Courtesy of Tioga Historical Society - Owego, NY
Comments:
Looks like a French gun to my eye. It isn't made in what we regard as the conventional Yankee style. Attribution may be family lore in this case. Nice gun, though with history.
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This gun is absolutely correct. It resides in the Tioga Co. NY Historical Society Museum in Owego, NY. I've seen and handled the gun. The maker is Ogden without question.
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Can you tell us if the pistol is signed, or attributed? If attributed, any specific reasons given for the attribution? Also, do you know the working years of Ogden? This is probably not a widely known maker to Kentucky rifle collectors, so it would be nice to know more about this maker, and his working years. so we can understand the pistol better before commenting. Do you know if the stock is walnut, or perhaps unfigured maple?
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As memory serves the Ogdens were fairly early in Owego. Their careers spanned a good number of years, so I don't personally know when this piece was made. My guess on this one is sometime in the 1830's.
A neighbor and friend came to me with an unsigned rifle a year or so ago. He'd picked it up in Alpine, NY... Half way between Elmira and Ithaca. The rifle is in attic condition and well used. Inlays are crude by most standards. Mostly rectangles and sporting a simple patchbox.
At the time I was unaware of the Ogdens. My intuition said upper Susquehanna, but not in a style I had ever encountered. At the time I took a wild guess as not being made east of Binghamton, north of Ithaca, nor west of Painted Post. After some research I discovered it to be a McCormick, another Owego maker who's name is associated with Ogden.
