RECOMMENDED OBJECTS

WEAPONS

WEAPONS

Weapons played a variety of roles in the life of a colonial gentleman. Firearms were used for hunting and for personal protection. They were part of the required furnishings of the militia.

The Fairfax County Militia Association, formed in September 1774 and chaired by George Mason, Esqr., ordered that all members be furnished with “a good Fire-lock & Bayonet, Sling, Cartouch-Box, and Tomahawk.” Additionally, each man was to keep a stock of “six pounds of Gunpowder, twenty pounds of Lead, and fifty Gun-flints, at the least.”(1) Some of these items were ceremonial in nature, and some were meant for practical use.

Weapons and the various accessories associated with their wearing and use were periodically offered for sale by regional merchants. Notices appearing in the Maryland Gazette in the 1750s and 1760s include listings such as “light Carbines, fitted with Bayonets, Slings and Cartouch-Boxes, &c. Gunpowder, Lead and all sorts of Shot, Gun Flints . . .” and “neat Fowling Pieces, . . . Drop, Bird, and Goose Shot.”(2) An advertisement from a Philadelphia merchant offered a more extensive selection, much of it geared to the needs of military officers. It included:

Swords and Cutteaus de Chase, and neat foils for Fencing; Sword Blades and Scabbards,
with Lockets of divers Sorts; the neatest Silk and Buff Sword Belts, with Buckles and
Locks: silk Sashes and Gorgets for Officers on duty; Silver and Steel-mounted Fuzees
and Bayonets for Officers; fine Silver mounted Guns for Fowling . . . (3)

Clearly, most of these items were intended for the elite consumer as were the “Guns and Pistols mounted with Silver” offered by Annapolis jeweler Thomas Sparrow.(4)

Less elegant items were sometimes also available. In the years following the Revolution, one Annapolis merchant noted that he had just imported from London “4 feet, 4 feet 6 inches, and 5 feet barrel guns; brass barreled blunderbusses; brass barreled holster pistols and coach guns; plain bolted saddle pistols and neat fowling pieces” as well as two types, “Ifg and Hfg,” of gunpowder.(5) Alexandria merchants also offered “neat fowling pieces” among the goods they were importing.(6)

Weapons, like more ordinary items, could also be custom ordered through regional merchants. In November of 1771, the firm of Wallace, Davidson & Johnson ordered for a customer “a neat Gun . . . 4[f] in the Barrel, . . . Silver sited & elegantly mounted with Brass” to cost £3.3.(7) Some orders were even more specific. In 1772, Charles Carroll ordered:

1 neat cocking Gun 3 feet 1 In & 1½ in the Barrell with brass mounting to be bot of Wm
Turvey - Stanton or Wilson, or a good as one as can be made may be got for four Guineas.
6 Steel spring charges for do to contain in each charger a load of powder & shot & no
more of each than the proper load of the gun.
1 neat small gun well fortified 1 Foot 8 Inches & ½ long in the barrell, the Barrel an Inch
& 3/15 of an Inch wide the Stock proportioned to the Barrall [sic] neatly mounted
with Brass.
6 Steel Spring charges for do each to contain a full finger of powder & shot, & no more.
Direct the head of all the screw pins to each gun to be substantial and the channel in them
to be cut deep that the turn Screw may take a good hold.
Direct the stocks near the muzles [sic] to be neatly capped with Brass (that part of the
stock being very apt to split) and Screws neatly & strongly fixed with the end of
each gun stick to draw the gunns. A bullet mold to each gun.(8)

Among Rural Elite Inventories (REI), 74% include some type of firearm. The following divisions were based on the period terminology found in the inventories.(9) Broken down by type, the numbers show the following:

Guns(10) Households Having Type (HHT) 64%
Avg.2.3
Median1
Pistols --HHT26%
HHT owning pairs 69%
Avg.2.9
Median1
Fowling Pieces HHT8%
Avg.1.25
Median1
MusketsHHT8%
Avg.1.5
Median1

Two REI household (4%) included listings for blunderbusses and two REI (4%) included listings specifying rifles. Firearm accessories which includes holsters, cases, gun locks, fire locks, gun screws, scrapers, and gun parts(11) occur in 78% of REI.

Edged weapons and related items occur in 36% of REI. Weapons designated with the term “sword” are listed in 32% of REI with an average of 2.5 and a median of 2. Items described with the term “cutlass” are found in two REI (4%), bayonets in three REI (6%), and a cutteau, a tomahawk, and fencing foils in one REI each.

Miscellaneous weapons include such items as gun powder, power container, shot, and bullet molds, as well as items such as a bow and arrows. These items occur in 34% of REI. Powder containers (horns, flasks, canisters) are listed in 24% of REI with an average of 1.9 and a median of 1. Shot bags/pouches are listed in 16% REI with an average of 1.3 and a median of 1.

Weapons of all types were surely a part of everyday life at Gunston Hall. George Mason, like his gentry counterparts apparently enjoyed hunting. Evidence of this is found in the recollections of his son John Mason who remembered “. . . in cooler weather . . . [he] went a hunting-for . . . until he was advanced in life he was a great Sportsman.”(12) Also speaking to this aspect of Mason's life are the mounted deer antlers which descended through the family with a tradition of having come from two deer killed by Mason with one shot.(13) A reference to Mason's hunting is also found in neighbor George Washington's diaries.(14)

Mason's involvement in the Fairfax Militia would also have added both guns and edged weapons to the Mason household. The Mason sons, like their father, would have been expected to participate in the genteel pursuit of hunting as well as fulfilling their expected obligations for military service. Three of the Mason sons, George Jr., William, and Thomson saw some service during the Revolutionary War. As they and their brothers continued to live at Gunston Hall through much of the interpretative period, weapons which would have been part of their personal belongings must also be considered when assessing this aspect of Gunston Hall's furnishings.

Among the family inventories, three, ELBCK65, MASON97, and MASON00 (60%) have swords. All family inventories (100%) include fire arms. MASON63, MASON86, MASON00, and ELBCK65 (80%) have listings for gun; MASON97 (20%) lists a musket and a fowling piece; and MASON86 and MASON00 (40%) include pairs of pistols as well as guns. ELBCK65 and MASON97 also including powder or shot.

This area is one requiring very specialized knowledge to accurately interpret. Careful consideration should be given to not only the primary objects such as guns and swords, but also to all the assorted accouterments such as powder flasks, shot molds, sword scabbards, etc., which form part of this category.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Guns and accessories: Specialized Form / Requires Additional Research (SF/RAR)

Edged Weapons: SF/RAR