G. Kopp rifle at The Prince Gallitzin Chapel House, Loretto PA

[Kopp]

Saturday, January 25, 2014

G. Kopp rifle at The Prince Gallitzin Chapel House

Several years ago my nephew was on a tour of the Prince Gallitzin Chapel House in Loretto PA:


   

Servant of God Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin
     (1770-1840)
    Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin was born of a Russian prince of Lithuanuan roots and a German countess in the Hauge, Netherlands on December 22, 1770.  He left his claim to nobility and came to America in 1792.  Wishing to serve God as a priest, he became a student at Saint Mary's Seminary in Baltimore.  On March 18, 1795, Bishop John Carroll  ordained Father Gallitzin, the first priest to receive all his orders in preparation for priesthood in the United States of America.
    He initially arrived in the mountains of west central Pennsylvania on a sick call to the McGuire Settlement.  He persistently sought his bishop's permission to serve as this community's pastor.  On March 1, 1799, Bishop Carroll assigned Father Gallitzin as resident pastor of the settlement in the mountains.  The pioneer priest later renamed the place Loretto after the Marian shrine in Italy.
    Click here to continue the story of Demetrius Gallitzin....

He noticed that there was an antique long rifle hanging over the living room fireplace mantel and reached across the barrier with his smart phone to snap a photo of the top of the barrel. This is where most PA long rifle makers sign their guns, and to his surprise, this rifle was indeed made by our ancestor, George Kopp.

Andrew Kopp and his son George were PA long rifle makers whose gun shop was in Geeseytown, PA, just outside of Hollidaysburg. This particular rifle is labelled to have been the property of Nicholas Stevens, whose wife Ruth was reputed to have been baptized by Father Gallitzin in Sinking Valley PA in 1812:


The rifle hangs over a striking hearth and book shelf in Prince Gallitzin's early 1800's chapel house:

[Kopp]

Unfortunately the curator would not permit me to take the gun down to get photos of the reverse side.

Also I originally put this on my blog so I apologize for the simplistic explanation about the Kopp gun makers. I think most folks here already know about the Kopps.

[Shreckmeister]

Thanks for sharing that Brian. Great story. Shame on that curator for not letting you see it. They are much nicer at the Heinz museum. They offered to take the Shreckengost rifles they have to their photography room for me to take pictures of the details.

[jdm]

Neat gun! It would be a thrill to run into a piece of family history like that.  I do have one question . Wasn't George Kopp born around 1807 ?

[Kopp]

Neat gun! It would be a thrill to run into a piece of family history like that.  I do have one question . Wasn't George Kopp born around 1807 ?

Yes, this gun obviously is much later than the era of Father Gallitzin. It was donated to his museum because the wife of the gun's owner was baptized by Gallitzin. They don't have a lot of artifacts from his time period so they use what they are given. It's just a little museum owned by the local Catholic diocese which is promoting Gallitzin's cause for sainthood.

[John C IND]

Zooming in on the tip of the ramrod, the brass piece says .32 WCF.  Just sayin'

[Mark Tyler]

There will be at least four outstanding Kopp rifles (two by Andrew and two by George) at the Huntingdon County Longrifle Exhibit on February 21-23, 2014. The exhibit is sponsored by the Huntingdon County Historical Society.

More information can be found here: http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=29240.0

[Eric Krewson]

Kinda' looks like the barrel is plugged with mud. I wonder if anyone ever checked to see if that gun is laoded?

[klb67]

Mark,

Thank you for posting the information regarding the 2014 Huntingdon County exhibition - I don't know how I missed it.  I'm from Huntingdon and attended this event a few years ago, thoroughly enjoyed it, and confirmed that James Stapleton was my great, great, great uncle.  I'm now looking forward to this year's show. 

[Kopp]

There will be at least four outstanding Kopp rifles (two by Andrew and two by George) at the Huntingdon County Longrifle Exhibit on February 21-23, 2014. The exhibit is sponsored by the Huntingdon County Historical Society.

More information can be found here: http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=29240.0

Thanks Mark. Several of us Kopps will be there with five additional Kopp rifles (4 Andrews and 1 George). Looking forward to it.

[Kopp]

Zooming in on the tip of the ramrod, the brass piece says .32 WCF.  Just sayin'

Good eye. I thought that was a brass ammo case when I zoomed in on it too but I couldn't tell what caliber. I didn't even notice it when I took the photos.