A. W. Graves gunsmith

[Frank Graves]

I recently found this cabinet card image of the A. W. Graves gun store - no relation to me that I know of.  It turns out that the location is West Killingly, Connecticut.  Asa Whitney Graves was born in 1820 and the various gunmakers lists show him in business from the 1840s to 1890s as do the various censuses.  From this image of a cabinet card made from the 1880s to the early 1900s, of which it is not noted which of these five men is Asa, it would have to be later in his life based on the appearances of these guys and the probable date of the photograph.

I have never heard of a rifle or pistol being marked as being made by A. W. Graves and I assume that he was only a general gunsmith during his working life.  But has anyone aware of a percussion (probably) rifle or pistol marked with his name as the maker?  If so, it would be an interesting part of this story.

Thanks for looking.

Frank Graves

[JHeath]

If the hub of the bicycle at far left is visible, maybe one of the bike guys who is kooky as us could help date it.

[120RIR]

That's the wheel of a "safety" bicycle which replaced the high-wheelers that weren't, well, so safe I guess.  The safety design was developed mid-late 1880s so the photo post-dates the late-1880s but that's about as close as the bicycle "evidence" will allow.

[Avlrc]

That is a great photo.  I would guess the man in the middle, he looks the most  buisness like.  He may have used the feller to his immediate right to collect unpaid debts, as he looks like an old gunslinger.
Hope you find a rifle signed by him, that would be great.  But like you say, he might not have been a maker. 

[edgreen3]

Hi Frank,

The top rifle in this collection is an A. W. Graves gun. You can see the name in the shot of the sideplate, just forward of the hammer. This gun hung over the mantle in my grandfather's house in Cleveland Mississippi since the 40s, and hung on a wall in my Dad's house in Knoxville from the 70s on. It's now headliner on my gun/sword wall. The rifle has a 5/8 bore (.625 caliber), 43 inch barrel, percussion cap. There's a proof mark on the top of the barrel with an E over LG in a circle. Other than the name, those are the only markings visible. The piece is too old to disassemble and look for marks under the stock. No one in my family knew anything about its history; you've helped me narrow it down to mid-to-late 1800s from Connecticut. Thanks for that!