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Here is Ron Gabel's answer to question number 266

Question:

My grandfather gave me an antique muzzle loader. We have tried to find out how old it is but no one knows. It has brass designs on it and it is brass on the piece that goes against your shoulder and it sticks out about an inch and 1/2 as if into your shouldrer. It also has a storage department for the gun powder made out of brass. The only identifing mark is the name H. Leman. I am sorry I cannot tell you more but I do not know any more about guns. I was wondering if you might could tell me any thing about the name or the age if possible from my description. It is extreamly long and heavy also. I know this is not much information but I just wanted to try.

Answer:

Hi April Henry E. Leman was the last of the great Lancaster Pa. gunsmiths. He worked as a gunsmith in Lancaster from 1834 until 1887. His factories turned out large orders of commercial quality guns as opposed to higher quality made-to-order pieces for individuals. Most remaining Leman guns are from the percussion ignition period. Leman was born in Lancaster March 8, 1812. At the age of sixteen in 1828 he was apprenticed to Lancaster gunsmith Melchior Fordney. In 1831 Leman moved to Phila. to work in the Tryon gun factory. He returned to Lancaster in 1834 and started his own gun business, located at Mifflen Street west of Duke. In 1861 he built a new factory at East Walnut and Cherry Street, and then in 1873 moved to an even larger factory on James and Christian streets until it closed in 1887. Henry died May 12, 1887. A portrait of him now resides in the Andrew Mellon Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. I will guess you have a Kentucky style gun (judged from the brass buttplate) with a brass hinged cap box (for brass caps used with the percussion ignition system). A nice article concerning the maker is available from The Kentucky Rifle Association, PO Box 97, Slatington, PA.

Submitted By: April Mcleod On: 10/13/1999 12:43:23 PM