JACOB SHEETZ GUNSMITH & FAMILY

 

JACOB SHEETZ & FOUR OF HIS SONS.

WE BELIEVE JACOB DICE IS THE ONE ON THE LEFT IMMEDIATELY BEHIND HIS FATHER JACOB. WILLIAM F. ON THE RIGHT.

 

 

JACOB SHEETZ, SON OF MICHAEL SHEETZ GUNSMITH IN CHARLES TOWN, CAME TO HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FROM CHARLES TOWN IN ABOUT 1840. MICHAEL WAS THE SON OF HENRY SHEETZ SR AND BROTHER TO HENRY, FREDERICK, OTHO, AND ZEBULON. FREDERICK SHEETZ CAME TO HAMPSHIRE COUNTY IN 1792. OTHO, ZEBULON, AND HENRY ALSO WERE GUNSMITHS IN HAMPSHIRE COUNTY. JACOB MADE GUNS NEAR FRENCHBURG,  FIVE MILES EAST OF ROMNEY, ON THE NORTHWESTERN PIKE. IN 1858, HE MOVED TO THREE CHURCHES AND MADE GUNS THERE UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1884. WILLIAM'S CIVIL WAR RECORDS INDICATE HE WAS A GUNSMITH AS WELL. JACOB DICE ALSO FOLLOWED IN HIS FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS. IN THE 1900 CENSUS HE IS LISTED AS A GUNSMITH. HE DIED IN 1907 AT THE AGE OF 59. HE WAS THE LAST SHEETZ GUNSMITH IN HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.  FOR ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN YEARS THE SHEETZ FAMILY OF GUNSMITHS PRACTICED THE ART OF GUNSMITHING IN THE HILLS OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.

 

CIVIL WAR TRAILS MARKER IN FRONT OF JACOB SHEETZ HOME & GUNSHOP LOCATION.

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                                               JACOB SHEETZ RIFLE SIGNED J.S.

For Better Picture Click Below

  Collection (wvculture.org)

*ORIGINAL CIVIL WAR BROADSIDE.    "UNION  GENERAL BENJAMIN F. KELLEY'S PROCLAMATION".

 

UNION TROOPS HAD ALREADY DESTROYED THE PRESSES AT THE SOUTH BRANCH INTELLIGENCER IN ROMNEY. GEN. KELLEY PROBABLY HAD THESE PRINTED IN KEYSER OR CUMBERLAND.

 

NO DOUBT MANY OF THESE CITIZENS , MILITIA MEMBERS, AND THOSE INVOLVED IN GUERILLA WARFARE AGAINST THE UNION FORCES, THAT UNION GENERAL B. F. KELLEY WAS WARNING, WERE ARMED WITH RIFLES MADE BY JACOB SHEETZ. JACOB'S SONS WILLIAM  F. AND  GEORGE R. WERE CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS, AS WAS HIS DAUGHTER, SARAH ANN'S HUSBAND GEORGE W. BOWMAN.

 

 

JACOB SHEETZ WAS AN EXCELLENT ENGRAVER & USED NICELY FIGURED MAPLE WOOD FOR THE STOCKS.

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MANY OF JACOBS RIFLES WERE SIGNED IN THE ABOVE MANNER, HOWEVER THERE ARE SOME SIGNED J. S. IN SCRIPT.

 

                                                                    ROMAN NOSE

 

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY CHARACTERISTIC

_____________________________________________

 

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS BY JACOB SHEETZ' GREAT, GREAT GRANDSON. WE ARE GRATEFUL, FOR HIS SHARING THIS WITH US.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GEORGE W. BOWMAN & SARAH ANN

 

GEORGE W. BOWMAN JACOBS SON-IN-LAW SERVED THREE YEARS IN THE 18TH VIRGINIA CAVALRY.

C.S.A.

                                                    BURRIED AT OSCEOLA, IOWA

 

RECORDS OF WORK GEORGE PERFORMED FOR HIS FATHER-IN-LAW JACOB

CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE

---------------------------

 

GEORGE R. SHEETZ

C.S.A.

 

    

--------------------------

 

WILLIAM F. SHEETZ

GUNSMITH

C.S.A.

 

                         
                                                                         

 

CLICK FOR LARGE VIEW

 

 

JACOB SHEETZ OBITUARY

CLICK PHOTOS FOR LARGER IMAGE

                                                                                                                          

 

                                                                      JACOBS WILL

 

                                                                                  

                                                  

                                                                 JACOB SHEETZ

                                                         EBENEZER CEMETERY
                                                              ------------------------

                                                             JACOB DICE SHEETZ.

          "THE LAST GUNSMITH FROM THE SHEETZ FAMILY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY"                                         

                             

 

THE SHEETZ FAMILY OF GUNMAKERS HAD SERVED THE PEOPLE OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY IN ARMS & HONOR FOR  OVER A CENTURY.

 

                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON JACOB SHEETZ AND HIS GUNS SEE:

 

"GUNSMITHS OF WEST VIRGINIA" BY LAMBERT/WHISKER

"WEST VIRGINIA HISTORY VOLUME XLV 1984" ARTICLE BY WILLIAM H. ANSEL

* BROADSIDES WHERE A WAY OF COMMUNICATING CURRENT EVENTS OR NOTICES.THEY WERE PLACED WHERE PEOPLE MAY GATHER , SUCH AS COURT HOUSES, STORES, TRADING POSTS, NEAR CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, AND AT CROSSROADS.

 

THANKS TO THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED PHOTOGRAPHS AND INFORMATION. PLEASE DO NOT COPY.

 

NOTE: THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. WE WILL ADD MORE INFORMATION AND PICTURES IN THE FOLLOWING WEEKS. 

          

 

                                                                       

 

                                                                

THE EVICK GUNSMITH FAMILY OF PENDLETON COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA

 

 

WILLIAM EVICK RIFLE

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Adam Evick born 1782 died 1855 was son to George Evick . George's brother Francis Evick was the founder of Franklin the county seat of Pendleton County. Adam Evick was a gunsmith in Franklin from the early 1800's until his death in 1855. His early rifles were flintlock and stocked in wonderful tiger stripe maple. These rifles had brass patchboxes with excellent engraving. Some of  his rifles  had neat silver inlays made of coin silver. Most of the rifles he made after 1835 until his death had percussion locks. We do not know for sure where Adam Evick learned the art of gunsmith. The four petal flower finial on the patchbox is typical of the Valley of Virginia, and the push button patchbox lid release is much like that of John & Henry Sheets from Staunton Virginia. Adam may have apprenticed to Archibald Rutherford Gunsmith of Harrisonburg Virginia.  The few rifles we have been fortunate enough to inspect that Adam made were signed on the top of the barrel, "A E".

 

 

ADAM EVICK RIFLE

Signed A E

 

 

ADAM EVICK

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ADAM EVICK FLINTLOCK

 

 

Signed A E

 

 Adam had two sons that followed his trade, John & William. John was born 1804. John left Pendleton County after 1830 and is listed in the 1840 Census in Pocahontas County. In 1850 he is in Wood County and in 1860 he is in Kentucky. He dies in Lawrence County, Ohio 1882.

 

                                                                                

 

Signed John Evick Rifle

 

                                                60" Overall length, 43 3/8" Barrel, 48 Cal.

                                                                                 

 

Original Flintlock Converted To Percussion Using the Original Lock Plate.

                                                        Click Pictures For Larger Image

 

Special Thanks To The Owner For Sharing

 

 

 

 

William Evick was born 1803 and died in 1886; buried in Mt. Hiser Cemetery in Franklin . He spent most of his life making rifles and keeping them in good working order in Pendleton County. His rifles are in the style of his father's. While some of his guns are flintlock, most are likely  percussion. His workmanship was clean and precise. He was a master craftsman. Some of his rifles are signed, "W E" and we have seen at least one signed, "Wm Evick" in script. William had a son William C Evick who followed in his father's footsteps. The time period that William C was a gunsmith was late in the longrifle period. While he may have made a few muzzle loading rifles, he most likely worked on later model guns. He possibly repaired guns built by his Grandfather Adam, his father, and his uncle.

 

 

 

WILLIAM EVICK

 

To see more pictures of the Evick Rifles see "Gunsmiths of West Virginia" ,"Long Rifles of Virginia" and "Gunsmiths of Virginia." These books are by James B. Whisker. If you have anymore factual information on the Evick Gunsmiths please contact us; we will update this. Also if you have any pictures of Evick rifles that you would let us post here on this blog, we would appreciate your contribution.

 Evick Rebel Rifle

THANKS TO THE OWNERS OF THESE PICTURES FOR ALLOWING US TO POST. PLEASE DO NOT COPY.