Author Topic: J. Renick Kentucky gunsmith!  (Read 1178 times)

Offline Rajin cajun

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 432
  • Ragin Cajun
J. Renick Kentucky gunsmith!
« on: September 15, 2020, 05:02:06 PM »

Anyone know who J.Renick of Kentucky would have trained with ?
His work has the appearance of a strong association with Sheetz.
Appreciate your input.!!!!

Bob
It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog !

Offline Tanselman

  • member 2
  • Hero Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1551
Re: J. Renick Kentucky gunsmith!
« Reply #1 on: September 15, 2020, 07:58:47 PM »
We don't know who his master was, at this time. But his work certainly is strongly related to the Sheets of Shepherdstown, WV. Interestingly, John Abram Rennick's parents came from Germany, first settled in PA before the Rev. War, and sometime after the war moved to "Greenbriar," Virginia. There is a Greenbriar County in West Virginia today, with a small town named Renick, named for its early founder, William Renick, undoubtedly a relative of John Renick's father. So the family had ties to VA [today, WV].

It is my opinion that he had to have trained under one of the better Sheets gunsmiths, perhaps in Shepherdstown, WV, due to the very strong, almost identical engraved patterns on Renick's known patchbox and toe plate. A couple of other unsigned rifles have been "tentatively" identified as Renick rifles in KY, and one may well be by Renick [a restock of an earlier frontier KY rifle] due to its similar box engraving. We have good information on the Renicks [two sons were also gunsmiths] in KY and later in MO, but work still needs to be done on the earlier generation to better determine what influences were on the family, and where old ties were made. It is interesting that in Clark Co., KY where the Renicks first settled, there were several Sheets neighbors. 

More information on the Renicks and other early Kentucky firearms is available at www.kentuckygunmakers.com

Shelby Gallien
« Last Edit: December 01, 2023, 06:04:53 AM by Tanselman »

Offline Rajin cajun

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 432
  • Ragin Cajun
Re: J. Renick Kentucky gunsmith!
« Reply #2 on: September 15, 2020, 10:43:56 PM »
Shelby, thanks your knowledge and input are deeply appreciated! Thanks for the current information on Renick.





Bob
It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog !

Offline Avlrc

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1276
    • Hampshire County Long Rifles
Re: J. Renick Kentucky gunsmith!
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2020, 02:41:25 AM »
I would like to see a picture of Renick's work.   

Offline Tanselman

  • member 2
  • Hero Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1551
Re: J. Renick Kentucky gunsmith!
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2020, 03:16:18 AM »
The only known [currently] signed John Renick rifle is a fancy half-stocked gun. It was photographed by Ric Lambert of CLA aclaim, and pictures published in two recently released books on Kentucky history. I think the first book was called "Collecting Kentucky" or close to that. Recently Mel Hankla released his "Into The Bluegrass" which pictured the signed Renick rifle. There are a couple of attributed "Renick" rifles out there, but with only one signed gun, it's still risky attributing "Renick" rifles when we've seen so few. It's easy to say a somewhat similar rifle might have been made by one of his sons so it's a Renick, but until we see signed rifles by the sons we really don't know what their work looked like. We just presume they made guns similar to their father, but perhas a little less polished.  Shelby Gallien

Offline Avlrc

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1276
    • Hampshire County Long Rifles
Re: J. Renick Kentucky gunsmith!
« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2020, 04:02:09 AM »
Thanks Shelby.