John R. Gillespie longrifle

[mbriggs]

After searching for many years I finally found a signed Gillespie rifle to add to my collection.  The rifle was in the Lou Russo collection for many years and I recently bought it from his sons.

The rifle is full-stock, flintlock, with a pewter nose cap. It has an unusual vent pick holder in the toe of the rifle.

 


Lock side



Cheek side



3/4 view



No cheek rest



Sideplate



Pewter nose cap



Flintlock



Iron toe plate and brass vent pick holder



Barrel tang



Tear drop greaser



J. G. barrel stamp

Thanks,

Michael

[tlallijr]

Congratulations ! Very nice rifle.

[rich pierce]

Excellent!

[scottmc]

Oh, you've caused my heart to skip beats.  I love those Gillespies.  Nice catch!

[Sequatchie Rifle]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing the photos.

[Dennis Glazener]

Nice looking rifle Michael. I feel sure that rifle was made before John and younger brother James moved to Union County GA in 1849.

John R. Gillespie was the first-born child of Mathew and Elizabeth Gillespie. He was born 12/5/1811 and died in 1894 and is buried in Union County GA.  Below is a photo of (l-r) Me, Billy Harkins, Bob Plott and Rich Pouncey (deceased) standing in front of where John and James Gillespie had their first gun shop in Union County:

Their partnership ended when one of the two brothers heated up a rifle breech in the forge. It was loaded, went off and depending on the one telling the story, either wounded or scared the other brother to death! They never spoke to one another after that according to family legend. One went to one side of Union County GA and the other one went to the other side of the county!

Below is a photo of John Gillespie's home on Plott Town Road Blairsville GA, his shop was located just behind the walnut tree on the right according to Bob Plott who is related to John (same as Billy and I), his home has since been torn down:

[mbriggs]

Thanks for sharing that story and photos with us Dennis.  I thought you would like this rifle.

Michael

[Cades Cove Fiddler]

  ... Michael,... is this the same rifle I had the privilege to examine at the Ohio show back in the Fall,...?... thanx for posting,...
   

[gibster]

Very nice rifle.  Gillespie rifles aren't easy to come by and it looks like you found one of the greats. Thanks for sharing.

[MuskratMike]

One fine piece of history. Traditional Gillespie teardrop grease hole and I can close my eyes and see a bird feather protruding from that vent pick hole. My friend youv'e made my day seeing these pictures. What a story this fine rifle could tell.

[mr. no gold]

A mighty fine long rifle! Isn't this a 'holy grail' of good southern guns? Congratulations on the new acquisition, Michael. Thank you for bringing it here for all to admire. And, by the way, fellow ALR members, I finally broke down and bought all of Michael's wonderfully researched books on the NC makers, schools, rifles. and kit. If you do not have these yet, you should.
The photos are in color, show all kinds of details and each gun is well described. Funny, I found of equal interest, the accompanying documentation and supporting information in the final pages of each book. Still wondering though, did the fellows who killed Francis Bradley in 1780 ever face justice? Thanks again Michael for your expertise, enthusiasm and your generosity in sharing, whether here or in your fine books.
Dick

[mbriggs]

Dana,
Yes, that is the rifle I offered you in the fall in Ohio. Since no one wanted to buy it, I decided to sell my Henry West Appalachian school rifle and make room for the Gillespie in my collection.

Dick,
Thank you for the kind words about my books.  I hope you are enjoying them and learning a lot from them.

Francis Bradley was a Captain of the Mecklenburg "Hornet's Nest" militia.  He was assassinated by four Tories who were retreating from the battle of Hanging Rock. They stole his uniform buttons and the longrifle made by Bradley's brother in law Isaac Price (founder of the Mecklenburg Longrifle School.) There is evidence that the Tories were recognized and captured in Tennessee because of the buttons and Isaac Price longrifle, but their fate is not documented.  Unfortunately no signed Isaac Price longrifle is known to survive.

Michael

[wildcatter]

Grand rifle! Thanks for sharing Michael, really appreciate your willingness to always share!

Matt

[AZshot]

What a coincidence, today my wife started once again trying to figure out where my g-g-g-great grandfather William Allen came from, a 30 year quest so far.  He was in Mills River in the 1820s, and several of his children are buried in the Gillespie Sitton cemetery there.  Family lore is some of them helped the Gillespies make rifles. 

[Dennis Glazener]

What a coincidence, today my wife started once again trying to figure out where my g-g-g-great grandfather William Allen came from, a 30 year quest so far.  He was in Mills River in the 1820s, and several of his children are buried in the Gillespie Sitton cemetery there.  Family lore is some of them helped the Gillespies make rifles.

I don't doubt that they did. Philip Gillespie was quite an entrepreneur as well as a gun maker. I believe he employed many of his Sitton and Gillespie kinfolk in his shop then had them put his initials on the barrel. Likely he may have hired others. To bolster my thought on this, take note of the many different P*G signed rifles and see if you agree they probably were made by different hands. It would certainly make sense for him to have them "brand" their rifles with a known Gillespie makers initials since Philip, his father Mathew, his 2 uncles and Grandfather had such a good reputation for making good guns.
Dennis

[oldtravler61]

  Really like seeing an reading about these rifles.  Keep the history coming.  Thanks Mike an Dennis.  Oldtravler

[Cades Cove Fiddler]

  ... AZshot,... I live in Henderson County, near Mills River and can take pictures of any grave stones if you will PM me names.... regards,... CCF
 

[AZshot]

Thanks, but I was able to go there a couple years ago, and took lots of grave photos.  The time before that had been when I was a little boy, in the late 1960s.  Very strange to be back and have vague memories of the primitive field stones from over 40 years before.  Bert Sitton corresponded both with my dad in the late 60s-70s, and later my wife in the 90s, as we tried to trace where William came from.  Bert was the county historian as I'm sure you know, and I believe owned the house right next to the graveyard. 

There are several Allen's buried there, some died in bushwacker raids in the Civil War, some from trees falling on them in logging accidents (my g-g-great grandfather).  Some married into the Sitton and Gillespie lines.  Basically, we feel Mills River is the old homestead of my family, though most left over the decades.  My Great Grandfather plowed fields with a mule all summer to get the money to leave there in the late 1800s.  He worked at Fruitland college down the road and married a Quattlebaum.  Then went to Tigerville SC to become the postmaster, then to GA and became a school superintendent eventually.  So I have Gillespie and Quattlebaum rifle blood!