Oldest surviving Gun Shop in PA and maybe North America
Sept 5, 2023 22:29:00 GMT -7
Richard, brokennock, and 2 more like this
Post by artificer on Sept 5, 2023 22:29:00 GMT -7
I wasn't sure where to put this one at all, so I decided to post it here.
I really enjoy researching 17th and 18th century gunsmithing, gun shops and recently I've added Gun Boring Mills in North America. Gun boring mills (for hand held firearms) were places where barrels were welded up and at least rough forged on the outside and rough bored on the inside. Then the barrels were sold to others in the gunsmithing trade to finish as they desired.
Now I would have been surprised that any such boring mills would have been established here in the colonies much before the AWI, because of the number of such shops in England, where even with the trans Atlantic shipping costs; they made barrels, locks and other parts cheaper than could be done here in the colonies. However, I've run across tantalizing bits and pieces about colonial gun boring mills dating back to the first quarter of the 18th century when it seems it was not economically feasible to have boring mills that early.
I may be getting a little ahead of myself, so let's now go to the purported oldest extant gun shop in PA of which I'm aware. It is Martin Meylin’s Gun Shop originally built in 1718-19. The below link shows the location of the shop as well as a picture from one side.
www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=160649
The following link shows the other side of the shop and the report of excavation done there.
www.millersville.edu/archaeology/files/mylin-gunshop-site-report.pdf
I'm going to leave aside the fact it is disputed Martin made the first American Long Rifle and two early rifles proposed to be his.
Instead, I'm going to concentrate on the claim his shop was also a boring mill. Honestly, my first reaction was that could not have been possible because there was no nearby river or stream large enough to run a water wheel to power the forge and trip hammer/s needed. Rather recently, I tripped across the following that demonstrated not only how it was possible, but a period technology I had not run across before. Yes, I have to admit this got me a bit excited:
"The shop which Mylin (1) built still stands on the property of B. Snavely Garber near Willow Street. Whether it was once a boring mill is a point of dispute depending on whether one accepts Rupp's account and the oral accounts collected by Beck. However, even those who claim it was not a boring mill agree it was a blacksmith shop at one time. One side of the shop has an opening which allowed the entry of a power shaft. At one time there was a dam on Mylin's Run with a water wheel to provide power. The power was delivered to the shop by a chain which was hung from trees between the dam and the shop. Beck collected oral reminiscences from a man who had seen portions of chain and the supporting bands in the trees (which had grown around the metal). The same person recalled seeing a large six-foot bellows at the shop. Since both a gun shop and a blacksmith shop could make use of such power this shop alone cannot prove whether or not Martin Mylin (1) was a gunsmith. Yet it clearly is the shop to which Rupp referred in 1844 and as such tends to corroborate his story.2"
collections.lancasterhistory.org/media/library/docs/edit_vol93no1pp16_24.pdf
OK, so while it now seems there was the technology to run a boring mill at Martin's Shop, could that mean he was at least part time running a true boring mill? Well, then I was shocked to find out the following, it seems there was a SECOND boring mill set up at the almost identical time and it was done by Martin's neighbor and friend:
"In Pennsylvania, the earliest gunsmiths that can be documented are Robert Baker and the Martin Meylins, father and son.[6] [Gunsmith who had formerly been a gunsmith in England] Robert Baker formed a partnership with his son Caleb, and on August 15, 1719, erected a gun boring mill on Pequea Creek. In the tax records of Berks County, Pennsylvania, there were several gunsmiths plying their trade along the banks of the Wyomissing Creek.[4][7]"
Yeah, I know the above is from WIKI, but at least they provided the footnotes and the second is the Berks County Historical Society.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_rifle
OK, now there is evidence of TWO gun boring mills close enough together that the owners knew each other well? I strongly doubt there was enough business close enough in the colonies for TWO gun boring businesses in the same area. The only explanation I could come up with was instead of common gun boring mills in the period in England and the Continent, these two small shops were called boring mills because they made at least some gun barrels there. Now, that is only supposition on my part, but the following tends to support my theory.
"A "boring mill" is a shop where gun-barrels are bored or rifled. In these gunshops the barrel was made from a flat bar of soft iron, of the proper length, which, after being heated, was forged around an iron rod or mandrel. It was then closed or welded into barrel form. This hammering process was done with a trip-hammer lifted by water-power; though sometimes, with greater effort on the part of the smith, it was done by hand. The rough interior of the barrel now had to be smoothed off, and this was done by a boring tool usually driven by hand, though some times by water-power. If a rifle was to be made, the smoothed interior of the barrel was straight or spirally grooved, always by hand, using a rifling-bench tool.24"
collections.lancasterhistory.org/media/library/docs/edit_vol53no2pp33_63.pdf
Gus
I really enjoy researching 17th and 18th century gunsmithing, gun shops and recently I've added Gun Boring Mills in North America. Gun boring mills (for hand held firearms) were places where barrels were welded up and at least rough forged on the outside and rough bored on the inside. Then the barrels were sold to others in the gunsmithing trade to finish as they desired.
Now I would have been surprised that any such boring mills would have been established here in the colonies much before the AWI, because of the number of such shops in England, where even with the trans Atlantic shipping costs; they made barrels, locks and other parts cheaper than could be done here in the colonies. However, I've run across tantalizing bits and pieces about colonial gun boring mills dating back to the first quarter of the 18th century when it seems it was not economically feasible to have boring mills that early.
I may be getting a little ahead of myself, so let's now go to the purported oldest extant gun shop in PA of which I'm aware. It is Martin Meylin’s Gun Shop originally built in 1718-19. The below link shows the location of the shop as well as a picture from one side.
www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=160649
The following link shows the other side of the shop and the report of excavation done there.
www.millersville.edu/archaeology/files/mylin-gunshop-site-report.pdf
I'm going to leave aside the fact it is disputed Martin made the first American Long Rifle and two early rifles proposed to be his.
Instead, I'm going to concentrate on the claim his shop was also a boring mill. Honestly, my first reaction was that could not have been possible because there was no nearby river or stream large enough to run a water wheel to power the forge and trip hammer/s needed. Rather recently, I tripped across the following that demonstrated not only how it was possible, but a period technology I had not run across before. Yes, I have to admit this got me a bit excited:
"The shop which Mylin (1) built still stands on the property of B. Snavely Garber near Willow Street. Whether it was once a boring mill is a point of dispute depending on whether one accepts Rupp's account and the oral accounts collected by Beck. However, even those who claim it was not a boring mill agree it was a blacksmith shop at one time. One side of the shop has an opening which allowed the entry of a power shaft. At one time there was a dam on Mylin's Run with a water wheel to provide power. The power was delivered to the shop by a chain which was hung from trees between the dam and the shop. Beck collected oral reminiscences from a man who had seen portions of chain and the supporting bands in the trees (which had grown around the metal). The same person recalled seeing a large six-foot bellows at the shop. Since both a gun shop and a blacksmith shop could make use of such power this shop alone cannot prove whether or not Martin Mylin (1) was a gunsmith. Yet it clearly is the shop to which Rupp referred in 1844 and as such tends to corroborate his story.2"
collections.lancasterhistory.org/media/library/docs/edit_vol93no1pp16_24.pdf
OK, so while it now seems there was the technology to run a boring mill at Martin's Shop, could that mean he was at least part time running a true boring mill? Well, then I was shocked to find out the following, it seems there was a SECOND boring mill set up at the almost identical time and it was done by Martin's neighbor and friend:
"In Pennsylvania, the earliest gunsmiths that can be documented are Robert Baker and the Martin Meylins, father and son.[6] [Gunsmith who had formerly been a gunsmith in England] Robert Baker formed a partnership with his son Caleb, and on August 15, 1719, erected a gun boring mill on Pequea Creek. In the tax records of Berks County, Pennsylvania, there were several gunsmiths plying their trade along the banks of the Wyomissing Creek.[4][7]"
Yeah, I know the above is from WIKI, but at least they provided the footnotes and the second is the Berks County Historical Society.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_rifle
OK, now there is evidence of TWO gun boring mills close enough together that the owners knew each other well? I strongly doubt there was enough business close enough in the colonies for TWO gun boring businesses in the same area. The only explanation I could come up with was instead of common gun boring mills in the period in England and the Continent, these two small shops were called boring mills because they made at least some gun barrels there. Now, that is only supposition on my part, but the following tends to support my theory.
"A "boring mill" is a shop where gun-barrels are bored or rifled. In these gunshops the barrel was made from a flat bar of soft iron, of the proper length, which, after being heated, was forged around an iron rod or mandrel. It was then closed or welded into barrel form. This hammering process was done with a trip-hammer lifted by water-power; though sometimes, with greater effort on the part of the smith, it was done by hand. The rough interior of the barrel now had to be smoothed off, and this was done by a boring tool usually driven by hand, though some times by water-power. If a rifle was to be made, the smoothed interior of the barrel was straight or spirally grooved, always by hand, using a rifling-bench tool.24"
collections.lancasterhistory.org/media/library/docs/edit_vol53no2pp33_63.pdf
Gus
