W H Barton - Bloomington Indiana

[gibster]

This came out of a family in Hendersonville NC and when I first saw it, I would have thought that it was made somewhere in either NC or SW Virginia.  But it is signed in script, W H Barton and from what I am finding, was made in Bloomington Indiana. Frank Sellers has him listed there from 1850 to 1886. He was born in 1817, so maybe he worked, or at least trained there.  The barrel is 46-inches long and held to the stock with four wedges.  The little day horn in a couple of the pictures came with the rifle.  There is some slivers of wood missing along the barrel channel and a few cracks that need to be stabilized, but I've seen worse.  It had been cleaned at some point in the past as the finish around the patch box and the trigger guard is considerably lighter than the rest of the rifle.  My plans are to stabilize the cracks and leave the rest as found.  What are your thoughts as to where this guy may have trained?

[Dennis Glazener]

But it is signed in script, W H Barton and from what I am finding, was made in Bloomington Indiana. Frank Sellers has him listed there from 1850 to 1886

Eric,
I am not familiar with this guy but you might check with Dave Byrd and/or Wayne Bryson and see if he was a NC maker that later moved to Indiana. If it had gone from NC to Indiana I would not have thought twice about it but the reverse would be a little unusual.
Dennis

[Tanselman]

Eric,  could you show us a picture of the barrel signature...and also one taken a little closer to the patchbox so the engraved patterns and cutting show up better? I'm from Indiana and I have not seen a rifle like this from Indiana.  Shelby Gallien

[gibster]

Dennis - That's a good idea.  I have Wayne's number somewhere and I'll give him a call.

Shelby - Here is a closer picture of the patch box and two of the signature.  The signature is worn and was hard to try to capture.  In good sunlight with a good magnifier, you can read it pretty good.  Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

[Tanselman]

Eric, I've enjoyed reviewing your rifle several times. When I first saw your posting, based on architecture, tang style, and rear ramrod incised carving, I thought the gun might possibly be from central Kentucky. There were a number of Bartons working in Kentucky, but none match the first initials. I had hoped that perhaps you misread the first or second initial, so that it might match one from Kentucky, but upon seeing your photos, I think you nailed the name.

I have seen a few signed KY guns with the incised lines on the comb that we normally associate with NC guns, and with the single line molding, wavy incised carving at rear pipe, two screw tang, and clean stock architecture it could have come from KY. The patchbox at first glance looks odd for KY, but after reviewing it a couple of times the past week, it could have come from northern KY in the Louisville vicinity. The early boxes used by Moses Dickson of Louisville, who began working there in the early 1820s, have side leaves that resemble these, and even more interesting is the fact that Dickson attached his early side leaves with small brass nails rather than screws. The relatively tight side facing, general stock architecture, and nice ovality of the guard's bow also strongly resemble KY guns of the 1820s. However, KY guns of this era usually had more pointed toes on their butts...and the somewhat primitive engraving is different from what I've seen on KY guns.

I still have a hard time placing this rifle in Indiana, particularly with the somewhat later working dates of our known Indiana W. H. Barton gunsmith. The gun sure has a lot more NC and KY details than Indiana...but then, you just never know fore sure on some of these "different" rifles. If you have my KY book, look at the boxes on the two early Moses Dickson rifles pictured in the "Louisville" chapter in Vol. 1, and compare the side leaves for shape and nail attachment.  Shelby Gallien