New member to the Parker Kennel!

[Mark Ray]

Recently purchased Parker 74042, which was not in the serialization book, and the seller was unwilling to hold the gun until I obtained a letter.

Got the gun in hand Saturday, GH, D4 Damascus, 0 frame,16 bore, with 28” barrels, Lyman front sight, and what appears to be a period correct SSBP, installed on a G grade stock, choked CYL and MOD. I ordered the letter online Saturday, and got it TODAY!!!

The gun perfectly matches the letter, and apparently was owned and shot by US. Congressman E. Hart Fenn of CT. Member Fenn sent the gun back to Parker in 1900, to have a new G grade stock added with a SSBT.

The gun matches perfectly, with nothing but modest wear.

I am extremely happy to be this guns current caretaker.

[Jay Oliver]

Very nice Mark...what a great gun and provenance. I really like that choke combination too. What a great 16 gauge Parker!

[Mark Ray]

Thanks Jay, this is a great sister fun to my G grade damascus 20!

[Reggie Bishop]

What a great upland gun. I have a GHE 20 factory choked IC/F that is a bird hunters dream!

[Harold Lee Pickens]

What a great little gun. Is it on an 0 frame or a 1 frame? Those 28" cyl/mod barrels are the perfect upland combo in my opinion. I have 2 Parkers ordered that way, a VH 20 and a DHE 16, both with 26" barrels. To have a GH 20 to go along with it is really cool.

[Garry L Gordon]

The Honorable Mr. Fenn obviously knew a bird gun when he saw it. What a great find, Mark.

[Randy G Roberts]

Nice gun Mark. The SSBP is really neat on that grade and adds a lot of class IMO. Congrats !

[Mark Ray]

What a great little gun. Is it on an 0 frame or a 1 frame? Those 28" cyl/mod barrels are the perfect upland combo in my opinion. I have 2 Parkers ordered that way, a VH 20 and a DHE 16, both with 26" barrels. To have a GH 20 to go along with it is really cool.

It is an 0 frame

[edgarspencer]

Fenn is a very prominent name in CT, and specifically Wethersfield CT. The house where he lived is even more famous; The Silas Deane House. Fenn was the Fish & Game Commissioner before being elected to Congress. He is related to (in a fashion which strains my memory) to the co-founder of the Taylor & Fenn Co., now in Windsor, but originally in Hartford. Taylor and Fenn were my grandfather's, and father's principal competitors in the iron business, though we got out of iron in 1972.
Fenn must have had some influence on my father, because my grandparents lived immediately next door to them.
Andrus & Naedel was a well known sporting goods company in Hartford. Their name is on a label sewn into my father's college baseball mitt. They eventually became Gray's Sporting goods.

[charlie cleveland]

great gun with a good storey behind it....charlie

[Steve Cambria]

Yes, knew the name rang a few distant bells. Very prominent family in the history of Wethersfield, CT and beyond. To further Edgar's research, Fenn inherited the famed, Silas Deane House (Silas was an influential figure during the Revolutionary War) and lived there from 1899 until his death in 1939. See a pic of your boy below and a short bio of same. A wonderful Parker with a storied Nutmeg State bloodline!!

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[Dean Romig]

Great stuff Steve - Thanks!!





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[Mark Ray]

Edgar and Steve, thanks for the info...looking forward to finding out more.

[edgarspencer]

More on the Silas Deane House.

https://webb-deane-stevens.org/historic-houses-barns/silas-deane-house/

[Keith Doty]

Very nice, Mark! I swoon. Love the 16 and what an awesome surprise when the letter came in "dead match", traced back to a U.S. congressman. I'm sure you'll take good care of her and exercise often.

[Dean Romig]

You’re going to love that little G Mark!





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