I mentioned in the post above that there was a provenance claimed by the consignor. He claimed that it was a gun given to Clara Barton, but did not provide documentation before he passed. I discounted this, but over the months of watching the gun I starting digging a little and found that this may not be as bizarre as it sounds, and actually there may be some support. She was always known as a very ladylike person in society, but many sources report that she was raised as somewhat of a tomboy. Her dad taught her military history and by her own account wanted to grow up to be a soldier. Her brothers taught her to shoot and ride at an early age, and she enjoyed a vigorous outdoor lifestyle whenever possible. She was attacked, shot at (narrowly escaping death at one point), famously worked on the battlefield in the Civil War and several European conflicts. Due to becoming totally exhausted and rundown from her activities for over a decade, she moved to Dansville NY in 1876 and entered a sanitarium and regained her health and constitution. She bought her own home two years later and lived there while forming and organizing the American Red Cross. A doctor from the sanitarium became her key assistant. During the next several years she became easily the most prominent resident of the region. During this time (1875) the Dansville Sporting and Gun club was formed and by many accounts is the oldest continuously operating club in the US. In her own writings from those years she talks often of getting outdoors, taking cross country jaunts of several miles and riding and sleighing with one of her 7 horses, which she brags on as to speed. I doubt she ever used a side saddle, from her descriptions.
I was not at all aware before, but I found one listing of ranking the top female shooters of all time. In it, she was ranked No. 2 right behind Annie Oakley, The write-up talked of her shooting skills from an early age and the fact that she often put on shooting exhibitions as part of her Red Cross fund raising efforts. It is not at all improbable, with a local shooting club available, that she participated locally.
Where all this possibly comes together is the latter part of her period in Dansville. After forming the Red Cross, her reputation grew by leaps and bounds during the early 1880's due to their work and support during the famous Michigan fires and deadly flooding in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, where they saved countless lives. She was, by all accounts, a popular member of society there. This vaulted her to National fame in a big way and made her easily the most famous resident. In December of 1884 Dansville suffered a sever Typhoid Fever epidemic, that ran into 1885. During the crisis, the local chapter (No. 1) that was also the National headquarters was instrumental in providing supplies and aide during the suffering. The epidemic ended in 1885, Barton announced plans to leave for Washington DC late in the year and left town for the last time in March 1886. Different serial number records of guns which have been dated show that it is easily possible the gun I purchased was made in 1885. More over, it is a gun which at that time would have been imported into the country through NY or Boston. It very well could have been given as a presentation piece to Dansville's most famous and well liked resident in thanks for the aid she provided during a town crisis.
I have found quite a bit to document a lot of this, just not the gun. However, I did find that after she left a former newsman and historian from the town compiled over many years a rather lengthy book of every newspaper article, public announcement, official documents, pictures, society notes, letters and anything else he could locate pertaining to her life there. This was privately published anonymously well over 100 years ago. The Red Cross several years ago republished it in a very limited addition. I was able to find a copy at an attractive price and I am waiting for it to arrive. If there was any kind of a presentation, award, or goodbye ceremony, it should be documented in that book. If there is no reference there or in her book "My Life", I will likely never find a connection.
Last edited by AGS; 11/15/24 07:38 PM.
