Records from Presbyterian Church Shelter Island,New York
Ophelia Read, b.
1870: m. Howard F. Welsh.
http://www.archive.org/stream/histor...lgoog_djvu.txt
June 12,
1890 Howard F Welsh receives Degree in Civil Engineering New York College of Mines
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstrac...609C94619ED7CF
Howard F. Welsh Reports to Attorney General Montana
1903
Howard F. Welsh is Coal Mine Inspector which seems to tie back to New York College of Mines
http://www.archive.org/stream/bienni...4mont_djvu.txt
http://www.zubalbooks.com/results.js...20581&offset=0
A Howard F Welsh fathers a female child in Texas
1943
http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/hid...3/hidab43f.txt
The above are a few references from Google for "Howard F. Welsh" search
Only one page of information comes up, so it may be promising
Looks like a Howard F. Welsh was born in 1870 Shelter Island New York.
Graduates from College of Mines in 1890 and became a coal mine inspector in Montana
Probably a different Howard F. Welsh who has female child in Texas 1943 as the New York guy would have been 73 years old then.
So, you have possibilities in New York, Montana and Texas
The New York/Montana connection seems to fit the vintage of your gun.
All that said, it could be somebody totally different but this was a fun diversion.
Cheers,
Jack