Samuel Baum, signed SB on the barrel.
Barrel; 45 inches long, swamped, smooth bore. 60 caliber. 1 1/8" at breech and 1" at muzzle.
Overall length; 59 inches.
Length of pull; 13 ½ inches.
Width of Butt; 1 5/8 inches.
Germanic lock with pointed tail and astragal projection on the front.
Fine moon on cheekpiece, marked Luna, with stars.
Comments:
Made three miles from where I sit typing. There are a lot of Baums out there and each is unique.
Samuel Baum was born August 16, 1769 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and died October 2, 1842 in New Berlin, Union County, Pennsylvania. He is often referred to as "Sr.," as there were two Samuel Baums located in New Berlin. At one point, "Jr." is said to have gone to Danville, Montour County, Pennsylvania, where he was said to maintain a "factory." He later returned to New Berlin where he is then listed only as an innkeeper and later a postmaster. There is also speculation that Baum Sr. Maintained a "factory" in New Berlin, which may explain the number of makers in New Berlin with the absence of signed pieces. It is safe bet to say that the Baum family was influential in New Berlin from the period 1790-1850 and were influential in development of the Upper Susquehanna school. It is possible that many of the rifles were not made by either Baum, but simply signed "SB" by shop minyans.
A nice rifle with classic lines! It has a Bucks look to it, although it is an Upper Susq made gun. Does anyone know where Baum started out? The single trigger, the high grip rail and the interesting lock suggest to me that this is very likely a late 1700s gun, (last quarter).
A bit of added information might be in order here. I don't know how many realize it, but Samuel Baum, Sr. was working in Vermilion County, Illinois from 1830 until 1839 or 1840. He returned to Pennsylvania in 1840 and died there two years later. He was among the first settlers of the Little Vermilion, near Indianola, arriving in 1830. His brother Charles arrived here in 1839. Charles remained here and is listed as a gunsmith iin "Census District 21", Vermilion County, Illinois, in the 1850 census.
Nice rifle, I agree with posting it. I wonder if there isn't some restoration that could be called out?
This is a nice example of early work by Samuel Baum and should go into the museum. It appears the gun suffered a complete stock break through the lock area, as seen on back and bottom sides, that has been repaired. I always like to see a good picture of the lock and area around the lock's side facing to determine originality of lock itself. The muzzle end of the forestock is also very dark, compared to the rest of finish on butt and grip area, which raises the question of possible forestock restoration. Butt carving is not quite as elaborate as on some of his other guns, but this gun is a good, almost classic, example of his work.
