Post 1860 Jamestown, NC Rifle by S.H. Ward

[ajbennettnc]

Greetings from the NC Piedmont!
Earlier this week I was fortunate to find and acquire an original NC longrifle. Since first seeing my great grandfather's Jamestown rifle as a kid, I have wanted to own one of these pieces of NC history. Jamestown in Guilford County (think below Greensboro) was home to a slew of shops producing this style of half stock longrifle for most of the 19th century. The gunshop I bought my rifle from simply listed it as "wallhanger," and didn't know or seem to care much what they had. Upon inspection, I made out the maker's stamp "S.H. WARD JAMESTOWN NC." Behind the rear sight "VII" is chiseled. Found another Ward gun on an online auction site that also had VII on it, so not sure exactly what that means, and I'm appreciative of any suggestions or knowledge about that. Consulting Wm. Ivey's and John Bivins's books on NC longrifles, I learned that Solomon H. Ward was one of the last of the original muzzleloading gunsmith of the Jamestown School. Ward likely began working as a gunsmith under his father-in-law Anderson Lamb, whose rifle his appear influenced by. Another book shows that he gave up gunbuilding in 1902.
The other night I took the lock apart and realized that it has no half cock notch, and after looking at some other forums on mid 1800s perc. rifles I see that seems to have been common. I assume the lock is from Cincinnati firm of T&C Neave, since I found a SH ward rifle with a lock from them on an auction site. Unfortunately, my gun's lock is too pitted.
Planning to see if I can clean and fix this thing up and shoot it with light loads. Gonna order a rod for it from Track this week I think. Not sure what the "ramrod" that i found it with is from, but it ain't no rarmrod. Y'all let me know what you think!

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Very cool indeed !
Double check the barrel to make certain there isn’t a sleeper load in it.

 

[ajbennettnc]

Does anybody know if Track of the Wolf or other muzzleloading suppliers has lock parts that might would work on something like this? I mainly want to replace the hammer, and probably the tumbler. I might even replace the whole lock and just save the original off the gun.
Also, I might just replace the missing tang screw, glue the cracks in the stock, and not bother about the chunk missing since I'm afraid it might mess it up worse. With light loads in this .31 or so barrel, would the stock be fine as is?
Is the chunk missing indicative of danger? I assume that this gun just spent too long over a mantle or in an attic.
Many thanks,
A.J.
Sorry for the poor lighting. My usual photographer is busy at the moment.

 

[ajbennettnc]

Very cool indeed !
Double check the barrel to make certain there isn’t a sleeper load in it.

Always a good idea! I checked it soon as i got it home..Thankfully have a spare cleaning rod that fit down it. Marked her off and it went clear to the drum.

 

[ajbennettnc]

Always a good idea! I checked it soon as i got it home..Thankfully have a spare cleaning rod that fit down it. Marked her off and it went clear to the drum.

And thanks for the compliment! This is the coolest thing I own, I do believe.

 

[ajbennettnc]

More pics of breech, drum, and triggers.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

That looks like a great project. Whatever you decide to do, take slow.
Can you tell what type of wood the stock is ?

 

[ajbennettnc]

That looks like a great project. Whatever you decide to do, take slow.
Can you tell what type of wood the stock is ?

I believe it's maple. Not much curl, but I'll show a picture of what grain there is. From what I've read, most of the Jamestown school rifles are in maple, although there were some in ash and beech as well I think.
I fully admit to be a novice at determining wood types though.

 

[Stykbow]

That’s a really cool, old piece.

 

[Orin]

Here is information from the book “The longrifle Makers of Guilford County” by C. Michael Briggs:

“SOLOMAN H. Ward (1838 – 1905)

Was born in Randolph County. Moved to Jamestown probably in the 1860’s, where he
Married Anderson Lamb’s daughter Eleanor. In the 1870 census he is listed as a gunsmith,
age 31 with $1,500 property, with wife Eleanor age 27. Son Harper was age 2.

He purchased land where Cedarwood is now located. When MacKay set up his hunting
Lodge, S.H. Ward is said to have built a gun shop in the yard. According to the Late Jack Perdue’s
Research, in the 1870’s his house was moved from it’s original site to Guilford-Jamestown Road
Facing MacKay Road where it still stands. Around 1890, he moved to Friendly Ave. and built a house
and gun shop where Arbor Ridge Apartments now stand. Oral legend has it that S.H. Ward
was a large man weighing over 300 lbs. and did not make most of the guns with his name on them.
It is known that his son Harper Ward, Ed Thornton, and Duck White all worked for him making rifles.
S.H. Ward was very prolific, being second only to Anderson Lamb in the number of signed rifles that
survive. Most are signed “S.H. Ward Jamestown, N.C.” with a one or two line address on the center of
the barrel. He is buried at Hickory Grove Methodist Church.”

 

[ajbennettnc]

Here is information from the book “The longrifle Makers of Guilford County” by C. Michael Briggs:

“SOLOMAN H. Ward (1838 – 1905)

Was born in Randolph County. Moved to Jamestown probably in the 1860’s, where he
Married Anderson Lamb’s daughter Eleanor. In the 1870 census he is listed as a gunsmith,
age 31 with $1,500 property, with wife Eleanor age 27. Son Harper was age 2.

He purchased land where Cedarwood is now located. When MacKay set up his hunting
Lodge, S.H. Ward is said to have built a gun shop in the yard. According to the Late Jack Perdue’s
Research, in the 1870’s his house was moved from it’s original site to Guilford-Jamestown Road
Facing MacKay Road where it still stands. Around 1890, he moved to Friendly Ave. and built a house
and gun shop where Arbor Ridge Apartments now stand. Oral legend has it that S.H. Ward
was a large man weighing over 300 lbs. and did not make most of the guns with his name on them.
It is known that his son Harper Ward, Ed Thornton, and Duck White all worked for him making rifles.
S.H. Ward was very prolific, being second only to Anderson Lamb in the number of signed rifles that
survive. Most are signed “S.H. Ward Jamestown, N.C.” with a one or two line address on the center of
the barrel. He is buried at Hickory Grove Methodist Church.”

Thanks for the information Orin! I have met Mr. Briggs and gotten his book on Piedmont Powder horns, I'll have to get the rifle one as well!

 

[Orin]

There is one for sell here: SIGNED Solomon H. Ward Jamestown NORTH CAROLINA SOUTHERN LONG RIFLE
Looking at yours and the other one, looks like he had nice rifles made.

 

[SolidLeadSlug]

.

 

[FLgunner87]

Greetings from the NC Piedmont!
Earlier this week I was fortunate to find and acquire an original NC longrifle. Since first seeing my great grandfather's Jamestown rifle as a kid, I have wanted to own one of these pieces of NC history. Jamestown in Guilford County (think below Greensboro) was home to a slew of shops producing this style of half stock longrifle for most of the 19th century. The gunshop I bought my rifle from simply listed it as "wallhanger," and didn't know or seem to care much what they had. Upon inspection, I made out the maker's stamp "S.H. WARD JAMESTOWN NC." Behind the rear sight "VII" is chiseled. Found another Ward gun on an online auction site that also had VII on it, so not sure exactly what that means, and I'm appreciative of any suggestions or knowledge about that. Consulting Wm. Ivey's and John Bivins's books on NC longrifles, I learned that Solomon H. Ward was one of the last of the original muzzleloading gunsmith of the Jamestown School. Ward likely began working as a gunsmith under his father-in-law Anderson Lamb, whose rifle his appear influenced by. Another book shows that he gave up gunbuilding in 1902.
The other night I took the lock apart and realized that it has no half cock notch, and after looking at some other forums on mid 1800s perc. rifles I see that seems to have been common. I assume the lock is from Cincinnati firm of T&C Neave, since I found a SH ward rifle with a lock from them on an auction site. Unfortunately, my gun's lock is too pitted.
Planning to see if I can clean and fix this thing up and shoot it with light loads. Gonna order a rod for it from Track this week I think. Not sure what the "ramrod" that i found it with is from, but it ain't no rarmrod. Y'all let me know what you think!

Hello! I have a percussion rifle marked S.H. Ward that looks nearly identical to your rifle. I obtained this rifle when selling a lot of firearms from an estate sale. Mine came with the powder horn, bullet mold, and the (what i believe) is the original leather pouch with extra hammer. Did you ever find out any more information, maybe what the roman numerals denoted or possible year S.H. Ward created your rifle? Mine has an X mark located behind the rear sight. Just thought it would be interesting to talk to someone else who owned this rare piece of history. Thanks,
Derek

I also sent you a message.

 

[FLgunner87]

Adding a few more photos. When i first took possession of this rifle it was covered in black spray paint. I also brought home an 1868 Remington Rollingblock Greek contract and an 1894 Winchester manufactured in 1897. All of these guns were covered in this paint. Took many hours to clean them up without removing any value. That is the original wood finish on the S.H. Ward rifle. Not sure if the paint job was out of sheer stupidity or to preserve them.

 

[ajbennettnc]

Hey Derek!
That's an awesome find! Thanks for sharing. It is indeed good to find others interested in Jamestown, NC guns. What a shame about the paint, but it looks like you've cleaned it up well! I believe it's rare to see a Jamestown rifle with a patchbox, so that's even more special! Seems to me like the small, round patchboxes show up as contemporaries to those ones on plains rifles. It's interesting how much NC longrifles changed by the mid 19th century. Industrialization and influence from gunsmiths around the nation really show in the later (ca. 1830 on) rifles like those from Jamestown.
From my understanding, it could be that the numerals are a means of matching the gun to a mold. Maybe Ward's shop had certain sizes of mandrels marked for forging up the barrels, or a boring bit marked for finishing a bore to a certain size, and then marked molds and barrels with that same numeral? I have heard that barrels and molds were matched in such a way, since caliber as we think of it wasn't really standardized by common rural gunsmiths, and smiths commonly made a mold for each gun. Does your mold have any numerals on it?
Best regards,
A.J.

 

[FLgunner87]

Hi A.J., thank you for responding! The patchbox may have been installed later on, someone pointed out to me that it is facing the wrong way. The bullet mold does have a numerical stamping of "215". I believe when i took the lock apart it was also stamped with the samer numbers "215" but i can't seem to locate those photos. The patchbox also has a stamping which I'll include in the photos below.

Regards,
Derek

 

[Notchy Bob]

Those are some interesting rifles, boys. Thanks for showing them, and sharing the information you have!

I have a special regard for old southern rifles. It's good to see them being appreciated.

Notchy Bob