Crawdad - this group of gunsmiths from middle Tennessee - Thomas Simpson, Jacob Young, etc. worked well over to the west of the mountains and is generally very different from the upper east Tennessee/mountain area group of gunmakers - which is what most people think of with regard to the term "Tennessee Rifles" Most usually think of the plainer, iron mounted unembellished guns from that area when they think of Tennessee. But Tennessee, like other areas, had a wide range of regional styles and even individual gunsmith's work varied from plain to fancy depending on the customer's needs.
Do a search for "Jacob Young" in the archives here - his guns are a frequent recurring topic on this board - and look at the photos that people have posted - his metal inlay work is second to none of his contemporaries. But he also made plain iron mounted guns with no decoration. And this is true of many other gunsmiths, particularly in the south. When you pick up one of his rifles they just exude quality in design and execution of the work - mechanically, architecturally, and artistically. Same is true of the work of Simpson, and others.
http://kentuckylongrifles.com/html/jacob_young.htmlThe work of gunmakers like Thomas Simpson, Jacob Young, John Small (Vincennes IN) and the Bryans (Lexington KY) demontrates the existence of many great "schools" of gunmaking already established by the latter years of the 18th century well into the trans-Appalachian region and was for many years a long overlooked area with regard to longrifle study. A lot of us are pretty excited about it though as new stuff is turning up all the time it seems now, and research and new books (Like Tanselman/Shelby Gallien's new book on Kentucky gunsmiths) are helping fuel the interest.
Guy
