Washington Co, NC will mentions of long guns...

[Salkehatchie]

Well Cades Cove Fiddler and I both wish I had pictures.  But don't.  Heck, I wish I had the darn guns!

Cleaning up stuff and ran across these items.  Wills from two of my grandfathers from Washington County, NC in the 1780s.  Now although he is not a known relative the infamous Tory/Patriot Jacob Brown is in business with one of the grandfathers - John Nave.  Jacob Brown being a known gunsmith, and the majority of my grandfathers, brothers, cousins etc.,  being at Kings Mountain battle makes me wonder just how many of these arms saw action then.  And yes some were..."Loyalists" out of SC.

I was very careful in spelling, transcribing the exact language etc as it appears.  Quaint for sure.

Christopher Cunningham will presented November session of the Washington Co., TN court in 1783.  Inventory lists ..."one smooth bore Gun..."

Will of Abraham Collet [ I assume this is still the November session 1783 as the copy is horrible ].  To Jacob Collet...taumahawk, one rifle Gun & that pouch." 

I know, not a bunch of info.  I just found it interesting that smooth gun and rifle gun were listed explicitly and that the rifle to Jacob Collet the pouch was underlined in the documents and the pouch went with the gun.  Period.

Anyway...wish I have pictures!

Thank you

Always gives me a kick when I read things like...To dau Elizabeth...three spoons and one duch oven with rack.

These folks had nothing and threw nothing.  Unlike we moderns with all our storage units!

[rich pierce]

That is very cool. Even clothes were sometimes passed down and noted in very early wills.

[Cades Cove Fiddler]

  ... Great to read this.. !!! ... makes me wonder how many rifles stayed in the families through the years.... not many, I suppose.... I personally know of two that had ties to Smoky Mountain settlers.... One is still in same family as original owner, the other having been obtained by a neighbor, and still in his family after three generations, but traceable through several generations of the original owner....My own father who would have been 100 years old this year told me that when he was a boy and his family moved to Knoxville in a wagon, they left two old "hog rifles" in the smoke-house, since no one used them anymore......!!!! ...THANX, ...Fiddler...

[Hungry Horse]

My grandad and his family left their muzzleloading squirrel rifles in the attic of their old farm house in Bakersfield Missouri. They burned up with the old house in about 1940.


  Hungry Horse

[Salkehatchie]

Lots of accidents like that happened!

I know and really need to touch bases with a local person who went to college with me.  I recall seeing his families collection when I was younger.  In talking to him about 10 years ago he said that the collection was still there. 

These guys had guns and accoutrements going all the way back to the Rev War as they were at Point Pleasant with us.  And I mean a bunch of it.  From every generation in the family since.  Plus other stuff they picked up along the decades as collectibles.

Really need to make that one of my top priorities before something happens to it.  Grandkids get a hold of it and just sell it off because it is just old junk and no one cares anymore...that type of thing.