Question for Cades Cove Fiddler

[Dennis Glazener]

Danna,
I have been meaning to ask you this for a while but keep forgetting to. Is there a chance that you or someone else familiar with Western NC gunmakers know anything about a "Doffus Snipes" that made rifles in the late 1800's near Buck Gap NC? I believe that is in Yancey County. My Uncle, since deceased top me that Uncle Doffus (nickname for Adolffus I believe) used to build muzzleloading rifles along with working in the timber business.

I have never been able to verify it but supposedly my uncle used to visit and had seen rifles he built. My mothers Snipes and Collis ancestors came from Mitchel and Yancey Counties prior to moving to VA in the early 1920's
Dennis

[Daniel Coats]

Quite a few records of him on Ancestry but none list him as a gunsmith always as a farmer. Couple pics for you.

[Seth Isaacson]

That definitely doesn't preclude him being a gunsmith given many old time American gunmakers were primarily farmers.

[Tim Crosby]

 What an epitaph...

    Tim C.

[Avlrc]

What an epitaph...

    Tim C.

Yeah, that is a good one.

[Dennis Glazener]

Quite a few records of him on Ancestry but none list him as a gunsmith always as a farmer. Couple pics for you.

That has to be him, thanks, do you happen to know where his grave is located? I searched Find a grave and elsewhere for his grave and came up empty.  I was thinking he had moved to VA by 1943. I believe his daughter Susannah was my G Aunt and she is burried in my home town.
Thanks
Dennis

[Daniel Coats]

Hi Dennis here's a little more information I found on Ancestry.com

Cemetery:   Black Branch Baptist Church Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place:   Chase City, Mecklenburg County, Virginia, United States of America

When Adolphus Alfred Dolphus Snipes was born on November 25, 1868, in Marion, North Carolina, his father, James, was 35 and his mother, Margarette, was 43. He married Ruth Susannah Collis on February 20, 1897, in Shelby, North Carolina. They had 15 children in 19 years. He died on January 27, 1943, in Chase City, Virginia, at the age of 74, and was buried there.

[Cades Cove Fiddler]

  ... Greetings, Brother Glazener,... I have never seen a signed rifle with that name,.. could be one  of the many unmarked ones around,.. Gerald would most likely be a great source for info,... his territory runs from Ashe down to Yancey Counties, and near territory, and I know he has seen more rifles in that area than me,... Hope he sees this and chimes in,.. !!! ... sorry I cannot help, and wish good luck in getting information,.. always good to trace ancestors, even if you find them hung by the neck, from a low branch of the family tree,.. !!! ... will be great to see and talk with you again soon in Knoxville... regards,.. Cades Cove Fiddler...

[Dennis Glazener]

Hi Dennis here's a little more information I found on Ancestry.com

Cemetery:   Black Branch Baptist Church Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place:   Chase City, Mecklenburg County, Virginia, United States of America

When Adolphus Alfred Dolphus Snipes was born on November 25, 1868, in Marion, North Carolina, his father, James, was 35 and his mother, Margarette, was 43. He married Ruth Susannah Collis on February 20, 1897, in Shelby, North Carolina. They had 15 children in 19 years. He died on January 27, 1943, in Chase City, Virginia, at the age of 74, and was buried there.

Oh my heavens! That is the same cemetery that my mom and dad are burried in as well as both my wifes parents as well as both sets of my grand parents! I did not know he was burried there. You can tell that I have not done much research on my mothers side of the family! That cemetery is at my home church outside Chase City in the Black Branch community, I am so embarrassed I will shut up now!
Dennis

[Sequatchie Rifle]

Quite a few records of him on Ancestry but none list him as a gunsmith always as a farmer. Couple pics for you.

2 Timothy 4:7