Fordney Rifle

[jamned]

Acquired this rifle at a gun show this past weekend. Need help with ID. A percussion 40cal, 37 1/2", 13/16" act barrel. Makers name on top flat is J(?) Fordney, Lancaster Pa. Not sure of first initial. Was Melchoir Fordney making percussion guns? Any sons, like maybe John? Some pictures to help with ID are shown here, thanks, Jim.

[rich pierce]

Jacob. Look in our museum area. http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=6323.0

Very nice find!

[jdm]

 Jacob Fordney  One was a son of Melchoir the other a brother. Yours  is a later gun, Melchoir was long  gone when this gun was made. Nice patch box and a good find.

[Shreckmeister]

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[Dobyns]

Jacob Fordney  One was a son of Melchoir the other a brother. Yours  is a later gun, Melchoir was long  gone when this gun was made. Nice patch box and a good find.

Jacob Fordney Sr (not a gunsmith) was Jacob Jr(1773-1852) and Melchior's (1781-1846) father.  This rifle is late, so likely Mechior's nephew Jacob(born 1806), or even later John J Fordney.

[JTR]

So where does Casper Fordney come in on this family tree?
Or does he?
John

[jamned]

Thanks all for the info. Either Jacob or John. Any distinguishing elements of either builder I should look for? Sure is some fine engraving on this gun. Might need some one to help with repairs. Looks like it was run over by a truck! Thanks, Jim.

[Mtn Meek]

The best resource I've found for information on the Fordney gun makers is The Pennsylvania-Kentucky Rifle by Henry J. Kauffman (1960).  Frank M. Sellers's American Gunsmiths lists ten different Fordneys, but he doesn't provide any information on their inter-relation.  James Gordon in Great Gunmakers for the Early West pretty much summarizes the information from Kauffman and Sellers, so there seems to be little new information.

Kauffman states that, "The will of Jacob Fordney, recorded in the Lancaster County Court House in 1819, tells that he had a number of children, including Melchoir [the sources vary in the spelling of 'Melchoir', some have the 'i' first, some have the 'o' first], Jacob, and Elizabeth.  Melchoir and Jacob became two of Lancaster's outstanding gunsmiths; and their sister married Jacob Kraft, who was probably the son of an earlier Jacob Kraft, both of whom were gunsmiths."  Kauffman goes on to say, "Most of the collectors in the Lancaster area have been of the opinion that Jacob Fordney was the son of Melchoir, but it is evident from the will of the father that they were brothers.  It has also been established from the Lancaster tax list of 1834 that there were two Jacob Fordneys who were gunsmiths at that time.  It is impossible to separate them or their work, so the following data could apply to one or both of them."

Sellers gives the birth date of 1808 for Jacob Fordney and his death in 1878.  James Gordon says he was apprenticed to Jacob Gumpf.  Kauffman cites an advertisement from the Columbia Spy, June 23, 1830 [He also gives the date of the ad as June 23, 1831, so one is a typo.] that appears to be notice that Jacob Fordney was starting in business as a gunsmith after finishing his apprenticeship and maybe a year or two as a journeyman.  The ad is interesting in that Fordney states, "Guns altered to the Percussion principle..."  Jacob Fordney was evidently an early adopter of the percussion system as apposed to his older brother Melchoir, who apparently only made flintlock rifles up to his death in 1846.

Government records show that Jacob Fordney made 250 rifles for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1837, and his name appears in records of the American Fur Company, but only 12 rifles are documented as being purchased by AFC.

He obviously found other markets for his rifles as Kauffman cites an advertisement from the October 24, 1835 issue of the Pittsburgh Gazette where Jabob Fordney was looking to hire 15 to 20 good journeymen gun makers for his gun manufactory.

There are close parallels between Jacob Fordney and Henry Leman in their early life.  Both were born in Lancaster, and Jacob Fordney was only 4 years older than Henry Leman.  Leman apprenticed with Jacob's brother, Melchoir for 3 years, so they undoubtedly knew each other.  Both made rifles for the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the 1837 contract, and they appear to have competed in the same civilian market based on surviving rifles.  Leman was more successful in growing his business than Fordney, though.  By 1850, Leman had 34 employees and was making 2,500 guns annually.  There is no indication that Jacob Fordney's business grew any larger than the 15 to 20 employees he advertised for in 1835.

As far as the other Fordneys, the list from Sellers is:

• Casper Fordney (1807- ?) Lancaster, PA 1828-1835, Mt Vernon, Ohio census 1835-1850
• Henry Fordney (? - ?) Lancaster, PA tax records 1833-1838
• Isaac Fordney (? - ?) Lancaster, PA tax records 1840
• Jacob Fordney (? - 1819) Lancaster, PA, Melchoir's and Jacob's father
• Jacob Fordney (1808 - 1878) Lancaster, PA, Melchoir's brother
• Jacob H. Fordney (1835 - ?) Mt. Vernon, Ohio, Son of Caspar Fordney
• John Fordney (? - ?) Lancaster, PA business directory 1843-1853
• John J. Fordney (? - ?) Lancaster, PA business directory 1894
• Melchior Fordney (? - 1846) Lancaster, PA business directory 1809-1846
• Philip Fordney (? - ?) Lancaster, PA tax records 1836

Casper Fordney could have been a brother to Melchoir and Jacob based on birth date, but he could also be a cousin if there was another Fordney family in the area.  The later seems likely because we see a Henry Fordney, an Isaac Fordney, a John Fordney, and a Philip Fordney in the Lancaster business and tax records during the 1830s and 1840s who are probably of the same generation as Melchoir and Jacob.  It's doubtful they were all brothers.

Melchoir Fordney often engraved his name in script of the top barrel flat.  Jacob Fordney usually stamped his barrel with "J. FORDNEY" in block letters or "J. Fordney" in script letters over "LANCASTER, PA".  I don't know if any examples of John Fordney's rifles exist, but there is enough consistency in the architecture of rifles, style of patch box, and engraving style to suggest that rifles marked in block letters "J. FORDNEY" and those marked in script letters "J. Fordney" were made in the same shop.

J. Fordney marked rifles with back action percussion locks are common, but he also build some with regular percussion locks and a few with flintlocks.

[jdm]

J. Fordney Lancaster Pa.

[Dobyns]

There sure is a lot of Mechior's influence in that last rifle!

[jamned]

Mtn Meek, thanks very much for that extended post. Very informative. I am leaning toward my rifle being by Jacob. But the patch box, butt plate, trigger guard are all iron, not brass. Also I have not seen a rifle with the same type of engraving as on my rifle. The lock is marked "Baker London".

In Sellers book, Jacob Fordney made Indian contract rifles for the Government. Any idea on the configuration of these guns? Probably a plain Jane. Jim.

[Mtn Meek]

Mtn Meek, thanks very much for that extended post. Very informative. I am leaning toward my rifle being by Jacob. But the patch box, butt plate, trigger guard are all iron, not brass. Also I have not seen a rifle with the same type of engraving as on my rifle. The lock is marked "Baker London".

In Sellers book, Jacob Fordney made Indian contract rifles for the Government. Any idea on the configuration of these guns? Probably a plain Jane. Jim.

You're welcome.

I'm leaning towards Jacob Fordney, too.  The iron patch box, butt plate, and trigger guard are unusual for a Jacob Fordney rifle, but may reflect the period that this rifle was built.  It could be a fairly late rifle built in the 1860s or even 1870s.  The back action lock and the half stock configuration definitely indicate post-1850.

The engraving on your patch box is a different style that that on the rifle that jdm posted, but Fordney may have had different workers that did the engraving, especially if the two rifles were built decades apart.

The patch box on your rifle is likely a commercial product.  I suspect these were sold by Tryon of Philadelphia.  I've seen them on Philadelphia rifles and Lancaster rifles and, I believe an early version, on J&S Hawken rifles.  Note the last picture in the montage below is a Leman rifle with a back action lock similar to yours and set-up as a target rifle.  As I said before, Fordney and Leman competed in the same civilian market.



As for your question concerning the configuration of Indian contract rifles, the picture below of a J. Fordney trade rifle from Jim Gordon's collection is an excellent example of a classic Lancaster trade rifle as built by Fordney and several other Lancaster and Philadelphia gun builders.



The fur trade companies and the Bureau of Indian Affairs were ordering flintlock rifles until very late.  The lock on this rifle is the typical English import lock with the correct engraving and breasted cock.  The rifle has a single trigger and simple checkering on the wrist and minimal engraving on the patch box.  These trade rifles normally had barrel keys rather than pins and the keys usually didn't have heads just like the keys on this Fordney rifle.

Fur trade rifles and smoothbore guns were often simply less expensive versions of civilian arms.  jdm's rifle has the same architecture and similar hardware as the trade rifle pictured above.  It is a more expensive version with the double set triggers and more engraving on the patch box.  The percussion lock also indicates it was meant for the civilian, and likely east-of-Mississippi, market.

I have a J. Fordney squirrel rifle that is another example.  Note that my rifle has the same patch box pattern as the one on the trade rifle above, but with more engraving.  Like jdm's, my rifle has double set triggers and a percussion lock that is original to the rifle.



Hope this answers your questions.

[jdm]

I had a request for a picture of the lock. I also posted a closer picture of the patch box . the shading reminds me of a rifle Rob posted some time back. You don't see it very often either not used or worn off I guess.  Thanks





Click on the pic. to enlarge. Just figured that out.

[Lucky R A]

     The Fordneys were noted for their bold engraving.  It seems that in mid percussion period the use of the shader graver in innovative ways became the style.   Henry Albright did some very interesting engraving with the shader.  Even master engravers such as Fleeger used them late in the period and produced some striking designs...I have experimented trying to replicate some of the designs with less than spectacular results...

[Mtn Meek]

Here are some more photos of my J. Fordney rifle.  The patch box has some of the same bold engraving even though the pattern is different.  It also exhibits the use of the shading graver along the edge of the box lid.



The toe plate is similar to the one jdm showed, and again, the shading graver.  Note the edge of the little "hat" button covering the plunger for the patch box release can be seen.



Here is a picture of the lock on my Fordney.



The lock is marked "M M MASLIN" over "WARRANTED".  According to Daniel Hartzler in Arms Makers of Maryland, Michael M. Maslin was a hardware merchant in Baltimore, MD.  The earliest Baltimore business directory listing Hartzler found for M. M. Maslin was 1822.  From 1824 to 1833 Maslin was in partnership with William D. McKim in the wholesale hardware business as McKim & Maslin.  Hartzler mentions locks marked "M M MASLIN" and other locks marked "McKIM & BROTHER BALTIMORE", but no mention of locks marked "McKIM & MASLIN".  The implication is that even though they were in partnership, they may have marked their locks in their individual names.  M. M. Maslin locks appear to be typical Birmingham-made locks, and it's questionable if he made locks himself.  Sellers in American Gunsmiths lists M. M. Maslin in the Philadelphia, PA business directory of 1847.  It's not clear when he moved from Baltimore to Philadelphia.

If one studies the hammers on jdm's rifle and mine, they both are the wide, heavy style.  I believe these reflect the early percussion period when British lock makers were experimenting with various shapes for their hammers. 

Following Forsyth's patent in 1807 of his percussion system, using loose fulminating powder, other inventors and gun makers came up with different ways of containing the fulminate.  One of the earliest was to sandwich fulminate cakes between two pieces of paper.  Guns using this method were called patch locks.  Another mechanism utilized a small pill shaped fulminate, and it was called a pill lock.  A fourth approach contained the fulminate in a small tube.  A hammer struck the tube and ignited the fulminate which shot a flame out one end of the tube and into the flash channel to the main charge.  These were referred to as tube locks.  Each of these different mechanisms required a different shaped hammer to properly strike the fulminate.  Some gun makers developed self-priming mechanisms which required further modification to the hammers.

With the invention of the copper percussion cap, many gun makers were quick to see its advantages and began producing guns to utilize it.  Some simply used their earlier designs and incorporated the nipple and cap into them.  Some of these early cap locks had some very odd looking hammers.  Later designs had more normal looking hammers but they still reflected vestiges of the earlier percussion systems.  One was the beefier hammer that the lock makers may have thought was needed to ensure sufficient inertia to pop the cap.

Here are a couple of images from a Deringer pistol and a Deringer rifle that both date to the late 1820s.





Based on the hammers and the shapes of the lock plates, I believe the locks on jdm's rifle and mine date to the 1830s.  The rifles themselves could have been made later as the locks may have been in a warehouse or hardware store for several years before Jacob Fordney used them to build his rifles, but they provide a guide as to the earliest possible dates.

I believe the latest likely dates for the two rifles would be the 1840s because Fordney appears to have adopted the back action lock for a lot of his rifles in the 1850s and the hammers on bar action locks in the 1850s tended to be slimmer.