(Randolph / Guilford County, NC, 1838-1905) circa 1870s, percussion halfstock, 40-3/4 in. octagonal barrel, 3/8 in bore, 5-3/4 in. four screw rounded barrel tang, stamped on top of barrel "S.H. WARD" adjacent to what appears to be a small faint "JAMES...", double brass dovetail blade front sight, stamped "VII" behind split rear sight, pitted lock plate, brass side plate, maple stock, carved cheekrest, mounted 7 in. silver wear plate under forestock, extended 7 in. silver toe plate, both with engraved edge stitching, double set triggers, brass trigger guard, forend cap, ramrod guides, thimble and butt plate, 56-3/4 in. overall
Provenance: From The Collections of Dr. George Waynick and Dr. Edward G. Hill Jr., Old Salem, North Carolina
Note: Soloman Ward moved to Jamestown circa 1860 and married Anderson Lamb's daughter Eleanor, he is listed as a gunsmith at age 31 in the 1870 census with his wife aged 27 and son Harper 2, by 1890 he had moved several times and built a house and gun shop on Friendly Ave., Ward was a large man weighing over 300 lbs. according to oral history and didn't produce most of the rifles with his name on them, others including his son Harper, Ed Thornton, and Duck White were known to have worked for him as gunsmiths, Ward is second only to Anderson Lamb in known surviving signed rifles from the Jamestown School, see The Longrifle Makers of Guilford County,19 by C. Michael Briggs, pgs. 19, and 114-116, also North Carolina Schools of Longrifles 1765 - 1865, by William Ivey and Kenneth Orr, pg. 116
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From The Collections of Dr. George Waynick and Dr. Edward G. Hill Jr., Old Salem, North Carolina
handling wear consistent with age and use, exterior barrel with patina, oxidation, and common pitting at ignition, wear and small loss to edge of stock at lock plate, pitted lock plate, split and possible repair to stock corner behind cock, split with eight tack repair around wrist of gun, small losses to both corners of toe stock, re soldering of one guide, small split in stock at side plate screw, trigger spring is tight but will set and release, good surviving half stock example
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