DAY 2: The Museum and Library Committee plans a 12 Day Holiday Spectacular celebrating the first anniversary of the ALR Museum and Library and the "Community of Collectors" efforts to promote the study and collection of the "Kentucky Longrifle". To date we have exhibited more than 250 guns; probably the largest and most varied collection of longrifle exhibits ever presented publicly. This was only accomplished because of the support of the collecting community; we thank them and wish them the best for the coming years. We hope others will join in in the future.
George Slonaker Bedford Co, PA
George Slonaker , with this gun on exhibit, demonstrates that he was as skilled as the finest Bedford Co makers of his time. This gun has all of the feature of "artistic merit" that one finds on the "best" antique Kentucky longrifles.
The Slonaker genealogy is also presented first time. Much of the information was unknown to the public until this exhibit . A family member has prepared it and offers it for the appreciation and study of all who research the Kentucky Rifle.
http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=8030.0( 1/2/2010) Here is some additional Slonaker Family History provided by a direct family member:
George Alec Slonaker (1797-1875) always lived in Bedford County, PA listed as a gunsmith in the 1860 census, and was known to have
made percussion rifles in the late 1840's.
His son, Jacob Weaver Slonaker and his daughter Susanna Slonaker (who married Samuel Cox) both lived in Bedford County in the 1850
US census. In 1850 Susanna and Samuel Cox only had one son. Jacob Weaver Slonaker listed his occupation as a "Smith" which makes me think he also made guns.
In 1856 the two oldest children, Joseph and George Cox, went missing - the story is so interesting, it has become a sort of local folk story. The person who
found them was led to the site by a dream several days after their death. Thousands of people came to hunt for them. The original monument was put up in 1910, and after it was vandalized it was re-erected in 2000. There were even reunions up until a 50 year reunion of the people who had hunted for the children. It was thought that their mother wrote a story called "Babes in the Woods" but I haven't been able to find a copy of it. Here is a link to the story as told by the Bedford Historical Society.
www.bedford.k12.pa.us/C12/.../lostchildrenalleghenies.htm The thing I learned today is that there is a recently released, award winning song about the incident by a famous county singer. It is called "Jacobs Dream" and it was recorded in 2007 by Alison Krauss. Here is a link to the song, if you are interested.
Jacobs Dream, By: Alison Krauss - Video
I have old pictures of Susannah and Samuel Cox and of Jacob Weaver Slonaker, and his wife Mary Stoner Slonaker. George is too far in the past to have had a photo. Both of my pictures were taken around the 1880-1890 era at the dawn of photography. Susannah and Samuel lost their first two children in the mountains, but they went on to have another 13 kids according to later census data I have seen.
Place your domments here as a "reply".
The Museum and Library Committee
