Henry C Carr - Any info?
 

I have a Quality 2 hammer 10 gauge, sn # 13xxx, ordered by Henry Carr of Union Springs, NY, on December 5, 1878. This is a typical Grade 2 of the era, except a skeleton steel butt plate and the new forend latch were special ordered. Gun was later returned by H C Carr for repairs.

Does the name Henry Carr ring a bell for any of you Parker historians out there?

You might try the new york genweb site or contact the union springs town historian.

Union Springs is on the northeastern edge of Cayuga Lake in NY's finger lakes region. It is just south of what is now the Montezuma Federal Refuge was back then and still is a very active waterfowl region. You can tell from the old homes that the town had money back then. I had heard but forgot where the money came from.

Added
A quick look shows the Chestnut Hill cemetary contains a lot of Carrs, including a Henry Carr born 1839 died 1921 vet of 3rd NY lgt artil.

Wow, that's great work. Can we see a scan of the letter, Mills?

Thanks Rick. That is interesting. I was wondering if he was a famous trapshooter or something.

Bill, I will try to scan the letter. The gun itself is at the gunsmith, so no photos of the gun at this point.

Mills, I spent a bit of time for you on la84foundation.com and didn't find anything. I suspect he was not a trapshooter. Wow, a skeleton butt on a Grade 2. Great find.

Thanks Bill. I will try to scan the letter and post it, although most of what I posted came straight from the letter. Once it is fixed, I will try to bring it to the Southern.

found some history notes - The Carr family were early settlers in that area, Henry's father established a brick yard which Henry inherited and ran successfully along with an ice business. He was active in state politics and served as the counties game protector for 20 years as well as being Cornell's rowing coach and a musician.

the article notes that

"It is apparent that Henry and his wife must have both shared an interest in sports and the great out doors. "


Might have been a more interesting individual than a lot of trapshooters

Thanks again Rick. That does sound more interesting than just a trapshooter.

Here is the research letter. Click on the photo to make it bigger

research tool
 

I found a lot if info on the original owner of my parker on ancestry.com
My goal was to find a living decendent of the original owner but i have yet to
find him or her.

Good luck in your search

I wonder how rare a skelton but is on a grade 2 gun. I have a GHE 16 0 frame with one.

i would say fairly rare in fact i ve got my first one to see... charlie

This one has a damaged stock and it had been at a gunsmith for two years. They had not started on it. Well, I was tired of waiting and wanted to get it back. Stock is taped up, so it can be shot. I had a great time shooting it Saturday. No. 3 frame, 32" barrels, 10 gauge, but it handles very well and does not feel as massive as it is. I got some photos of the SSBP and the forend. Note the forend has the later latch, but has the old style forend tip. Has anyone seen another like this? Wondering if this gun is eligible for Parkers found due to the special ordered features?

I have never even herd of one, now I got to start looking

It's interesting they made him pay extra for the new patent forend. It's also interesting they charged him for most of the repair work when so many letters show repair work on new-ish guns being done for free.

When did the new patent forend first appear? This appears to be a transitional gun.

I have a Damascus GHE 12 gauge with skeleton butt, mentioned in order book. Also mentioned was the English Walnut stock and forend. When I was a pup, a local shooter used a GHE 12 gauge skeet with a skeleton buttplate. I have lost track of that one.