ALR Museum Gunmaker: M. Barrett (Signed) Assumption, IN ( added 12/30/08)

[Hurricane ( of Virginia)]

Please add your comments and other information about this gun and its maker in a "reply"

Click below to this this extraordinary gun from a relatively unknown maker:

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?board=73.0

[G-Man]

I wonder if he or the person he apprenticed to was trained in Virginia?  Looks like lots of Virginia influence in the decoration.  The patchbox finial, the captured lid on the box, the acorns, etc.

That patchbox finial is very similar to the Virginia gun shown in Whisker's 2nd edition of "Gunsmiths of Virginia" that was formerly in Homer Dangler's collection - the same one he showed on his gunbuilding videos, and the one that Jim Klein used as the inspiration for his Virginia kit.  But that gun was much earlier, maybe 1790s.

Guy

[Curt J]

Yes, there is definitely a lot of Virginia influence in this rifle. Barrett was listed in Lewis County, Virginia,(now West Virginia) in the 1840 census. He was born in Montgomery, Massachusetts, September 8, 1805. His wife, Nancy (Peebles), was also born in Massachusetts (in 1809). The wire inlay on the wrist of this rifle suggests that he might have learned the trade there, but who knows? According to the ages of his children, he was living in Virginia from as early as 1832 to as late as 1840. He subsequently had children born in Pennsylvania from 1844 to 1853. He arrived in Christian County, Illinois in 1856 and was among the founders of the village of Assumption. The lock on this rifle is marked "G. D. & Co. Cincinnatti" (Gaston, Dickson, & Company) and dates it between 1856 and 1864.

Barrett is listed variously as a "gunsmith, locksmith, and clock repairer", or simply as a "merchant" in Assumption, Illinois. He was still listed in business as a gunsmith in Illinois state gazetteers through 1893, although nearly 90 years old. He died in Assumption on March 23, 1894.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Shessh!  12 lbs for a sporting rifle!!  If I remember correctly an M1 doesn't weigh that much........  I would have to have a boy to cary it around for me. I try to hunt with guns in the 6-7 lb range.  Those Ohioans must have been some strong dudes!

[Curt J]

Ohioans? Nope, he never worked in Ohio or Indiana. The four states where he can be documented are Massachusetts; Virginia (Now West Virginia); Pennsylvania; and Illinois. This rifle was definitely made in Illinois. A friend of mine owned another one by M. L. Barrett, over thirty years ago, but its whereabouts today is unknown. That one was also found not far from Assumption, Illinois.

Yes, twelve pounds is a pretty heavy rifle, and it might have been intended for use as both a hunting rifle and an informal target rifle. Chunk gun shooting was not unknown in these parts.