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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 70
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 70 |
Does anyone have information relating to Shenandoah Gun Shop located in, I believe, Round Hill, VA. I believe the proprietor and chief gun smith was William L. Humphrey; he is credited with stocking some of Townsend Whelen's rifles. Also, one of his stockmakers was Roy Pullen, originally at Westley Richards.
Any input is welcome.
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 14,148 Likes: 204
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 14,148 Likes: 204 |
Humphrey must have been there before my time. I always thought that he worked out of Parker-Whelen. Shenandoah Guns used a Berryville address and was almost to the river bridge on Route 7. Ben Toxvard was the proprietor in the seventies. I purchased Ben's Parker try gun in the early seventies when he needed a few bucks to pay for a Hardinge lathe that had just been delivered. Ben always told me that the Parker had been owned by his predecessor in the shop, who I assume was Humphrey. The try gun had belonged to Colonel Townsend Whelen as part of the shop equipment at Parker-Whelen. I had been trying to buy the Parker for years. Now I'm beginning to see the connection. I never realized that Humphrey was probably the gunsmith who lived up on the mountain behind the Shenandoah gun shop. The shop gave up gunsmithing after Ben Toxvard died. His son, I assume it was his son, continued some retail trade for a while, but before long, the shop was closed. The building still stands as far as I know, but I don't know what it is used for.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 625
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 625 |
I have a Ballard stocked by Humphrey. His work is the equal of any of the "interwar" gunsmiths.
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 14,148 Likes: 204
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 14,148 Likes: 204 |
As many years as I knew Ben Toxvard, he never referred to the gunsmith from Parker-Whelen by name. He always referred to him as "the old man on the mountain". By the time I started hanging out at the shop, the old man was no longer at the shop. I got the impression that the old man owned the shop and sold it to Ben when he retired. Ben said he would visit occasionally, but never when I was in the shop. Apparently, according to Ben, the old man brought the Parker to the shop after Parker-Whelen closed. Ben sold many of General Billy Mitchells guns through the shop. I didn't know until years later that the Parkers and other nice guns that passed through the shop belonged to Mitchell. I always got the impression that Ben's stockmaking abilities were a result of working under "the old man".
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 70
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 70 |
In the book Mister Rifleman, Whelen states that the gunsmith at Parker-Whelen was John Hutton. As I re-read my sources, I am not certain that William Humphrey was associated with Shenandoah Gun Shop at all.
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 14,148 Likes: 204
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 14,148 Likes: 204 |
I guess we'll wait for more information.
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 70
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 70 |
Could "the old man on the mountain" have been Roy Pullen? Or could it possibly have been John Hutton?
Last edited by Carpetsahib; 12/28/12 09:10 PM.
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 6,881
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 6,881 |
I checked my Humphrey file and have very little to add.
The only address I have seen for him was just Round Hill, VA with an Express address of Purcellville, VA.
MP Sadly Deceased as of 2/17/2014
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 14,148 Likes: 204
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 14,148 Likes: 204 |
Carpetsahib, I only know Pullen and Humphrey by reputation and don't know who the predecessor to Ben Toxvard at Shenandoah Guns was. I guess it was one of them. Bill Murphy
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 70
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 70 |
I have a Ballard stocked by Humphrey. His work is the equal of any of the "interwar" gunsmiths. Can you post a photo
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