Help with Muzzloader Identification: Wesson and King

[Birdhunter]

My great-great-grandfather homesteaded along the Russian River in 1859 and provided meat to logging camps in the area by hunting. He had many adventures, one of which was described in a book titled "The History of Sonoma County". In that story, he attempted to shoot a California grizzly with his muzzleloader and was mauled in the process of killing the bear. A relative on that side of the family inherited a muzzleloader that according to family lore was the rifle owned by my great-great-grandfather (photos attached). We hope someone on this forum might be able to share information about the gun to help us better assess whether it might be the rifle we think it may be.

The lock plate is marked with the words:
Wesson & King
Grafton
Mass

The barrel is marked with the words:
Wesson & King
Grafton
Mass
Cast-Steel

Thanks

 

[plmeek]

American Gunsmiths by Frank M. Sellers has:

WESSON & KING, Grafton, Massachusetts, Percussion target rifles, Edwin Wesson. No dates of operation given.

Edwin Wesson was the older brother of Daniel and Franklin Wesson. Edwin Wesson was in Grafton, Mass. from 1834-1840 at which time he appears to have moved to Northboro, Mass.

The section of the barrel that has been turned round looks like those common on target rifles and accommodated a false muzzle to start the bullet.

"Cast-Steel" probably refers to a type of steel. Before Bessemer's process (patented in 1856), there were two ways of making steel. One was called "blister steel" and the other "cast steel." "Cast-Steel" as marked on the barrel does not mean the barrel was cast.

The back action lock wasn't real common on American rifles before 1840, but I believe they were using them in England by that time, so it could have been imported to America that early. It's also possible that the firm Wesson & King continued to operate after 1840, when Edwin Wesson moved to Northboro. Grafton is less than 10 miles from Northboro (also spelled Northborough). Edwin Wesson formed another partnership with Edwin Prescott in Northboro called WESSON & PRESCOTT from 1840-1842. By 1848, Edwin Wesson had moved to Hartford, Connecticut.

Your family's rifle could have been used in the 1860s in California. I don't see anything in the pictures to suggest otherwise.

 

[Zonie]

The Wesson is most likely Edward Wesson. He is listed separately from Edwin Wesson.
Here's a quote from "American Gun Makers".

"WESSON, Edward— Grafton, Mass., 1834-40, then at Northboro until
1843 and later."

I don't find any information about Wesson & King, or even a King in the Mass. area.

The "back action" of the lock is typical of many guns made in the late 1830's thru 1860. Back action refers to the locks mainspring being behind the hammer rather than in front of it which is typical of locks from the mid 1600's thru 1870.

Edwin Wesson's information in "American Gun Makers" says this:

"WESSON, Edwin — Son of Rufus Wesson, a native of New Hampshire,
who migrated to Massachusetts and established a plow manu-
factory.
Edwin apprenticed himself to Silas Allen of Shrewsbury,
and later set up for himself at Northboro, where in association
with Leavitt he manufactured the Wesson and Leavitt revolver,
until his death in 1850. See Massuchusetts Arms Co. Edwin was
an older brother of Daniel B. Wesson."

I don't know if Edward was related to Frank Wesson or not but here is some information about Frank:

"WESSON, Frank— Brother of Daniel B. and Edwin Wesson. Arms
manufacturer of Worcester, Mass. Active about 1850-77. Maker
of Wesson pistols, military carbines and sporting and target rifles,
under the patent of Frank Wesson and N. S. Harrington of Oct.
25, 1859. No. 25,926, and the numerous Frank Wesson patents
of Nov. 11, 1862; Dec. 15, 1868; July 20, 1869; June 13, 1871 and
July 10, 1877."

Daniel is the man who was instrumental in the creation of Smith & Wesson. Here is some information about him from the same source.

"WESSON, D. B.— Daniel Baird Wesson, one of the founders of Smith
& Wesson, was born at Worcester, Mass., in May, 1825, of an
old New Hampshire family of English descent. After a brief
attempt to interest himself in the shoe business with his brothers
Rufus and Martin, Daniel joined his brother Edwin at Northboro
in 1843, and completed his apprenticeship in 1846. He continued
with Edwin until about 1850, when his brother died. After work-
ing for a time for his brother Frank, who had a gunsmith shop
at Grafton, and with Leonard at Charlestown, Mass., as super-
intendent of the Leonard pepperbox pistol plant, Wesson went
to work for Allen, Brown and Luther at Worcester, Mass., in
1852. There he became associated with Horace Smith and the
Volcanic Repeating Arms Co., and later formed the Smith &
Wesson arms manufacturing firm. See Smith & Wesson. Daniel
B. Wesson died at Springfield, Mass., August 4, 1906. "

 

[plmeek]

Zonie,

We've run into a similar discrepancy before between the "American Gun Makers" source and Frank Seller's book, American Gunsmiths.

Here's a link from Find A Grave for Edwin Wesson that appears to confirm the spelling.

Wikipedia, for what it's worth, also spells the name as Edwin Wesson, older brother of Danial B. Wesson.

Here is another link for an Edwin Wesson rifle that is similar to the one pictured by the OP.

Here is a pistol made by Edwin Wesson after he moved to Hartford, Connecticut .

Like you, Zonie, I couldn't find anything on "King" in Northboro, Mass. Sellers listed a bunch of gunsmiths with last name KING, but none in Massachusetts.

Based on what I'm seeing at some of these websites, if the OP's rifle was in good condition, it would be worth a lot of money. I'm sure it still has some monetary value in the rough condition it is in, but maybe not as much as the heirloom value to the family.

 

[Birdhunter]

Thanks to all that replied to my inquiry. It is apparent that identifying some rifles from that period in our history is challenging as associations between makers may have been transitory and or poorly documented.

 

[Tanselman]

One important detail not mentioned in the original posting, or subsequent responses, is the caliber of the rifle. The rifle itself is certainly old enough to have been used in 1859, and was a high quality firearm of its period that one would have trusted to provide good service for years. However, if this rifle was the one used to shoot a bear, I'd think its bore/caliber would be .50 or larger. I also think people in those days were informed enough to know about what caliber rifle was needed to stop a bear, since bear hunting had been done for many years prior. So check the bore. If it measures fifty caliber [half an inch measuring from land, the raised areas, to opposite land] or over, it could have been used to hunt bear. If a smaller caliber, probably not. Shelby Gallien