CORNELIUS IMAN, GUNSMITH GRANT & HARDY COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA. 1830-1885

        

                                                                               

CORNELIUS IMAN RIFLE

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       THE FOLLOWING RESEARCH WAS PROVIDED TO US BY JAMES B. WHIKSER

Iman, Cornelius 1830-1885). gunsmith. Cornelius Iman was a son of Emanuel and Barbara (Seitz) Iman and was born in Pendleton County. He married Hanna Kimble (1836-1929), daughter of James and Jane (Porter) Kimble. They had issue: Susanna (b. 11/19/1856); James Monroe (b. 7/30/1854); John (b.1858); Abraham (b.1860); Mary A. (b.1862); William Edgar (b.1868); Sara Jane (b. 6/27/1870); Rhoda Viola (b.1872); Rutherford (b.1876); Alice (b.1879); Henry (b.1882); Henry (b.1882); and Alva (b.1879). In 1862 Iman enlisted at Greenland, Grant County. His enlistment papers described him as a gunsmith, standing 5'11" tall, with black hair and dark eyes. He served in Company I, 7th Virginia Infantry, Union Army, known as the Bloody 7th as they had the highest casualty rates of all WV units. They were the only WV unit in The Army of the Potomac and fought in every major battle in the east including Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Cold Harbor, siege of Petersburg, and Appomattox. Hardy County Home Guards, Private under Captain Daniel C. M. Shell Co. on roll dated 12 November1862 .He contracted scrofula and on 13 February 1863 was given a medical discharge from the army. In 1870 he lived near Patterson Creek, Grant County, with real estate valued at $300 and personal valuation of $100. In 1870 he was a gunsmith living in Union district, south of Petersburg, near Mill Creek, Grant County [Census]. Cornelius died on 7 June 1885 at Pansy, Grant County: Cornelius E. Iman; white; male; born - Pendleton County, WV; died June 7, 1885 in Milroy Dist., Grant County, WV; aged 55 years 1 month 20 days; parents - Emanuel and Barbara Iman; occupation - gunsmith; cause of death - heart disease; death source - Hannah Iman (wife). His widow was granted a government pension because his death was related to the disease contracted in the army [Death Register No. 1: 25 Grant County; Census; Ancestry].

                                 

                                                             CIVIL WAR PENSION

                                 

                                                                 1860 CENSUS

                                                             HARDY COUNTY

 Below is a beautiful halfstock 36 cal rifle made & signed by Iman. The rifle & accouterments where Cornelius Iman's personal hunting outfit, according to family history. 

                                                                        

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                         Pictured Below is another halfstock  rifle made and signed by  C E Iman

                                                        Click pictures for larger view

Below is a signed full stock rifle. 

                                                                            

                                                                      

Below signed C E Iman Fullstock Percussion Rifle 

                                                 Below Is An Attributed Iman Rifle 

                                                                        

Recently Added Another Fine Rifle Made by C E Iman

Cornelius Iman's Grave just off RT 93 in Scherr WV

SPECIAL THANKS TO JAMES  B. WHISKER, FOR SHARING THIS RESEARCH WITH US.

PHOTO OF CORNELIUS IMAN RIFLE FROM PAGE 136  "GUNSMITHS OF WEST VIRGINIA" , BY FRED R. LAMBERT & JAMES B. WHISKER. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION FROM  JAMES B WHISKER.

IF YOU HAVE MORE INFORMATION ON CORNELIUS IMAN OR PICTURES OF HIS WORK , WE WOULD APPRECIATE YOU CONTACTING US.

THANKS TO THOSE WHO SHARED PICTURES OF THEIR RIFLES WITH US . 

Hope You Enjoyed, BMS

WILLIAM REYNOLDS OF GREENBRIER COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA

               WILLIAM REYNOLDS - ONE OF WEST VIRGINIA'S FINEST GUNSMITH'S

                                                                      

 

SIGNED ON PATCHBOX LID

WM REYNOLDS & CO

   
                                                                              

 

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WILLIAM REYNOLDS WAS BORN IN NORTH CAROLINA IN ABOUT 1787.  HE PROBABLY LEARNED THE TRADE OF GUNSMITHING BEFORE HE CAME TO GREENBRIER COUNTY.  THE FIRST CENSUS THAT WE FOUND HIM IN GREENBRIER COUNTY WAS 1840. IN THE 1850 & 1860 CENSUS HE IS LISTED AS A GUNSMITH.  IT IS VERY POSSIBLE HE WAS THERE BEFORE THAT, AND IF YOU HAVE FACTUAL INFORMATION ON THIS PLEASE SHARE IT WITH US.

 

 

BEING AN EARLY MAKER, A LARGE AMOUNT OF HIS RIFLES WERE MADE USING THE FLINTLOCK.  MOST OF THE RIFLES HE  MADE FROM 1835 HAD  THE PERCUSSION LOCK.  MOST OF THE SURVIVING RIFLES WE SEE ARE PERCUSSION, BUT MANY OF THESE WERE CONVERTED FLINTLOCKS.  HIS WORK IS EXCEPTIONAL; HIS ENGRAVING AND INCISE CARVING IS MASTERFUL AND UNIQUE.  HE LEARNED HIS TRADE DURING THE GOLDEN AGE OF RIFLEMAKING AND HELD ON TO MANY OF THOSE TRADITIONS.  GUNSMITHS TRAINED IN THE 1820'S AND LATER TENDED TO USE INLAYS TO DECORATE THEIR RIFLES OR MADE PLAIN UTILITARIAN RIFLES WITH LITTLE OR NO DECORATION.

                                                            

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IN THE BOOK  " GREENBRIER PIONEERS AND THEIR HOMES" BY RUTH WOODS DAYTON , ON PAGE 199. THE AUTHOR STATES " THE TOWN OF ALDERSON HAD A FAMOUS AND EXPERT GUNMAKER NAMED REYNOLDS.  AT THE TIME OF THE CIVIL WAR THE FEDERAL SOLDIERS TOOK FROM HIM HIS TOOLS AND SUPPLIES, AND FORCED HIM TO DISCONTINUE HIS TRADE FOR THE DURATION OF THE WAR.  MANY OF HIS GUNS  ARE STILL IN GREENBRIER TODAY AND ARE GREATLY PRIZED FOR THIER FINE WORKMANSHIP ".

 

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WILLIAM REYNOLDS, GREENBRIER'S FINEST GUNSMITH DIED  IN 1868. HIS WIFE JUDITH DIED  IN 1881.  ON THE OTHER SIDE  OF WILLIAM AND JUDITH'S  HEADSTONE IS BENJ. F BROWN AND AMANDA. AMANDA IS WILLIAMS DAUGHTER.

 

 

C S A

 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BROWN WAS A CONFEDERATE SOLDIER AND SERVED IN  COMPANY D  27TH VIRGINIA INFANTRY. ALSO CALLED THE "MONROE GUARD".

HE SERVED THE ENTIRE WAR AND WAS TAKEN PRISONER IN 1864.

 

 

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IN 1866 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BROWN MARRIED WILLIAM REYNOLDS'S DAUGHTER, AMANDA. IN THE 1870 CENSUS BENJAMIN F BROWN IS LISTED AS A GUNSMITH. NO DOUBT HE LEARNED THE TRADE FROM HIS FATHER IN LAW. BENJAMIN DIED 1874. WE HAVE NOT HEARD OF, OR SEEN ANY GUNS HE MADE.

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WE APPRECIATE DEBORAH F. PHILLIPS FOR ALLOWING US TO USE HER PHOTO OF THE REYNOLD'S AND BROWN'S HEADSTONE.

WITH THIS PHOTO WE LEARNED OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BROWN, A WEST VIRGINIA GUNSMITH WE DID NOT KNOW ABOUT.

THANK YOU.

 

THANKS TO THE TWO COLLECTORS WHO SHARED PICTURES OF THEIR SIGNED REYNOLDS RIFLE. PLEASE DO NOT COPY PICTURES, THEY BELONG TO THE OWNERS.

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA GUNSMITHS SEE:

 

"GUNSMITHS OF WEST VIRGINIA" BY JAMES B. WHISKER & FRED R. LAMBERT

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GREENBRIER COUNTY SEE:

"GREENBRIER PIONEERS AND THEIR HOMES" BY RUTH WOODS DAYTON

 

IF YOU HAVE ANYMORE FACTUAL INFORMATION ON WILLIAM REYNOLDS GUNSMITH , PLEASE FORWARD TO US.

THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS AND  WE APPRECIATE HELP.

BMS

 

 

BENJAMIN F SHANE

                              BENJAMIN F SHANE GUNSMITH AT COLD STREAM
                                                             WEST VIRGINIA

                                

JOHN SHANE WAS BORN 1803 IN FREDERICK COUNTY VIRGINIA. IN 1821 HE MARRIED CATHERINE MASON. THEY HAD SEVERAL CHILDREN INCLUDING BENJAMIN F SHANE, WHO WAS BORN ABOUT 1827. WE HAVE LITTLE INFORMATION ON BENJAMIN; THE BEST STORY THAT HE LEAVES US IS HIS WELL MADE RIFLES.

                                                        

 

THERE WAS A FRANCIS SHANE LIVING IN THE HOUSE OF  HAMPSHIRE COUNTY GUNSMITH JOHN W. RINEHART ACCORDING TO THE 1850 CENSUS. FOR SEVERAL YEARS I HAD THOUGHT THIS WAS A RELATIVE OF BENJAMIN, HOWEVER, DURING RECENT CORRESPONDENCE WITH HISTORIAN WILMER KERNS, I WAS INFORMED THAT BENJAMIN USED THE NAME FRANCIS OR FRANK. THIS WOULD INDICATE TO US THAT BENJAMIN F SHANE MOST LIKELY APPRENTICED TO JOHN W RINEHART. BENJAMIN MARRIED CATHERINE GILL.  IN THE 1860 CENSUS BENJAMIN IS LISTED AS A GUNSMITH.

 

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BENJAMIN SIGNED HIS GUNS IN THE ABOVE MANNER, "B. F. SHANE". ON A FEW OF HIS GUNS HE ADDED "AT COLD STREAM". THERE ARE SOME SIGNED B.F.S. AS STATED EARLIER HIS RIFLES ARE WELL MADE. THE WOOD TO METAL FIT IS SO TIGHT THAT ON MANY OF HIS GUNS THE TRANSITION APPEARS SEAMLESS. A TESTAMENT TO THE DURABLILITY, IS THE CONDITION OF HIS SURVIVING 160 YEAR OLD RIFLES. SO FAR, ALL OF HIS GUNS THAT HAVE SURFACED ARE PERCUSSION LOCK; IT IS DOUBTFUL THAT HE MADE ANY FLINTLOCK GUNS. MOST GUNS MADE AFTER 1835 MADE USE OF A PERCUSSION LOCK.

IN THE BOOK,  "FREDERICK COUNTY VIRGINIA SETTLEMENT AND SOME FIRST FAMILIES OF BACK CREEK VALLEY  1730-1830,"  PAGE 549 STATES A LOCAL STORE ACCOUNT SHOWED THAT SHANE BOUGHT WHISKEY BY THE GALLON.  THIS  DOES NOT APPEAR TO  HAVE HAD A NEGATIVE EFFECT ON HIS GUNMAKING SKILLS THAT WE CAN SEE. WE BELIEVE THAT HIS GUNSHOP WAS LOCATED ON COLD STREAM ROAD SOMEWHERE NEAR EDWARDS RUN PUBLIC HUNTING & FISHING . THERE IS MORE INFORMATION ON HIS LAND TRANSACTIONS IN JAMES  WHISKER'S  "GUNSMITHS OF WEST VIRGINIA".   ON APRIL 17TH 1861 BENJAMIN DIED IN  HIS GUNSHOP FROM INJURIES RESULTING FROM AN  ANVIL FALLING ON HIM. IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO KNOW MORE DETAILS OF THIS ACCIDENT. HIS WIDOW CATHERINE, MARRIED GABRIEL MCDONALD II IN 1866 AND MOVED TO NEBRASKA.  WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND BENJAMIN'S FINAL RESTING PLACE. WE DO KNOW THAT  HIS FATHER AND MOTHER ARE BURRIED AT BACK CREEK QUAKER CEMETERY.

IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE INFORMATION ON BENJAMIN SHANE OR PICTURES OF HIS RIFLES WE CAN ADD TO THIS POST PLEASE CONTACT US. THANK YOU.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION REFER TO

• GUNSMITHS OF VIRGINIA SECOND EDITION BY JAMES BISER WHISKER, PAGE 134

• FREDERICK COUNTY ,VIRGINIA SETTLEMENT AND SOME FIRST FAMILIES OF BACK CREEK VALLEY 1730-1830 BY WILMER L KERNS

• WEST VIRGINIA HISTORY VOLUME XLV 1984 PAGE 125 "EARLY GUNMAKERS OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY" BY WILLIAM H. ANSEL JR

       

THANKS TO COLLECTORS WHO HAVE ALLOWED US TO USE PHOTOS OF THEIR RIFLES; PLEASE DO NOT COPY OR REPRODUCE.