an interesting powder horn from a schooner in war of 1812

[jdm]

This horn was found in a box of junk at a yard sale in Indiana years ago .It 's from a schooner named the Indiana.It is covered in carving most by an expert carver and some secondary carving by another owner.  In researching schooners named Indiana there are several but I only found one that fit the 1800-1815 time period . It turned out to be very interesting.
In 1803 the schooner Indiana was launched it traveled the Ohio river & Mississippi  river  down to the gulf. The schooner Indiana was sold in New Orleans on Aug,16 1810 to Samuel Hambleton. It was registered again on Dec28 1810 to the new owner James Joly. The ship master was James Gassiotte.
 The next reference I found was the 7th of August 1812 the british ship Dominica captured three merchant vessels one was the schooner Indiana .  On Sept 4 1815 the schooner Eugenia  otherwise known as the Indiana was condemned for violating the         
non intercourse law. This law was enacted to stop trade with England . 
In researching the schooner Eugenia /Indiana  I came across a reference in a book where the pirate Jean  Lafitte captured a schooner named Indiana and renamed it the Eugenia . I have lost where that little bit of info came from and am trying to pursue it again.   
This horn was shortened a little bit at some point so some of the engraving info was lost.
Anyway for what it's worth here are some pictures of the powder horn from   "The fast sailing schooner Indiana July 15,1815.























upload images

[Tanselman]

Horns with a historical connection to known, significant individuals in our history are fascinating. I hope you can document the connection to Jean LaFitte. This is an attractive carved horn in its own right, despite any connections, nicely done with a well-shaped body. Glad you posted it, and hope you keep digging into its history. It may have an Indiana connection, but I haven't seen a horn body carved/shaped like that and documented to an Indiana maker... but there's always a first time.

Shelby Gallien

[jdm]

Thanks , Shelby.  I had some information saved on our desk top computer.It crashed and all was lost. I  believe the Jean Lafitte information came from a book about him and his escapades  and don't know what documentation the author had. However I will keep digging.
Thanks for your insight on the horn tip having a New England feel.   Jim

[JTR]

That's a very cool horn, and thanks for posting it!
John

[Jeff Murray]

what a great find, especially with the known history attached.  Thanks for posting pictures and the history as you know it to date.

[homerifle]

Very nice! Thanks for posting!

[moseswhite]

Very COOL horn !

[Shreckmeister]

Great horn Jim. I love the New England horns and this one is special.

[jdm]

I'm glad there are others who like this also.  It's a rare treat to
 find something like this where you can actually trace some history. I am also trying to come up with something on the owner
 ( CMB }. Long shot  but something to do.  Thanks,   Jim

[Bob Gerard]

Very cool horn!
I was thrown off when I saw the “Union” inscription. I had expected this to be more Civil War era with that theme, though the date belies that notion.
Was the term “Union” even common in  this early history? References to the “United States “ or “America “ certainly were, but Union not so much, at least from what limited pieces I have seen.
Also there appear two different color inks, black and ochre for the vines and such.
Additionally, I am struck by the quality and flow of the inscriptions, both block lettering and the splendid script that captures a handwritten style perfectly. And then there is the very crudely scratched-in drawing of the schooner Indiana. Made me wonder if more than one hand was at work decorating this very captivating horn.
Thanks for sharing it!

[jdm]

[quote author=Bob Gerard l
Very cool horn!
I was thrown off when I saw the “Union” inscription. I had expected this to be more Civil War era with that theme, though the date belies that notion.
Was the term “Union” even common in  this early history? References to the “United States “ or “America “ certainly were, but Union not so much, at least from what limited pieces I have seen.
Also there appear two different color inks, black and ochre for the vines and such.
Additionally, I am struck by the quality and flow of the inscriptions, both block lettering and the splendid script that captures a handwritten style perfectly. And then there is the very crudely scratched-in drawing of the schooner Indiana. Made me wonder if more than one hand was at work decorating this very captivating horn.
Thanks for sharing it!

Bob, I'm glad you enjoyed this horn.
Yes the term "Union" makes most of us think of the Civil War period. I believe the term was used often in print before that. Actually from the get go as in  " We the people of the United States ,in order to form a more perfect Union". I like that part the best on this horn  "Liberty &  Union ".
It has always baffled me how someone thought they good do as good a job as the  professionl who carved horn . I realize it personalizes the horn and sometimes adds charm and information. It doesn't always look that great though. It seems some what common . There are more than a few horns with more than the work of one hand.

[Elnathan]

Regarding "Union," the idea of secession was first broached in 1814 by some opponents of the War of 1812, and it was being openly discussed still when this horn was made. New England actually made secret overtures to the British for a separate peace, and there were proposals for the New England States to succeed  from the US or to expel the western states from the US, if wikipedia is to be believed. Given the date on the horn, I suspect that phrase "Liberty and Union" is a response to those proposals.

If the "Indiana/Eugenia" was trading with England, though, you have to wonder what was going on in that ship...maybe the horn owner was a defiant political minority on the vessel!

Daniel Webster used the phrase in a speech in 1830, evidently.

[jdm]

Elnathan,   The schooner Eugenia as it was then called was condemmened in Sept. of 1815. The horn is dated July 15 1815 two months earlier. However I'm not sure when the "Indiana " was captured and renamed.  Hopefully this will help keep the owners honor intact.  Jim