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

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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

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

 

GEORGE R. SHEETZ

C.S.A.

 

    

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

 

WILLIAM F. SHEETZ

GUNSMITH

C.S.A.

 

                         
                                                                         

 

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JACOB SHEETZ OBITUARY

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                                                                      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.

 

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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.