African American builder

[smokinbuck]

Pick up this little 1/2 stock recently and found it may be more than I thought. D Newlin was an African American gun maker who may have apprenticed under Mesach Moxley, another African American, in Logan County Ohio in the 1870's. With the exception of a cracked toe and toasted bore it is in above average condition.

[Seth Isaacson]

That is a neat one. I wonder how many other African American gunmakers were active that we don't know about. We tend to presume unless told otherwise that a 19th century gunmaker was of European ancestry. Supposedly, gunmakers of color were less likely to sign their guns due to fear of persecution, which especially makes sense if they were in the South or near that Mason-Dixon line.

African-American James Monroe Jones (1821-1906) of London, Ohio, and later Chatham, Canada, was certainly a very talented and award winning gunmaker. His family had been enslaved in North Carolina but his father purchased their freedom and moved the family to Ohio. Jones was among the first African Americans to receive a college education:

[smokinbuck]

Isaac,
Thank you for your response. I was unaware of Monroe Jones.
Mark

[Bob Roller]

Skin color shouldn't be a detriment to skill or considered in that context.I am thinking of Doctor Ben Carson,a brain surgeon of exceptional
talent and knowledge.The man who repaired my bladder 15 years ago was as black as coal and did a remarkable job.He was from Haiti.
I hope he is still active.I had a bladder diverticulum that he repaired and he zapped some stones and checked for cancer.All clear and no more pain.
Bob Roller

[smokinbuck]

Unfortunately my post re an African American gun maker has turned intoa racial discussion. I agree with Mr Roller's comments however that was not what was intended. When I posted and stated that D Newlin was African American it was meant to identify the builder as one of a small group of builders, a negro. A craftsman is a craftsman wether black, white, brown, yellow or other. I apologize if my identification was taken in any other way than was intended.

[JTR]

Mark, I think what you and Seth posted was perfectly fine. Just giving credit where credit is due.
John

[Habu]

I've a friend who switched the focus of his collecting activities to collecting guns by African American makers.  He has rifles from more than a dozen makers, as well as a couple of smoothbores and at least one pistol. 

In 2020, right after covid hit, from an online estate auction in OH I picked up a old tea chest full of unspecified misc papers.  (Kinda funny there--I hemmed and hawed for a day before bidding, because I mis-read the top bid as ""$200" instead of "$2.00".  I entered a bid . . . and won the auction for $5!) 

Among the papers were some correspondence from the Freedmen's Bureau, discharge papers from the USCT, various military insignia, a sergeant's notebook, a couple of daybooks, and a partial ledger.  Turned out that after discharge, the gentleman had moved to OH and become a rifle maker.  The daybooks and ledger were rather interesting.  Like the only other such records of that time I've seen, they almost make me want to describe the owner as a sewing machine mechanic who occasionally worked on guns.  The records I had ended about 1872, at which time he was still repairing guns and making the occasional rifle. 

Sewing machine setup, maintenance, and repair was a big deal then, and it looked like he was well-paid for his work.  From the records, the man was probably a respected member of his community.  There were notes on various meetings he attended regularly, and frequent small debits for charities via his church, community, and lodge.  I was a bit surprised to not run across mention of the GAR in his notes.

My friend now has the tea caddy etc, so it wasn't--and won't be--broken up.  I'm not sure I'd have recognized the meaning of the package without his influence.  It isn't like there are a lot of such records extant for us to see and learn from.

[smokinbuck]

Habu,
Interesting read about the "tea chest". If your friend has an interest, my Newlin rifle is available and he can PM me.
Mark