ALR MUseum Gunsmith: Abraham Henry Lancaster, PA "Rare and Spectacular"

[Hurricane ( of Virginia)]

This pristine gun ranks amongst the best and rarest that the Lancaster School had to offer.  

See it in the museum below!

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=3114.0

Please add your comments here by using the reply button.

[woodsrunner]

Please correct me with my untrained eye, but don't I see Jacob Dickert's style all over this rifle?

[Jim Kibler]

Seems to me there is a pretty strong connection between this gun and the William Antes, RCA # 53.  Compare the architecture, the mounts and the carving.  Perhaps it's a little premature to conclude this was made in Lancaster.  Just my thoughts...     A fantastic rifle nonetheless.

[mr. no gold]

Since this is a rifle made by Abraham Henry one wonders how Dickert has been dragged into the picture? Perhaps it is because this rifle has all the features that you will find on work by J. Ferree, J. Dickert, J. Hoake, Albrecht (Albright), P. Gonter and many other early Lancaster makers. It has all the markers.
This rifle has a high grip rail, four RR pipes, thick butt, high relief carving especially at the tang (which disappeared relatively early in Lancaster, by about 1810, in favor of none, or incised designs), long tapered barrel, daisy patchbox finial, and a wonderful handmade lock, the best I have ever seen. This is only the second Lancaster Henry I have seen and it is the best. The other one had no tang carving, and the carving was not as fine.
This rifle typifies the best of the early Lancaster work and this is the common original style which after 1800 changed somewhat. No one is sure who introduced the Lancaster look; it could have been a very early maker like John Graeff, or a group of such men, including the aforementioned group.
Of great interest here is the used of nontraditional maple for stocking. This gun was created with a high artful purpose in mind, for a well to do client, it appears.
Dick
   

[J.D.]

I'm not at all knowledgeable about these old guns, nor am I all that knowledgeable about apprenticeships and such, however, if Henry was born in 1768, wouldn't he have been a little young to have made this rifle in 1785?

Henry would have begun his apprenticeship at 13 years old, if the 1781 date was the year Henry began his apprenticeship. Could this rifle have been his masterpiece, at the end of his 6 year apprenticeship...assuming that all apprenticeships were for a term of 6 years?

However, I am under the impression that apprentices served until they were 21?
Or, am I way off base?

Either way, this rifle is a great example of the artistry and craftsmanship of an excellent artisan.

I would like to offer many thanks to all who are associated with the museum, as well as the collectors who offer photos of pieces, in their collections, to those of us who are not fortunate enough to see these types of pieces in person.

God Bless,
J.D.

[timM]

JD.............I believe Abraham Henry was born in 1762.

[Tony Clark]

Seems to me there is a pretty strong connection between this gun and the William Antes, RCA # 53.  Compare the architecture, the mounts and the carving.  Perhaps it's a little premature to conclude this was made in Lancaster.  Just my thoughts...     A fantastic rifle nonetheless.

That was my initial reaction to, particularly the lower lines of the butt/wrist and that guard.

Someone mentioned the tang carving, I don't see any photos of the tang carving..... and the stock having some birdseye in it... sure don't see that very often. Nice, Neat gun. Regards, TC

[Tom Currie]

I sure wish we could see more detail. Tang carving, sideplate, engraving. Jim Kibler was right on, resemblance to Ante's RCA53 is unmistakable. That makes it even more interesting to me.

[B Shipman]

A really great one. I'd like to see more as well but I'll take what I can get.

[mr. no gold]

Re tang carving: If you look at the frame showing a close up of the lock, you can see some of the carving at the rear of the tang. From what is visible, I guess it to be a fleur de lis motif or a variation of same. It is clearly carved in relief and is very fine.
Dick

[richardn]

I believe a more probable date of manufacture to be in the 1790 decade given the date of apprenticing - and possibly in the borough of Nazareth under the guidance of his brother William JR - my guess.

Bill Shipman - I will try to get more pictures.  The tang carving is indeed a fluer-de-lis.

Richard Nicholas

[spgordon]

I realize I'm coming late to this discussion. But the date of Abraham Henry's birth is important here, not merely to evaluate the date of the rifle but also because of that claim that he appears on the Northampton County tax roll in 1781.

Abraham Henry was born in 1768. The Henrys had an earlier child named Abraham, born in 1762, but he died in 1766.

So it makes sense that William Henry of Lancaster would send Abraham to his elder brother William in Nazareth at thirteen; William (Jr.) himself began his apprenticeship at fourteen.

But why would a thirteen or fourteen year old boy show up on a County tax roll (especially when he was serving as an apprentice)?

Is anybody aware of the earliest source of this claim about the 1781 tax roll?

Scott

[spgordon]

OK, home from Christmas travels with access to books, so I will try to answer my own question ...

It looks to me that it was S. E. Dyke's list of "Gunsmiths of Northampton and Lehigh Counties, 1734-1847" (KRA Bulletin, 1967) that first stated that Abraham Henry was listed in the 1781 tax lists as a gunsmith in Northampton County. James Whisker repeats this in his GUNSMITHS OF LANCASTER COUNTY (1995). For reasons noted in my last post, it seems unlikely that this is accurate.

My suspicions are heightened by the fact that, in the same article, Dyke states that "John Joseph Henry" is listed in the Northampton County tax records as a gunsmith from 1780-1828. This John Joseph Henry (son of William Henry [II] of Nazareth) was not born until 1786 and moved to Northampton County in the period between 1812-14. 

I think a trip to Easton's Court House is in order. The Dyke papers at the Lancaster County Historical Society contain a folder ("Gunsmiths of Lehigh and Northampton  Counties") that probably contains his notes that led to the 1967 article.

Scott