Gil Wheeler's 20 ga Parker
Hello,
New member here; call me Bill or Will.
Gilbert ('Gil') M. Wheeler is my mother's, mother's father. His Parker recently came into my possession. I contacted Chuck Bishop to research the gun; while doing so I gave some background about the gun and Gil. He thought you folks might be interested to hear some of that story.
First, the gun itself: 20 ga built on a '0' size frame, VH grade. 28" barrels, straight grip stock with skeleton steel butt plate. Parker Bros. received Gil's order in Oct, 1914. The gun was shipped in Aug, 2015. Thanks again to Chuck for the research.
Gil spent his adult life in Brunswick, Maine where he was a successful business man and an avid outdoorsman and hunter. Family legend has it that Gil and L. L. Bean were frequent hunting partners. I would be surprised if they were not, actually, given that Brunswick and Freeport are neighboring cities, Gil and LL were of similar age, and they were both avid outdoorsmen. A second family legend about Gil is that he shot with Annie Oakley at least once. I have no proof of this, but my grandmother, Gil's daughter, told me many times as a child that Gil was an excellent shot. Gil often traveled to Boston by rail for business and to see the big city. So, who knows.
Gil passed away in 1956, leaving the gun to his older daughter, my grandmother. She passed away in 1987, leaving the gun to my uncle who, in turn, passed away in the early 2000's. Out of privacy and respect for the dead, I won't get into details, but suffice to say that my father deserves all the credit for keeping the gun in the family after my uncle's passing. My father passed away a little over two years ago. My mother, now 91 and still a force of nature, and my siblings decided that I should inherit Gil's Parker.
I have next to no knowledge of the gun's history since purchase other than Gil hunted frequently well into his 80's. It would not surprise me if he was the last one to fire it. I know my father did not (even though he was a very avid shooter), and I sincerely doubt my uncle ever did.
I'll next attempt to attach a few photos of it. Clearly, it has been worked on by someone not acquainted with Parker's.
Merry Christmas
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