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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Roland Savage Dayton, Preacher, Farmer, Blacksmith, Allegany County Commisoner & Gunsmith.

 Roland Savage Dayton, Gunsmith, Blacksmith, Farmer, County commissioner, and preacher, was born in 1815. In the 1850 census, he lived just two doors down from Gunsmith Frederick Sheetz's residence in Sheetz Mill, Hampshire County, Virginia, present-day Headsville Mineral County, West Virginia. He probably learned the gunsmith trade in the Sheetz shop. By 1860, he was living in McCoole, Maryland, and remained there until his death on August 1, 1900. 

                                                                              

                                                                  Roland Savage Dayton

The two featured half-stock percussion rifles below were made and signed by Dayton. We have seen eight rifles that Dayton made, half of which were full stocks. All of them were original percussion. All but one had both a patchbox and a capbox. Both of the rifles below have 38-inch barrels that have not been cut. One is a 40 caliber and the other 36. 

                                                                                

Rifles of The Feather

                                                               Barrel Signed R S Dayton

                                                                  Patchbox Signed, R S D

Rifle # 2 Below

                       Only Known Original Iron Triggerguard on a Hampshire County Rifle. 

Barrel Signed R S D

 Capboxes Below From Other Signed Dayton Rifles

Roland was an Allegany County commissioner in the mid-1860s.  

                                                                                 

 

                                                                                   

Roland was also a Methodist preacher. After the Civil War, the Methodist church at Headsville did not have a preacher, so Roland would walk from McCoole, Maryland, to preach. His Obituary states that he preached 6,000 sermons. He and his wife Nancy had 15 children. At his death in 1900, they had 66 grandchildren and 56 great-grandchildren. His obituary was published in newspapers across the United States. 

                                                                               

                                                                   Kansas City Star   

                                                                                 

                                                                  Baltimore Sun

                                                                              

                                                                      Roland S Dayton

                                                              Dayton Cemetery 21 Bridge

                                                                     McCoole Maryland

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Adam Greenawalt Gunsmith Pendleton County West Virginia

 Adam Greenawalt was born in Pendleton County in 1799.  Adam was the son of George Greenawalt and Barbra Lough.  Adam married Mary Ann Sites in 1829. 

We were excited to see this flintlock rifle attributed to Adam Greenawalt. It could easily pass for one made by the Evick's of Franklin, Pendleton County. We have not yet found any records that reveal where Adam learned the gunsmithing trade, but this rifle is a pretty good indicator that he may have worked with Adam Evick.  Greenawalt is listed as a gunsmith in the 1850 & 1870 census.  He was probably making rifles as early as the 1820s.  The Greenawalts had a son, Jacob, born in 1832, who served in the 46th Virginia Infantry during the Civil War. We have not found any information on Jacob working as a gunsmith. 

While we have seen at least a dozen rifles made by the Evicks, this is the first rifle made by Adam Greenawalt we have seen.   This flintlock rifle is stocked in beautiful tiger-striped maple and has a 44-inch long barrel rifled in 36 caliber. Has an engraved brass patch box with a push button lid release at the toe of the rifle.  Engraved brass sideplate and toeplate. There is decorative engraving on top of the barrel surrounding the rear & front sight. There is also punch mark decor at the muzzle surrounding the bore.  The rifle is signed on top of the barrel A G between the rear sight & breech. 

We hope that more rifles signed by Adam will be discovered. If you own one, we would like it if you could share photos. This rare maker deserves more study, and we would appreciate factual information on him. 

                                                              Click Images for large View

Signed A G Top of Barrel Between Rear Sight & Breech

                                                            44-Inch-Long Octagon Barrel

                                                             Engraved Brass Sideplate

Flintlock

                                Push Botton Patchbox Lid Release in Engraved Brass Toeplate

Engraved Brass Patchbox

                                    Decorative Punch Marks Surrounding Front Brass Sight

Punch Marks & Engraving 

                                                                               36 Caliber

                                                                                     

                                                             1850 Census Listed as Gunsmith

                                                                                     

        1870 Census Listed as Gunsmith

Adam died in 1870 and is buried in Greenawalt Cemetery in Kline, West Virginia. As with all of our posts, this one is a work in progress; we will update it as we find more information. We hope you all enjoyed this rifle and the history of Adam Greenawalt, another wonderful craftsman from our past and great state of West Virginia. 

Thanks to the owner of this fine rifle for sharing photos with us.  Without owners sharing with us, we cannot share with you. 

Pendleton County

BMS & JDM

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James Merrick

This James Merrick rifle is similar to most other Hampshire County style rifles of the period. To date this is the only rifle we have seen made by Merrick. The stock is plain maple with a limited figure. The hardware needed to finish the stocking was easily procured at most hardware stores. However, the one bolt lock appears to be handmade by Merrick.  Merrick probably made the thimbles and patch box as well.  The rifle also has a cap box on the cheek side of the gun. It looks like an afterthought since its construction is fairly crude. The barrel is 42 inches long by 15/16" straight octagon and about .42 caliber with forged percussion bolster. Signed on top of rifle barrel in bold block letters James Merrick. 

Circa 1850

                                                                             

                                        Signed in Block Letters James Merrick

In the 1810 Minutes book for Jefferson County, John Merrick was bound to gunsmith Jacob Sheetz to learn the art of gunsmithing.  This may be gunsmith John Jacob Sheetz.  We need further evidence to confirm that this John Merrick could be James. But seems to be a fit.  James Merrick was an armorer at Harpers Ferry Arsenal in 1830, 1840 & 1850.  He may have worked there after that, but we are unable to find any census records with him after 1850.  We do see him on the personal property tax list as late as 1868.  His son Shadrack, born in 1829, worked at the arsenal, and so did his son James, born in 1827. It is possible that James Jr could be the maker of this rifle.  James Jr moved to New Haven, Connecticut, and worked at Winchester Repeating Arms until he died in 1913. 

The study of the American Long Rifle is continuous, and hopefully, we will find more information on James Merrick Gunsmith and the maker of this rifle. 

JDM & BMS