Indiana State Rifle: Authorized Reproduction on Display -- 20-21 Feb 2016

[indianajoe]

Marvin Kemper will have his authorized bicentennial reproduction of Indiana's Official State Rifle on display in Noblesville this weekend. The Annual Antique Arms Show and Living History Trade Fair runs Saturday and Sunday, 20 and 21 February 2016, at the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds, 2003 E. Pleasant St, Noblesville.


Marvin's work is a faithful reproduction of John Small's "Grouseland Rifle," originally a flintlock built around 1803, and named Indiana's Official State Rifle by act of legislature in 2012. John Small (1759-1821) was Indiana's first sheriff, adjutant general to Governor William Henry Harrison's territorial militia, and gunmaker to some of the great historical figures of the period. William Clark owned a rifle made by John Small, and may have carried it on the Corps of Discovery (Lewis and Clark) expedition. Collector and author Shelby Gallien said of John Small: "He was perhaps the finest gunsmith to work west of the Appalachian Mountains in the years following the American Revolution.”


Kemper's authorized reproduction will be available at auction later this year, accompanied by a burnished walnut and velvet-lined presentation box bearing the State Seal of Indiana. Proceeds will go to support historical preservation at William Henry Harrison's Grouseland Estate in Vincennes.

Article in Indianapolis Star, with photo montage:

Replica of official state rifle commissioned for bicentennial

 

[midget]

 

[indianajoe]

Here's a video that highlights some of John Small's craftsmanship, and shares some interesting facts about his role in Indiana history. (Please note that at 0:35 where the banner says "Crafted the Grouseland Rifle, the Official State Rifle of Indiana," the picture that follows is the John Small "Kindig Rifle." I give a key below to which rifles are which.)


[video]https://youtu.be/PV0DaILced8[/video]

0:27 -- Clark Rifle (owned by William Clark of Lewis and Clark; in archives of Missouri Historical Society
0:30 -- Menard Pistol (owned by Pierre Menard, fur-trader, militia officer, Sub-Agent of Indian Affairs, and 1st Lt.Gov. of Illinois; pistol in Dresslar Collection at Indiana State Museum
0:36 -- Kindig Rifle (found by collector Joe Kindig in England in 1958; in a private collection, sold at auction in 2011 for $184,000)
0:39 -- Clark Rifle (signature plate)
0:41 -- Vigo Rifle (owned by Francis Vigo, fur-trader and businessman, friend and financier of George Rogers Clark; rifle in Dresslar Collection at Indiana State Museum)
0:46 -- Menard Pistol
0:49 -- Clark Rifle
0:51 -- Clark Rifle
1:10 -- Grouseland Rifle (owned by Grouseland Foundation, silver signature plate on top of barrel notes "Jn Small Vincennes"; resides at Grouseland, William Henry Harrison's territorial mansion in Vincennes)
1:18 -- Girty Rifle (believed to have been made for loyalist and Revolutionary War defector Simon Girty; rifle in Dresslar Collection at Indiana State Museum)
1:21 -- Clark Rifle
1:26 -- Kindig Rifle
1:31 -- Grouseland Rifle
1:38 -- Clark Rifle

 

[tmater]

I seen these reproductions at the Ferdinand gun show last month, very cool history

 

[indianajoe]

Thanks, tmater. Agreed, great stories around John Small and his work.

I think you'll find that at the Antique Arms Show in Noblesville, Marvin's rifle will be much farther along than when he showed it in Ferdinand. (It may be close to complete.)