Southern Derringers of the Mississippi ValleyKirkland, Turner
History
Southern Derringers of the Mississippi Valley
Kirkland, Turner
Firearms industry and trade -- Mississippi River Valley; Pistols -- Mississippi River Valley
#6 Although in deplorable condition, this Schneider and Glassick can be
restored and I am going to spend upwards of $200 to have the trigger
guard and the hammer made new. Notice the extra long length of the grip
and of the bird head shape. The barrel is held in place both by a
trigger plate screw and a wedge. The front sight is a brass blade milled
into the steel barrel with no engraving or ornamentation at the breech.
Notice the heavy downward curve of the lock. Caliber is .500.
The barrel markings are done with the same stamp as used on gun #215
which is a one piece stamp in one line as follows:
Schneider & Glassick, Memphis, Tenn.
W. H. CALHOUN
#225 W. H. Calhoun was a fancy goods merchant in Nashville, Tennessee
during and well before the Civil War. Fancy goods merchants sold
jewelry, watches, and guns which sort of fitted together in those days
and times. Calhoun never made guns himself as far as I know and was not
a gunsmith. This is a genuine Henry Deringer gun surcharged or marked
with the agent’s name on the barrel. This gun has typical Henry Deringer
characteristics such as German silver furniture and a pineapple finial
on the trigger plate. The stock is made without ramrod. The caliber is
.370.
The barrel markings are in four lines on the top flat and appear to be
marked each line individually as follows:
Man^d for
W. H. Calhoun
Agent,
Nashville, Tenn.
DANIEL L. SWETT & CO.
#282 L. Swett was a dealer of guns and general merchandise in Vicksburg,
Mississippi and as far as I know never made guns himself. The guns that
I have seen by this maker were all Henry Deringer agent marked guns.
This speciment is very typical of a genuine Henry Deringer such as with
ramrod, German silver furniture, and pineapple finial on the trigger
plate.
The barrel markings are in three lines and it appears to be one stamp
because each line is so perfect when compared with the other. The
markings are as follows:
Made for
L. Swett & Co.
Vicksburg, Miss.
This name represents an agent primarily since no guns not of Henry
Deringer manufacture are known. Newspaper advertisements of that period
show he operated in the late 1850’s. It is interesting to notice that
Mrs. Jefferson Davis carried a Swett derringer in her purse. The gun is
now on display in the old capitol museum in Jackson, Mississippi.
J. A. SCHAFER
J. A. Schafer. Vicksburg, Mississippi, is one gun that I do not have and
I would like to obtain. I have heard of three of these guns and they are
always Henry Deringer guns surcharged with this agent’s name and without
a doubt all will be typical of Henry Deringer manufactury.
L. F. TRUMPLER
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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