Robert
Ken Sweet, Jerred's best friend and who is also stone carver by trade, told me that Jerred never signed a Smith gun that he engraved. Ken further told me that the idea of Jerred signing his work had never been considered until Jerred received a contract to engrave a limited run of Ruger pistols; and that is was at that point that he and Jerred worked together to develop Jerred's engraver's mark, which is indeed the mark depicted on the stationery above. Ken stated that Jerred wanted his mark to be as inconspicuous as possible, therefore it is hidden within his scroll work; so that, if someone doesn't know exactly what to search for, his mark is simply part of the scrolls within the engraving pattern. When Jerred died, Ken Sweet carved Jerred's head store; and an examination of that headstone will show oak leaf border work (one of Jerred's favorite objects to cut), and includes Jerred's engraver mark (which I was told is only found on the Ruger pistols he engraved).
As to signed engraving on Smith guns; the only Smith guns I've ever seen signed were signed "Glahn S.C.", which I understand is not the mark of an individual engraver. And although I've heard of a couple of Smith guns signed by Kraus (supposedly under the top lever), we have no pics; and I won't have any faith in such rumors until I've seen actual proof. As to high grade Smith guns being signed by the Kraus, my research doesn't lead me to believe such guns exist based on the manner in which Kraus managed the engraving department. As head of the department, his first priority was to make sure each man, all paid by the hour, received enough hours each week to make a living; so whenever an engraving project was received, each engraver would be assigned an element of the project based on his skill levels (and old time sheets exist to back that up). For instance, the apprentices under his tutelage would be assigned the duty of the heavy chiseling and reshaping of breech balls, cutting raised beads, etc; as well as the required tedious polishing of all those chiseled surfaces to make them smooth (more cost effective at an apprentice rate); others would be assigned the task of cutting borders and intricate scroll work, while Kraus, the master engraver, would perform intricate game scenes and gold inlay work. And finally, Jerred was never the head of the Smith gun engraving department; he was certainly being groomed for that role, but circumstances never allowed that to take place. Jerred's wife had relatives living in Augusta, GA; and he and his bride were visiting those relatives in January, 1949 when the floor above the canal collapsed and dumped all the heavy milling equipment in the drink. A month later, Marlin made the decision to finish as many guns as possible from parts on hand; then to permanently close the gunworks and relegate the Smith gun to its place in history. This was a tough blow for Jerred, for he had been serving his 5-year apprenticeship under Kraus; and most interestingly, had just achieved the rank of master engraver the same month the gunworks floor collapsed. As there was no demand by companies for full-time engravers in 1949-50; Jerred struggled to make a living operating a gas station and doing sub-contract engraving work nights. It was during those years that he earned his GED; and went from that point onto college, a masters degree in astronomy, and a full-time professorship. Kraus trained Jerred on his gold inlay techniques, and the inlay above certainly appears to be Jerred's work based on some of the big game floor plate inlays I've seen on other rifles he engraved. Jerred had a great sense of humor and I've seen two humorous gold inlayed floor plates he did, both based on hornets. One where mad bees were after an unlucky fisherman; and in the other, chasing a bear. In another Jerred story, after being hounded by a local to engrave a pistol; Jerred finally agreed. When he asked the gent how he wanted it engraved, he was told to do something that would personally thought would be in keeping with this gent's personality. Since Jerred knew this guy was notorious as a trout poacher, he engraved the gun with fish; the owner was not happy with the finished piece, but never hounded Jerred to engrave anything else either. Finally, of all the characters I've researched; Jerred's story was absolutely the most inspiring. If anyone is interested in knowing a bit more, I encourage you to read the two-part series published in the DGJ a few years ago.
