I’m working on a biography of a distant relative who fought in the Revolutionary War whose claim to fame is that he did important work directly for George Washington. I’m hoping the experts on this forum can help me document the details of the only known existing artifact of this man. A cousin who owns his Abraham Henry rifle has provided only a few photos that are not great. I’ve done as much research on the internet as I can, including scouring the forum of this site, but questions remain. I am happy to email photos if requested. I’ll start with what I know, and follow with my questions:
• “A Henry” is inscribed on the top of the barrel
• Brong is inscribed on the lock plate, and I assume that is Peter Brong
• An oval plate is inlayed and attached with brass or steel pins on the stock and appears to be inscribed “Roofs”
• My relatives initials were inscribed by hand, upside down, on the patchbox cover
• I do not know the caliber and the barrel does not appear to be tapered or swamped, but I could be wrong if those were subtle characteristics
• The original lock plate remains in place, as it was converted to percussion cap.
• There is not a “CP” mark on the rifle, an indicator that I learned was used for the Henry made rifles for the Commonwealth of Penn in 1798. Even though Brong also made the locks for that contract.
• One recollection of a family member is that the rifle was fired some time in the early to mid 20th century.
• My relative lived and worked in the private sector in West Chester, about 40 miles Lancaster when Henry worked in that town.
• It seems likely that the rifle was made sometime between 1787 and 1800 (when my relative moved over 300 miles away to upstate New York).
• It seems doubtful that he would acquire a rifle that Henry made for the Virginia government starting in 1801.
Questions:
• To narrow down the date of manufacture, two questions might help:
o What year did Abraham Henry begin producing rifles in his own name as a gun maker?
o Did Abraham Henry use locks made by Peter Brong PRIOR to their joint contract in 1801 to make rifles for the State of Virginia?
And if so, in what years did Henry use Brong locks on his rifles?
• If you saw the designs on the patchbox and stock, along with the plate inscribed “Roofs”, could that help you identify a date range of manufacture?
• Other than measuring it by hand, could you tell me what caliber rifle this is based on the historical data I provided?
• Regarding the conversion from flint lock to percussion cap.
o It appears that the lock plate is original and my research indicates that most conversions took place between 1816 and 1830.
Is there any way to determine a closer date as to when the conversion may have occurred?
o Regarding value, can you confirm that Abraham Henry rifles not made under government contracts are indeed few and rare today?
o Is there any historic value in the fact that this is an Abraham Henry made rifle, compared to other gun makers? Did people in that period seek out or covet an Abraham Henry rifle?
o Who are the best people today that I can contact to value this rifle?
