found in shed barrel

[musketbal]

Hi all,
Since a small child (and that was a long time ago,40yrs) of about 6 yrs old my father has had a converted flintlock musket in a corner of the fireplace. I was always told it had been used in the Civil War. Several years ago I asked my father how he became in possession of the musket. My father told me that his father was wiring a old home and the old man that lived there was asking my grandfather about also putting electricity in the shed or barn. In a corner of the shed was a barrel. Sticking butt first was an old converted flintlock musket. The old man told my grandfather to take it for he had no use for it.My dad said this took place around 1948.
I had always had been told our anncestors had been enlisted in the 1st Maryland Eastern Shore Regiment of Inf., Co. K. Also in the other corner of the fireplace was a leather military belt from the Civil War, and a state militia sword from the 1820s. All items belonged to Henry C. Conner, who was discharged along with 38 other members of his company on July,2nd, 1863. The soldiers refused to leave Maryland to fight at Gettysburg. As a result after the battle all were imprisioned at Ft. McHenry until his time had been served and large fines paid by his family.
I, as a boy was so proud of Henry C. and asumed the musket was also his.After research the above info was found. Because he refused to go and was imprisioned that explained the great finacial loss of the family. My father also told me that a very old woman who new our family said the opinion of many was that he was disliked because he refused to fight in the war. I guess the truth is the truth even if its not what we wanted, especially as a child.
Here are the pictures of the musket. What do you all think? Also thank for your continued prayer for my son.
Brent Conner

[musketbal]

Re: found in shed barrel

Is it possible that the musket was converted to be used in the Civil War? What was the original musket before it was converted from flintlock to percussion?It is not possible to know if the musket was a "witness" to the horrors that battlefields bring, but more knowledgeable persons are sure to have opinions.
Thanks,

Brent Conner

[D.W. Scalf]

Re: found in shed barrel

Interesting story Brent. Very similar to the one behind a Lorenz I picked up several years ago. Wonder if there are any other such treasures in kudzu covered barns across the South??? I'm sure the experts on here will be able to help you identify it. Still praying for your Boy!!

D.W. Scalf

[Mark Britton]

Re: found in shed barrel

Eli Whitney received a contract for producing flintlock muskets for the United States Government in 1798 I think, with the first muskets being delivered the first few years of the 1800's. Many of these were converted to percussion as I understand about 1841. The style of this looks to my untrained eye like it could possibly be one of those early Whitney guns...but that's just my two cents. Wish I could come across stuff in a barrel like that..

Mark Britton

[ACo.]

Re: found in shed barrel

Brent, you do indeed have one of the Whitney contract muskets. It has a bras pan, Whitney was the first of the US makers to use the brass pan but not his entire 1798 contract was filled with brass pan locks, there were 4 variants delivered from ca. 1801 - 1809. They are:

Type I - 500 muskets delivered in September 1801 with an integral, faceted iron flash pan.

Type II - 500 muskets delivered in June 1802 with detachable iron flash pan.

Type III - 1000 muskets delivered in September 1802 and March 1803 with detachable brass flash pans.

Type 4 - 8000 muskets delivered from late 1803 to 1809 with round bottomed brass flashpans.

The odds are that yours had the rounded flashpan.

Now, was it converted for use in the Civil War? Possibly but it is a "civilian" style conversion with the round drum screwed into the barrel. This type of conversion is the weakest (yet most common) type used in converting guns from flint to percussion, but a gunsmith or blacksmith with the proper tooling could do it quickly and at a reasonable price. It was tried by the Federal government in the early conversions but the drum had a tendency to shear off, especially if the mainspring tension was not reduced and the drum was not fully supported by the lockplate so few guns were done this way by arsenals and contractors, the brazed bolster or the cone directly in the barrel were preferred, therefore we have to surmise that yours is a civilian conversion. When was it done? Maybe as early as the 1840s or as late as the 1870s, we’ll never know. Well, all contractor made guns were stored for transfer to the individual states for use by their militias, so your gun was likely sent to a state, maybe Maryland, and may have been either in storage or issued as flint in 1861. Or, it was an early issue by the state, maybe as early as the War of 1812 and it could have been “lost” to the sate by the 1830s or so and had passed on to civilian use. It could, under those circumstances, have been converted before the Civil War to percussion and used as a hunting arm, we will never know. If it had stayed in the Maryland militia inventory, it could have been converted by this method for use in the War but I feel it is unlikely, a bolster conversion would have been a more likely indication of military use. Whatever its history, you are lucky to have it; it is an exciting piece of history.