Anyone have knowledge of old Powderhorns?
- Thread starter Brandyn
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
Guest
Brandyn,
You can put all your images in one post. They don't need to be posted individually. :grin:
You can put all your images in one post. They don't need to be posted individually. :grin:
paulvallandigham
Passed On
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2006
- Messages
- 17,537
- Reaction score
- 94
Even after seeing the pictures, I can't tell much about the horn. I was given an old powder horn, that had its mouth damaged. I took it to the best Horn maker I knew at the time- Bruck Horne, of Bloomington, Illinois--- and paid him to restore it. He needed the money and was interested in the horn. When he gave it back to me, He told me that from the carving, and the condition of the inside of the horn, and the base plug, he could tell that the horn was much older than we first though. The horn had been cut down, and a plated brass ferrule, like those found on old Screwdrivers, was used to support the mouth of the horn. The mouth had a piece broken off, and he said someone tried to glue it back on with something like Hide glue- the glue was almost 100 years old. He believed that the horn might have originally been several inches longer, and dated by to the Early 19th century. Bruce has been making horns, and collecting old horns for years, so I have to rely on his expertise when it comes to aging any horn. If he's wrong, I have no way of knowing. I have had several horners look at the horn over the years, now repaired, and none has disagreed with Bruce's estimates on age.
May I suggest you do a search of your family tree, knowing that an ancestor shared that last name. You should be able to find census records for 1820, or 1830 that may list the name on the horn, and the relationship to your ancestor. ( Census records occur every 10 years as required by the Constitution.) Search back to find out when your Great-grandmother was alive, and in what state and county she was living. Then order up the census records at your local library for that state and county, and search them for the name( Parmenter). Check different spellings. Spellings were rather "fluid" in official records before 1930-40, when states passed laws requiring official Birth Certificates, and Driver's Licenses. For instance, in searching my family tree, I found a deed dated 1894, with both my Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother's names on it, selling 40 acres to someone. My surname was spelled 3 different ways on the same PAGE. :shocked2:
:rotf: :grin: :surrender: And the handwriting indicated that the writing was done by the same Clerk in the Recorder's office.
If you can come up with census records, Death records,cemetery records, Baptismal and death or marriage records maintained by a local church back in the 1820s, you will have the "proof" or "provenance" to support the age of the horn as being dated back to that period of time. :hatsoff: :hatsoff:
If nothing else, you will begin to appreciate your own family history during the search.
May I suggest you do a search of your family tree, knowing that an ancestor shared that last name. You should be able to find census records for 1820, or 1830 that may list the name on the horn, and the relationship to your ancestor. ( Census records occur every 10 years as required by the Constitution.) Search back to find out when your Great-grandmother was alive, and in what state and county she was living. Then order up the census records at your local library for that state and county, and search them for the name( Parmenter). Check different spellings. Spellings were rather "fluid" in official records before 1930-40, when states passed laws requiring official Birth Certificates, and Driver's Licenses. For instance, in searching my family tree, I found a deed dated 1894, with both my Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother's names on it, selling 40 acres to someone. My surname was spelled 3 different ways on the same PAGE. :shocked2:
:rotf: :grin: :surrender: And the handwriting indicated that the writing was done by the same Clerk in the Recorder's office. If you can come up with census records, Death records,cemetery records, Baptismal and death or marriage records maintained by a local church back in the 1820s, you will have the "proof" or "provenance" to support the age of the horn as being dated back to that period of time. :hatsoff: :hatsoff:
If nothing else, you will begin to appreciate your own family history during the search.
Similar threads
