doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com A Visit with M.V. Highsmith

I was fortunate to spend a few days with M.(McKinley) V.(Vern) Highsmith of Memphis while my wife, a late 1970s Saint Jude survivor, registered and ran the Saint Jude 1/2 marathon with a full marathon option. Word was sent that he may not remember me so this visit possibly was one of the last few opportunities to ask him a few questions before his short-term memory is all but lost. At 87 years of age at times he is still quite sharp and still goes to work daily with this past Friday only working 1/2 day. He said he was rechequering project. Hi was born on July 15, 1922 and entered the Navy circa 1940(according to Hi) where not only could he hit just about any target, but could also repair the Remington Model 11s or Humpbacks as he called them. When the fighting was fierce in WWII I think he even slept near the range and with only cotton, if anything, for his ears led to permanent damage. I asked him was the Navy sad to see him go and his response was that it really didn't matter as he had better things to do. His uncle was in the Spanish-American War and decided to stay in Manilla where he had some post at the paper. When his uncle was taken by the Japanese and killed, Hi was going to join whether drafted or not and hopefully head toward Manilla, but he never left the States. By the way Mrs. Highsmith is gourmet wild game cook and her cooking is an excellent pairing to conversations with Hi.

Below are a couple pics of my potential young sportmen(Owen F. left and Benjamin W. right) and M.V. Highsmith as well as his library.






As a side note the slim red book right of the green "The Gun" is a 1970s reprint of "The Gun, 1834" so I assume "The Gun" began as a smaller edition and grew to what we know today.


W.W. Greener’s Choke Bore Guns: Tried at Targets and on Game(How to Load?)
http://books.google.com/books?id=kTT-GwAACAAJ&dq=choke+bore+by+w.w.+greener&lr=

An Essay on Shooting – W. Cleator – 1879
http://books.google.com/books?id=43ACAAA...;q=&f=false was an interesting read as how the tubes were checked with different steel and lead cylinders as well as Manton's Compass to check the tube thinkness.

Instructions to Young Sportsmen - http://books.google.com/books?id=vZ9BAAA...q=&f=false, all 3 volumes are a must read as today many of the common courtesies seem to be lost in the obsession for bag limits.

At any rate, at the retrieval of each text, he would ask the title(and sometimes author) and whether it was Sir Ralph Payne Gallwey, James Purdey, Greener, he had something to add.

Crosschisles & Craig Havener I again communicated your greetings. And if you know him, you realize what I mean by communicated.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Nice grooved axes on the book shelf...Geo

George:

As a side note his whole collection is on permanent loan to the Pink Palace in Memphis. Hi had a house full of artifacts. At times I could drag out info from his artifact diggin' days. Most of the time it began with "Well, I dug that ole bastard up...." My mother-in-law made a few of the diggin' trips.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

H.V.Highsmiths library looks much like mine [So much so that I had to check that mine had not walked!]The green book,"The Gun" is by William Greener C.E father of W.W. it is valuable and rare. The more familiar book,"The Gun" was by W.W.Greener and was first published in 1881.I see an early edition on the shelf as well as a repro reading copy.Best wishes to H.V. clearly a fellow spirit.

Raimey, thanks for the pics! Have spent many hours sitting in Hi's little cubbyhole work space, next to Ed Mason's shop. I think between those two, there was more talent, and good stories than anyplace I have ever had the pleasure visiting. I think Ed's health is also failing, what a loss those two will be!So many memories, thanks again!

Best
Craig

Someone should ask Mr. Highsmith about Bo-Whoop. He might have worked on it for NB, or at least seen it. I've seen Mr. Highsmith mentioned in some of Nash's writing, but can't remember the story.

Roy:
I think the green "The Gun" did have a 1881 date. I'll see if I can remember the books around it. I should have written them down.

Craig:

Hi said that Ed dropped in about once a month. He also thought Ed to be about 20 years younger.

I have asked Hi about Mr. Buck and from time to time he did work on Mr. Buck's Fox/Foxes. As he would say, they are pretty simple to work on as any A&D boxlock. I asked Hi who Mr. Buck hunted with and did he drive. He response was that Mr. Buck would hunt/shoot with anyone that would let him and and "Hell no he never drove!" Either his wife drove him or the guys at the club.

Mr. Buck mentions Hi in a Sporting Dog publication or something of the like. I'll see where I put my copy. By the way on the 3rd row(not including the top) the first 5 books are Buckinghams.

Last I forgot to post the names of my lads and have edited below the pics.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Ed's doing good...I shoot with him most every Wednesday...Mr.Highsmith is quite the charactor and known as one of the best shotgun shots in the south.

Great to hear Ed's doing well.Thanks jOe!
Mr Buck did a lot of hunting at Quail Hill in Ms. run by John Bailey. Get the book, Letter to John Bailey by George Bird Evans, great read. I think Hi worked on John's AAHE Parker several times.

Craig

Great story. It really is odd that NB never learnt to drive. It's downright goofy that he seemingly resisted it.