Engraving

[Tom King]

I have purchased my first Parker. I would like to get my initials engraved in the shield. I am in the Kansas City area. Any suggestions?

[Bill Murphy]

Your local jeweler should be able to help you.

[Dean Romig]

I had my local jeweler engrave Kathy's initials on her Repro 28 in the same style as Jessie Alvord Bishop's DHE 28 ga.


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[Kevin McCormack]

Who is Jessie Alvord Bishop??

[Dean Romig]

She was the wife of Henry A. Bishop of Bridgeport Ct. They were pretty high on the social ladder there, he being a philanthropist, one-time CT Representative, owned a steam yacht and traveled to their summer mansion on Mt. Desert Island. Henry got his start in the railroad that his father and uncles were involved in in the 1800's. The Bridgeport Historical Society is housed in the Henry A. Bishop Room of the Bridgeport Public Library. Among the notaries who attended Henry and Jessie's wedding were Mr. & Mrs. Phineas T. Barnum.
The bishops owned hunting camps in interior Maine. Jessie would often accompany Henry on his upland hunting trips to Maine. Henry bought her a sweet little 28 gauge DHE with 24" Damascus barrels - the only 24" twenty-eight gauge Damascus barreled gun of ANY grade ever known to have been made by Parker Bros.

Henry had at least one small bore Parker of his own, a two gauge AAHE twenty/twenty-eight bore gun engraved all in floral and scroll which he ordered to be "engraved like the B" and we can only presume he was making reference to a larger bore gun he had for duck and goose shooting... or a B on display in the PB showroom in Meriden which is only 30-40 miles from Bridgeport.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Alfred_Bishop





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[Tom King]

Thanks for the info. Right now I am not ready to leave it at the jeweler for a month. Enjoying shooting it right now.

[Dean Romig]

Mine was done inside of two days.





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[Kevin McCormack]

Thanks Dean for the great history and detailed provenance on this gun. Wish that we had this type of verification/documentation for all those "mystery" engraved shields on these guns. Just goes to show what an incredible value a PGCA letter can be for these treasures!!

[Daniel Carter]

Mine was off the stock and done while i waited.

[Dean Romig]

Thanks Dean for the great history and detailed provenance on this gun. Wish that we had this type of verification/documentation for all those "mystery" engraved shields on these guns. Just goes to show what an incredible value a PGCA letter can be for these treasures!!


Indeed Kevin!

Once I found out the name of the buyer and that tiny tidbit from Mark about the other Parker he had ordered, it really opened the storm gates to my investigation of just who Henry and Jessie Bishop were. I contacted the Bridgeport Historical Society and was overwhelmed by the reams of information they provided and I just kept digging from there. There is so much more but I can write but I think it will be encapsulated in a future Double Gun Journal article.





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[Tom King]

Two days would be great. My jeweler said a month wait.

[John Davis]

For the past several Southern Side x Side events, I've had Mr. Gournet engrave my initials on some of my trap guns. Usually leave the stock with him and pick it up an hour or so later. Plan on doing the same this year.