Medad Hills 1757 gun at Kempton

[rich pierce]

Dave Person and I got to handle a Medad Hills fowler at the Kempton show. This one was dated 1757 or 1758. Stock architecture is English and the wrist is very slim. Here are some close-ups. As usual I forget to get the full length. But I’m including an old page from a collectors magazine comparing this and another gun.
Note the tang carving apron is overlapping the side plate lock molding. Very bold, unique, and attractive.

[Ky-Flinter]

Very cool!  I see someone got a tracing.

Ron

[smart dog]

Hi,
This is a remarkable gun with names and dates. 

dave

[TF Black]

Very cool – thanks for sharing Rich.

[Avlrc]

That's a great gun.  Thanks for sharing.

[Ats5331]

Held that one before, truly an awesome piece!

[ntqlvr1948]

Here's some pics of my fowler that someone said it is a Hills piece. Mine is a plain jane one with a 51 inch barrel. I was thinking it was from the 1780's but it seems very close to the ones here that date to the 1750's.. What do you think?

[backsplash75]

interesting that gun #2 has a tang screw fixed by a nut/washer (commonly seen on early 18th c English sea service guns) vs trigger plate. What did Hills typically use?

[rich pierce]

Not an expert - hopefully Dave Person will chime in, as he’s studied the work of the Hills gunsmiths more than I have.

[silky]

Great guns! Thanks for sharing.

In reference to that page from the collector's magazine: Ellington is a good hike from Goshen... sounds like Alex McKinstry wanted a fowler from the best. The Hills must have been well-known that early on.

- Tom

[rich pierce]

Great guns! Thanks for sharing.

In reference to that page from the collector's magazine: Ellington is a good hike from Goshen... sounds like Alex McKinstry wanted a fowler from the best. The Hills must have been well-known that early on.

- Tom

The current owner said that McKinstry’s wife was from Ellington.

[ntqlvr1948]

 I did some research on the internet and Rock Island sold a signed Medad Hills gun in 2019. It has the exact same lock as mine and no trigger plate  with a square nut securing the tang screw. So I guess that my gun is from roughly around late 1750's to maybe 60.

[rich pierce]

I did some research on the internet and Rock Island sold a signed Medad Hills gun in 2019. It has the exact same lock as mine and no trigger plate  with a square nut securing the tang screw. So I guess that my gun is from roughly around late 1750's to maybe 60.

[Robert Wolfe]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing Rich.

[ntqlvr1948]

 Thanks...I bought this gun about 20 years ago from a guy in Connecticut who was selling guns for an elderly collector there. I did not know what it was ...I just loved the stock, and I also love flintlocks. This forum is responsible for identifying where it came from. I will try to post an overall pic of it. It is so long I might have to put it on the wall to get a pic. It is all original except it is missing the ramrod.

[Brokennock]

Not an expert - hopefully Dave Person will chime in, as he’s studied the work of the Hills gunsmiths more than I have.

I too was hoping Dave Person ( @smart dog) would chime in on the use of the washers, amd anything else pertinent.

[ranger1759]

Hello All, I'm new here, but thought I would chime in. Hills guns typically use a nut to secure the tang screw, but after never seeing otherwise for years, I recently saw one with a trigger plate. A side view of the butt stock of the unmarked Hills would be most helpful.

[bob in the woods]

I love that Hills fowler.  Is the brass applied to the barrel [ like a thin "rib" ] or is it inlayed ?  I can't tell from the photo.  What a fantastic piece !

[rich pierce]

I love that Hills fowler.  Is the brass applied to the barrel [ like a thin "rib" ] or is it inlayed ?  I can't tell from the photo.  What a fantastic piece !

Appeared to be both inlayed and raised- not soldered on.

[smart dog]

Hi,
I've seen Medad Hills guns with trigger plates and the nut arrangement.  I suspect he did what was convenient at the time.  During the Revolution, the gun manufacturing in Goshen, CT was extensive and included making all the parts when needed.  At one point the Hills shop may have employed 28 workers.  The Hills family settled in Goshen because the bog iron produced in nearby Salisbury, CT was of especially fine quality and they used it to make guns and tools.  Medad's father was Benoni Hills who had been apprenticed to Ebenezer Pomeroy of that famous family of gun makers.  Benoni trained his sons Medad and John.  Medad was fully employed making guns throughout the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars.  Gov. John Trumbull of CT issued to the Hill shop what may have been the very first contract for making muskets during the Rev War.  Benoni and John apparently moved to nearby Winchester, CT before the Rev War and eventually John moved to Charlotte (pronounced Sha lot') after the war and made guns until his death in 1808.  John was probably the first gunsmith working in Vermont.  I think Medad died about the same time. 

dave 

[bob in the woods]

I love that Hills fowler.  Is the brass applied to the barrel [ like a thin "rib" ] or is it inlayed ?  I can't tell from the photo.  What a fantastic piece !

Appeared to be both inlayed and raised- not soldered on.

Thank you, Rich.  It looked a wee bit raised, so my first thought was that it was applied and soldered.  That proves that you need to see and handle the originals otherwise it's too easy to get on the wrong path ! 

[Brokennock]

Hi,
I've seen Medad Hills guns with trigger plates and the nut arrangement.  I suspect he did what was convenient at the time.  During the Revolution, the gun manufacturing in Goshen, CT was extensive and included making all the parts when needed.  At one point the Hills shop may have employed 28 workers.  The Hills family settled in Goshen because the bog iron produced in nearby Salisbury, CT was of especially fine quality and they used it to make guns and tools.  Medad's father was Benoni Hills who had been apprenticed to Ebenezer Pomeroy of that famous family of gun makers.  Benoni trained his sons Medad and John.  Medad was fully employed making guns throughout the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars.  Gov. John Trumbull of CT issued to the Hill shop what may have been the very first contract for making muskets during the Rev War.  Benoni and John apparently moved to nearby Winchester, CT before the Rev War and eventually John moved to Charlotte (pronounced Sha lot') after the war and made guns until his death in 1808.  John was probably the first gunsmith working in Vermont.  I think Medad died about the same time. 

dave

Thank you.