Gil: That's very interesting.
Nash clearly lost it in a moment of distraction, so it's not like they stole it, but.....it was obviously his gun (his name's clearly printed on it) and they had to know that fact. Advertising for it's return (with a substantial reward promised) was extensive in that area (for months and even years), so there's no way they didn't know that they had his custom-built and so-identified property (and for 3 generations?). I not sure that's shining tribute to this family's reputation for honesty. You could argue that they were poor and he was "rich" by the standards of the day, but that still doesn't make it "right" to keep a man's personal property, ill-gotten or otherwise. As a gun-owner, that rankles me.
His estate & heirs (if any still exists) certainly would have had a claim on it. I'm also assuming that he made an insurance claim on it's loss, so... that should mean that the insurance company and/or it's successors had a claim on it as well. How all that got resolved before the sale would make for a very interesting story.
Last edited by Lloyd3; 10/20/16 01:05 PM.
