Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Estes
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.
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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!
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