H.D.Rodgers ??

[pulaski]

Any one ever heard this name . Found an over/under cap lock . Has a 26 cal.rifle barrel on top and a .50 smooth barrel on bottom .
2 wiping sticks . Locks impact percussion nipples on side of barrels .
Thanks , Steve

[Seth Isaacson]

I believe I looked into a similar gun signed by him or a gun also marked as from Lamont that was likely by him once before, but I can't find anything on it in my records on that gun. Here is what I found:

Henry Rodgers/Henry D. Rogers appears in Sellers' "American Gunsmiths" on page 257 as a gunsmith from Lamont, Michigan, that made a percussion over/under rifle/shotgun and died around 1863-1867. Grave records from Lamont list a Henry Rodgers as dying "Sep. 24, 1876 Aged 84 Y's. 1 Mo."

http://www.migenweb.net/ottawa/towns/Lamont/blacksmith.html

The Lamont Blacksmith Shop was located on 48th Street near Leonard Street on the Lamont Halfway House property called the DeWitt-Dudley Reserve.

The blacksmith was an important man in the village. A blacksmith was needed to shoe horses and to make all the small iron pieces for bridles and harnesses. He could fix a broken wagon wheel and make nails and an assortment of tools.

To shape the iron into its desired product, the blacksmith had to heat the metal until it became soft. To heat the metal, the blacksmith shop had a room with a large fireplace and chimney called a forge. Near the forge was the bellows, an accordion like instrument that draws air in through a valve and expels it through a tube which serves as air supply for the fire. Charcoal was used for the fire because it burned at a higher temperature and was smokeless. Near the forge were the tools that the blacksmith used and also a large barrel of water used to cool the hot metal.

In the center of the shop the blacksmith kept an anvil, a heavy iron block weighing up to 250 pounds on which the blacksmith hammered out the various bends and angles to a piece of soft iron. Often iron pieces were so large and heavy, such as wagon axles or wheels, that the blacksmith needed an adult helper in the shop.

Coopersville Observer, September 21, 1900--Our village blacksmith, D. Kramer, accompanied his wife to Grand Rapids last Saturday. Ottawa County People by Boersma

Transcribed and photo by Joan Van Spronsen

 

Horse and Buggy Days by Paul Detlefsen

Blacksmith Shop

This lithograph shows a man shoeing a horse with a boy watching nearby. A man is in the blacksmith shop working on a piece of metal on the anvil. The fire is glowing and a barrel of water to cool the hot metal is nearby. The blacksmith shop sign is on the building. During the early days of Lamont, the Lamont Blacksmith Shop looked a lot like this picture.

Sign on the Lamont Blacksmith Shop building 2013


...



Lamont Gunsmith Shop

The gunsmith shop of Henry Rogers (Rodgers), Sr. and Henry Rogers, Jr. was probably located in the blacksmith shop building.

Coopersville Observer, November 10, 1939-- "They had a small shop where they worked patiently, concerned with quality rather than quantity. One gun every three days continued to be the output, a granddaughter, Mrs. Maud Weil, recalls. The men took the utmost pains with their guns and some were mounted with pearl. During the Civil War business was active and the Rogers' guns were carried by many a Civil War veteran." Coopersville Observer Obituaries by Boersma.

[pulaski]

Thank you . Rambling Historian .

[JCKelly]

Wonderful post, Mr. Rambling. I'd like to use that coopersville Observer note in my if-I-live-so-long 4th edition, Michigan Gunsmiths
Here is what I have to date on Rodgers:

Rodgers, Henry D., Lamont, Tallmadge                                           186352 - 67 (Keeler),  189922
Ottawa County. The 1880 census says that H.D. Rogers (census spelling, might be the Henry D. Roders, above) was born in Ohio in 1833, and in 1880 was single, living alone. One of his rifles in a private collection34 is a fixed breech .41 cal rifle over 10 gage shotgun, 30” barrels marked H.D. RODGERS over LAMONT over MICH. Brass blade front, fixed iron rear sight. Two ramrods, two iron thimbles for each. Back action mule ear double hammer lock, plate marked H.D. RODGERS (upside down). Two iron triggers, iron trigger plate. Brass trigger guard with spur, rear tang held by screw to walnut fishbelly stock. Brass capbox, buttplate, no toe plate. Stock rounded at toe no cheekpiece.



xxx
Henry D Rodgers, continued
Another privately held rifle also is a fixed breech, rifle over shotgun, with a pronounced fish belly walnut stock, no cheekpiece.. The mule ear lock is marked HD RODGERS, upside down. Brass buttplate, no toeplate, rounded toe, no cheekpiece. Brass capbox. Brass triggerguard, rear tang held by a screw, two iron triggers.  Keeler noted a .50 cal over 12 gauge.
 
Two other H.D. Rodgers guns are one in the Jackson Arms Catalog No. 23, 1966, and in the Roy Keeler Auction Catalog 5, Jan 13, 1999. Both are over-under rifle-shotgun combinations, with mule ear locks.
                                                                                                                                                                    .50 caliber brass mould marked
   H.D. RODGERS                                                                                                                                                                              4-1/2” overall (photo simple brass mould)

(photo O/U  mule ear)
This heavy .54 caliber rifle has a 27" round barrel, 1-3/8" dia at the muzzle. The rifle is 43" overall. Folklore has it the barrel was forged from part of a local iron bridge.

Another photo of O/U
This over/under has 30" long round barrels, .44 cal smooth over .52 cal (34 gauge, if you will) smooth. Along with starts and a bird (?), the right butt inlays include an
1863 Civil War penny token and 1837 Bank Token from Quebec,      Canada. It is for two sous, or one penny, the size of the US large    penny of that time

[OLUT]

A bit more on Henry Rogers from an article on him in the "Coopersville Observer" November 10, 1939, based on an earlier item in the "Grand Rapids Herald" ...  It was on May 7, 1829, that Mr. Rogers took out his patent on what he called a 'revolving four-barreled gun and improved percussion lock'. At the time, he was a gunsmith and jeweler at Middleton, Butler County, Ohio. This interesting article alludes that Rogers patented the first revolving cylinder gun ever made in America. Note that the article continues, "Time brought Henry Rogers and his family to Lamont where he, with his son Henry, Jr. continued to manufacture guns ... until death of the two men put an end to the Rogers Gun Company"
     I have difficulty posting photos and attachments to this forum, so I'll e-mail a copy of the article to James Kelly. He can then post and/or use the information in his upcoming 4th edition of Michigan Gunsmiths if he thinks it is worthwhile