Indiana State Rifle on WIBC's "The Gun Guy" -- 1800 hrs, Saturday 20 Feb 2016

[indianajoe]

Tune into "The Gun Guy Show" on WIBC (93.1 FM or on the web: The Gun Guy Show | 93.1 WIBC) on Saturday, 20 February 2016. Host Guy Relford will talk with second-generation Indiana gunmaker Marvin Kemper about his authorized bicentennial reproduction of the "Grouseland Rifle" -- the Official Indiana State Rifle. (Programs are later available on podcast.)

The Grouseland Rifle was crafted around 1803 by John Small, Indiana's first sheriff, militia adjutant general to William Henry Harrison, and maker of arms for historical figures like William Clark and Francis Vigo.

Kemper's faithful reproduction will also be on display Saturday and Sunday, 20-21 February 2016, at the Antique Arms Show and Living History Trade Fair, Hamilton County Fairgrounds, 2003 E. Pleasant St., Noblesville. The Grouseland Foundation will offer this reproduction at auction starting in August, with proceeds supporting historical preservation at the Harrison's Grouseland Home in Vincennes.









The IndyStar recently published a good story about John Small, the State Rifle, and Kemper's authorized reproduction: Replica of official state rifle commissioned for bicentennial

 

[indianajoe]

You can tell some things about the man by listing the things he'd done: Revolutionary War soldier, surveyor, sheriff, militia colonel, tavern keeper, legislator, blacksmith and silversmith and arms craftsman. But I haven't yet found anything better than this to show WHO John Small was. From his obituary in the Indiana Centinel newspaper, 19 May 1821, here is what the people of Vincennes thought of John Small on his passing:


*****
Colonel John Small “… was interred with military honors, followed to his long home by a large procession of citizens. When good men die, to be careful of their fame is a lasting and consoling obligation of friendship.” He was “a brave and humane soldier, and an honest, liberal, and upright man.”


“He was an ingenious and self-taught mechanic, a tender and kind husband and father, a most obliging neighbor, a staunch friend, a correct tradesman; and in moments of relaxation, when the mind is unbent from business, and the cares of life are left to shift for themselves, he was a most cheering and joyous companion."


"As liberal in his opinions as correctness would allow, his house was the mansion of genuine hospitality. It was the relief of the unfortunate, the stranger’s rest, the poor man’s refuge, and the wanderer’s home. He greeted alike the rich and the poor with the smile and the hand of unaffected cordiality."


"Such was Col. Small – whose mind and person were of the most manly mould, and whose soul was the centre of all the amiableness of human nature. This is, without the least exaggeration, a hasty but faithful outline of what our late friend was; and what we too seldom see in our intercourse with mankind."
*****


We have no depictions of his likeness, but I can see him better through these words.

Indiana Centinel, 19 May 1821

http://bit.ly/1RdVCYg

 

[one more]

Hello indianajoe,
Thanks for the information, I will check it out!
one more

 

[indianajoe]

Glad to pass it along. Interest is high here

 

[indianajoe]

You can listen to Guy's conversation with gunmaker Marvin Kemper on the webcast/podcast from about counter 05:10 to 18:10. Great conversation and lots of good info about Kentucky long rifles vs muskets, who is John Small, how did this rifle come to be the State Rifle of Indiana, and info about how interested collectors can bid on this rifle later this summer.

https://soundcloud.com/93wibc/2-20-16-gun-guy-hr-3?in=93wibc/sets/the-gun-guy