Who is H.D. Freeman
 

I recently acquired a DHE project gun with 34" barrels. The letter states the gun was ordered by H.D.Freeman of Atlanta, GA on 06/24/13. The letter goes on to state the following."Special requests were:No safety,Trigger Pull 5 lbs.,No pitch, Silvers rubber butt,and RH 265 pellets and LH 285 pellets."Consigned for 1 year,then to be his if he shoots it to the exclusion of all others."
The consignment language in the letter made me think that Mr. Freeman must have had some association/connection with the Parker community in order to consign a gun, maybe not. In any case I have put a little effort into trying to find some information on him. Apparently he was a trap shooter of some prominence back in the day but I cannot find much really. Anyone know anything of this Gent or have you seen a consignment wsituation such as this before? Thanks !!

Google it and an article comes up in "Forest and Stream". He was a very good competitive shooter from the looks of it. He shot out of the Atlanta Gun Club.

I saw that Reggie and I also tried searching the Parker forums but I just could not come up with a lot of info.

It appears to me that he was a top trap shooter of the day and had an agreement of sorts with Parker to shoot their product exclusively for that time frame. By adhering to their agreement he got a free gun to shoot and own.

No proof but an educated guess..... the only Freeman with the initials H. D. I could find in Atlanta during the 1910 - 1920 period (when he was reported in shooting events) was:

Homer D, Freeman was a streetcar motorman and was born March 1872 and died 15 September 1938. He married Lucy Harrison in June 1893 in Fulton Georgia. They lived at 38 Grant St. Atlanta, GA at one time. H. D. Freeman is listed several times for his shooting ability in sporting magazines such as Field & Stream and Western Field.

High scoring professional according to entries on LA84.org

http://www.traphof.org/

Here is a link to the Trap Shooting Hall of Fame. They might be able to help you. Good Luck!

Thanks. I will take a peek.

Here you go. He was a Peters and Dead Shot representative
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrar.../SL5910029.pdf
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrar.../SL5912030.pdf
and in 1912 DuPont Ballistite
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrar.../SL5924030.pdf

http://search.la84foundation.org/sea...partialfields=

In 1906 he was using a Winchester 1897
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrar.../SL4711024.pdf

I didn't find any Parker ads mentioning him

Not a consignment gun per se Randy, but I have a letter for a gun ordered by W.R. Crosby and at the end it states "gun compliments of Parker Brothers". Crosby was a noted shooter of the time and he ordered an interesting 20ga. with 30" barrels, no safety, straight grip and 3 1/2lb. trigger pulls and specific dimensions.

July 2, 1910 Forest & Stream
https://books.google.com/books?id=mEkcAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA25

Still a repeating shotgun

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../413466880.jpg

August 31, 1912 Forest & Stream
https://books.google.com/books?id=nUkcAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA277

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../413501273.jpg

Holy smokes.That will keep me busy for while. Thanks Drew !!

If you don't mind me asking what grade was it ?

VH grade Randy.

Per the ad, what were "Expert Rules"?

John: The first “E.C.” Inanimate Target Championship Cup held in 1896 consisted of 100 targets, unknown angles, from known traps; 100 targets, unknown traps and known angles (commonly called expert rules - At expert rules, one man up in the centre of five traps, pulled unknown, according to an indicator) and 50 pair doubles (100 targets).

W.R. Crosby was a representative for Baker Gun & Forging from at least 1897 until 1899, twice winning the “E.C.” Target Championship of America, first with a Baker B grade, then with a Paragon. He went to a L.C. Smith in 1900, which he used during the 1901 Anglo-American Match. In 1903, Crosby held the "E. C." Cup (targets), Dupont Cup (live birds), and Hazard Cup (live birds). In 1904 he held the "E. C." cup, Schmelzer cup (reverse angle targets), DuPont cup, and Hazard cups.
The live bird trophies were the Cast Iron Medal, the Du Pont Cup and the Hazard Cup; all shot for 100 live birds, 30 yards rise.
After 1906 Crosby shot a 32" Parker, and later an Ithaca 5E SBT.

Illinois State Sportsmen's Association Tournament, at the Chicago Gun Club, from the May 25, 1907 "The American Field" courtesy of David Noreen

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../387545569.jpg

Thanks Drew. Crosby ordered the gun through Dubray in 1904 and his measurements fit me like a glove. I wonder what he ordered the 30", 20ga., no safety with F/F chokes for as it retains much of it's original finish and has not been shot much.

Daryl: Mrs. Crosby did some trap shooting.

The first Ladies National Championship was at the 1916 GAH in St. Louis, won by Mrs. D.J. Dalton; Miss Harriett Hammond 2nd
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrar.../SL6802024.pdf
Day 2 Ladies Special Event
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrar.../SL6801027.pdf
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrar.../SL6805021.pdf
Mrs L.G. Vogel
Mrs H. Almert
Miss Harriett D. Hammond
Miss L. Meusel
Mrs D.J. Dalton
Mrs. F.A. Johnson
Mrs C. Edmiston
Mrs H.L. Patter
Mrs J.L. Hooper
Mrs W.R. Crosby

W.R. was a big guy though and it sounds like the dimensions were for him; what is the LOP and DAC?

Drew;
LOP-14", DAC-1 3/8", DAH- 2 1/4", Pitch-2 3/4", Weight- 6lb-10oz.,
Chambers- 2 7/8", RH trigger- 3 1/2lb, LH trigger- 4lb. Pretty much what I would have ordered.

Randy;
Sorry, did'nt mean to hijack your thread.

Daryl:

No worries at all but thanks just the same !

Hello Randy,
I was searching the internet for Homer D. Freeman and found your post.

Homer Freeman was my Great Grandfather. He was an excellent shot, who passed his tradition down through the family. He taught my father how to shoot, who taught his grandchildren - my children. They all shoot trap, skeet, sporting clays, etc. I happen to have 2 of Homer's trophies. My brother has another.

I'd love to know more about the gun and would be interested in purchasing it if you care to sell. We don't have any of his guns. My boys would love this!
Hope to hear from you,

Mary Lynn

Hi Mary Lynn:

Thanks for the response. I am excited to hear this news. For us lovers of these older guns their history including the owners is always intruiging. I am going to send you a PM with my contact information and we can go from there. Thanks Again !!!

Wow! What a great story in the making. Even if the finality happens differently, we seldom hear of family members caring much less inquiring.

Randy, did you and Ms. Darcy make contact and maybe a deal? Family guns are very interesting. I have my grandfather's Lefever E grade pigeon gun, made in 1887, 134 years old by my calculations. He was 31 years old in 1887, probably ordered the gun himself. It has special order features that would indicate a special order gun. Another hijack, sorry about that.

Bill I did reach out to her but did not get a response.

Sounds like an future article for the PP

Maybe John but I'm having trouble finding time to finish the one I'm working on now but I'll get it done some how.

Hickey Freeman (lol)