A. Angstadt squirrel rifle (more photos added)

[davebozell]

My Great great grandfather owned the rifle below.  I think it was made by either Abraham Angstadt (b 1784, d 1868), or Adam Angstadt (b. 1821, d 1888).  (Leaning toward Adam because of the late back-action lock.)  It's a plain rifle, but the Angstadt name caught my eye right away.  My GG grandfather lived in north central Indiana.  I've searched some of the archives but haven't found any similar rifles made by an Angstadt.  It is about a 32 cal, and was made from a pretty nice piece of maple.  The side plate is also unique to my eye.  Sorry for the terrible pictures, but all I had access to at the time was my cell phone.  The rifle has not been cleaned since it has been in my father's possession, and he was told to keep it that way.  I will also have him check to make sure it is not loaded.  The last person to shoot it was supposedly my great grandfather.










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[Robert Wolfe]

Neat gun to have as a family piece.

[davebozell]

From census records, I have been able to determine that Abraham and Adam moved from Pennsylvania to Germantown, Indiana, west of Richmond before 1850.  The 1860 census shows Adam living in Tipton, Indiana.  (I have not found any information in the 1860 census about Abraham, but he was buried in Arcadia, Indiana, which is near Tipton, so it appears that he moved close by to Adam before he died.). Adam is buried in a cemetery in Tipton. 

You can't see it from my bad pictures, but the lock is marked "Underwood Lafayette, Ind".  Underwood apparently was a hardware dealer during this time.  This helped me establish that the rifle was probably built in Indiana.  It also helps explain how my great great grandfather came to possess this rifle, since they both lived in the same county.  What's not clear, is who actually made this rifle.  My money is still on Adam, since Abraham would have been 66 years old at the time of the 1850 census.

Thanks to Art DeCamp for helping me with the information on the Angstadt move from Pennsylvania to Indiana.

[davebozell]

Here are some additional pictures of the rifle:  Sorry for the poor image quality, but they are all I have access to at the moment.















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