Jacob Ludwick

 Jacob Ludwick was a gunsmith in the Western part of Hampshire County, present-day Mineral County. The only record of him being a gunsmith is the 1860 Census for Ridgeville.  

                                                            1860 Hampshire County Census

Jacob was 21 years old at the time and lived with his parents, John and Sophia Ludwick. John and his family are recorded in the 1850 census of Shenandoah County, Virginia. In both records, Jacob's father, John, is listed as a millwright by trade. 

                                                                               

1850 Shenandoah County, Virginia 

While Jacob's immediate family migrated to Hampshire County in the 1850s, his grandfather, Jacob Ludwick, was there in the early 1800s. 

                                                                            

                                                      1830 Hampshire County Census

 The following percussion long rifle is Jacob's only known surviving rifle. This rifle has the typical Hampshire County architecture of a percussion rifle from that era. This is only the second Hampshire County Rifle we have seen utilizing a patent breech.  A few features we have not seen on other Hampshire County rifles are the extended breech tang with two screws and the stock secured to the barrel via screws instead of pins or wedges. The patchbox and capbox engraving look similar to Frederick Sheetz's. The gouging engraving was almost a trademark of some Hampshire County Sheetz rifle makers. It is possible that Jacob served his apprenticeship with one of them. 

What happened to Jacob after 1860 remains unknown to us. He probably served in the military during the Civil War. While searching the records, we found a couple Jacob Ludwicks from the surrounding area who served during the Civil War; however, their genealogy records do not match this Jacob Ludwick. Jacob Ludwick deserves additional study, and we desire more details on him. Hopefully, someone will have more information on him and share it with us. As with all our posts, we will edit as more factual information is revealed. 

                                                                                  

                                                                               

                                                                                    

                                                          Signed & Dated by Jacob Ludwick 

                                                                               

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