I am so glad you did not let that crook have it. Your gun is a really nice D grade, very desirable. Junk my left foot! The fact that you are the fourth generation owner makes it priceless. I hope you get some good information in your letter. Please let us know. Textbook example of a family heirloom. All the best and welcome to the PGCA. You would be hard pressed to find a nicer bunch of people.

You can be proud to own that gun. It looks all original. Spend some money to fix the stock and anything else that is not functional, nothing else. I'll be expecting your research request.

Sent it this evening. :)

Thank you to everyone!

Hi Tim, and Welcome to the PGCA!

Where in Vermont are you? I spend a great deal of time in the "Kingdom."





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I'm down near Rutland.

Thats a wonderful gun ,theres a crook around every corner unfortunately....like the boys said gert the toe fixed and enjoy it

Welcome to the PGCA, Tim. Your gun looks to be in remarkably nice condition.
I'm surprised the scoundrel didn't also try the old "You can't shoot those Damascus guns. They'll blow up" story on you too. I love D grade guns, and an heirloom Damascus D as nice as yours deserves to stay right there in the family.

Yes. Wondered if he had his initials engraved or not. Since it is a family heirloom, just me personally I would have at the least the surname initial added. If you find out which ancestor purchased it you could add their initials, so future generations won't say "I don't know who had this old gun, means nothing to me; think I'll sell it and take the wife out to gamble and supper," as they do on Pawn Thief Stars. I sure wish I had such a fine piece handed down to me. You are lucky to have it.

Just got the letter (thank you Chuck!).

The gun was shipped in June 1898 to a Jonathan Hull at the Berwick Hotel in Rutland, VT (Rutland is actually where I work, and is about 10 miles from my house, although my father's family is from northern VT). The hotel burned in the early 70s. According to an article I found: "Built in 1868, the four-story hotel boasted 110 guest rooms, a complement of ballrooms and other public spaces, two restaurants and several shops including the much-loved Cinderella’s Sweets candy store." Not sure if this Hull guy ran a gun shop on the bottom floor, or if he just bought the gun and had it delivered there.

So, I figure my great-grandfather Upton probably either:

1) bought the gun from a shop run by Mr. Hull;

2) bought the gun directly from Mr. Hull; or

3) was given the gun by his wife's brother, who, as it turns out, worked as a jeweler in Rutland in the late 1800s. (I stumbled upon that fact a few years ago while going through a box of old family letters.)

#2 actually seems like the least likely to me. Fun to think about, though!

Thank you again for the research and documentation - very cool!