Wood carving often decorated stocks with finely detailed rococo relief carving,

mainly consisting of S-scrolls, C-scrolls, and various vines and leaves. Stocks

were made more slender, with thinner butts and smaller wrists. The brass patchbox

developed into more varied and intricate forms with cutouts and engraving in its

design. More inlays were used and became more complex with fine engraving.

The fitting of the butt plate controls the rear contours of the stock. Many small

parts must be made and fitted, including trigger, forend cap, ramrod, thimbles,

patchbox, and sideplate. Fancy ornaments, such as silver ornaments like stars and

acorns, are made and inlaid.

The end result was a longrifle of great beauty and high quality that characterized

the Golden Age of Amerian riflemaking. This period lasted longer in western

Pennsylvania than in the east, especially in Westmoreland County. In sum, the

American long rifle is a work of art, a piece of fine sculpture, and a highly

useful masterpiece.