In a 1967 issue of the KRA Bulletin, Sam Dyke published a list of "Gunsmiths of Northampton and Lehigh Counties, 1734-1847." It may seem odd to take issue with a list published over forty years ago, but the information Dyke put into print has remained authoritative and researchers continue to cite it either directly from Dyke or, more often, from others who had reproduced Dyke's information (including, relatively recently, on this forum). James Whisker, for instance, repeats some of this erroneous information (items A, B, and C below) in
Gunsmiths of Lancaster County.
Here is the information that Dyke provides (in bold) with some corrections following:
A. Abraham Henry, Nazareth Township, Northampton County, Dates Listed: 1781Nazareth Township only separated from Bethlehem Township in 1788, so there are no Nazareth Township tax lists, before 1789, for Abraham Henry to appear on. Abraham Henry did not arrive in Nazareth, in any case, until November 3, 1781, too late to have been included in Pennsylvania’s 1781 tax assessment that was conducted in September. But, as a thirteen year old boy planning to learn a trade from his older brother, he would not have been included in any tax assessment even had he been in Nazareth. Abraham Henry does not appear on any Nazareth or Bethlehem Township tax list whatsoever. I suspect Dyke confused notes about Abraham Henry arriving in Nazareth (1781) with him appearing on a tax list.
I should add that there's no evidence that Abraham Henry (1768-1811) was formally apprenticed to his brother or that can tell us how long he stayed in Nazareth. The Lancaster Moravian Diary recorded on October 31, 1781, that "the lad Abraham Henry went with his brother Billy Henry to Nazareth, to remain there"--so the plan was for him to re-settle in Nazareth for an extended period of time. He spent his adult life back in Lancaster, though, and came to a sorry end.
B. William Henry Jr., Bethlehem Township, Northampton County, Dates Listed: 1807 This, too, is incorrect. Before Nazareth Township separated from Bethlehem, individuals who lived in Nazareth were included on the Bethlehem Township tax lists. William Henry (Jr.) appears in the Bethlehem tax lists in 1780 (listed as a single man at Christian’s Spring, occupation “Gunsmith”), 1781, 1782 (occupation: gun stocker), 1783 (occupation: gunsm.), 1784 (occupation: gun shmit), 1785 (occupation: gunsmith; trade valued at £25 & house at £75), 1786, 1787 (where the £100 value is divided into £20 for trade & £80 for house/lot), and 1788. These listings do not mean that he had any property in Bethlehem; he lived and worked in Nazareth throughout this period, and the house and lot on which he was being taxed was his Nazareth property.
Beginning in 1789, William Henry appears in the tax list of the newly-formed Nazareth Township. He never appears again in the Bethlehem Township tax lists (so doesn’t appear in the 1807 one). In the Nazareth 1789 tax list, he is listed for the first time as William Henry, Esq. (he had been appointed a judge in 1788) and his occupation is listed as "joiner." This designation corresponds to how Nazareth's Moravian congregation diary regularly refers to him (see:
http://www.jacobsburg.org/images/jacobsburg%20record%20summer%202010%20final.pdf). From this point on, William Henry appears on each Nazareth Township tax list. Henry's assessed value has risen from £100 to £110, which is further explained in the 1793 tax list: his "House" is worth £100 while his trade, again described as the "Joiner's Trade," is worth £10. In the 1796 tax list, Henry is identified as an "Associate Judge" and his worth seems to be £280 (he has a house, a lot, a horse, and a cow). The 1802 tax lists records Henry's value at 700 (I am not sure if this means £ or $) and he is identified as a gunsmith. In 1804, still identified as a gunsmith, Henry's worth is valued at 592 (I am not sure if this means £ or $).
C. William Henry Jr., Nazareth Township, Northampton County, Dates Listed:1799 Henry appears in every Nazareth Township tax list beginning in 1789 into the second decade of the nineteenth century (not just in 1799).
D. John Joseph Henry, Bushkill Township, Northampton County, Dates Listed: 1780-1828. John Joseph Henry was not born until 1786 and Bushkill Township was not formed until 1813, with the first tax assessments made in 1814. J. J. Henry first appears on this 1814 Bushkill Township tax list (“Henry, Joseph and William, Jr.”).
Scott
