doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com James V. Howe

One of the pictures I took in Reno.

About three years ago, one of the auction houses (Rock Island?) had a center fire and a rim fire they attributed to Howe. Neither rifle was signed in any way. I bought the .22 on Springfield M22 action, arsenal barrel; it had tiny little ivory pins to fill the several pin knots in the wood.

I have since sold it, so don't have photo availability - however, the FFL holder who receives for me with is a "lurker" here, and he might remember where it went. If you know, Tom, please call me.

Terry, At one time I thought all those little dots of white on the stock pictures in Howe's books were printing errors.

I have the Springfield 03 400 Whelen Serial #11. No pictures but can take some.
Gary Behrman

Gary,

Hi, good to see over here, I think I have some snapshots of your rifle. What I could use is a good photo that I could publish of the barrel markings. Refresh my memory, it's marked J.V. Howe Philadelphia?

Ask and ye shall receive!

After many, bleary-eyed hours of online research, I have compiled a substantial file of information about the life of James Virgil Howe, that I hope will be useful. This includes a copy of his obituary and the location of his grave, as well as details of his four marriages and other fascinating tidbits. I have also compiled contact information for several of his surviving descendants and other sources for futher research. (Michael, please contact me and I will be happy to share it all with you.)

Meanwhile, it appears that the Social Security Death Index contains misleading information (not unusual, by the way) which suggests that Mr. Howe died in Delton, Michigan, which is an unincorporated town about 30 miles south of Grand Rapids. In fact, primary source records show that he died on March 29, 1969, in his hometown of Troy, New York, and was buried there in historic Oakwood Cemetery. Attached below is a copy of his obituary published in the Troy Times-Record on March 31, 1969.

Ironically, Howe's obit is titled simply "James Howe, Writer" rather than "James Howe, Writer, Inventor, Engineer, Machinist, Adminstrator, Teacher, Entrepeneur, and Master Gunsmith" which would be a more accurate summary of his career. When I began this research, I was astonished by how little is actually known about a the life of a man who was arguably the most famous American custom gunmaker of the 20th century. However, even with this new information, there are still some huge gaps (and a number of intriguing mysteries) remaining. For example:

- What brought him to the the rough and tumble mining town of Red Lodge, Montana, as a young man?
- Why did he abruptly leave the company he co-founded with Seymour Howe after only four months?
- Who was the mysterious young woman with him on the ocean liner? (He was married; she was not)
- What was his connection to Delton, Michigan?
- What in the world was his last book about? (Certainly not gunsmithing)
- And finally, where did he spend the last 20 years of his life?

Hopefully, Michael Petrov's next book will help answer some of these questions, and many more.

Cheers,
Peconga in Boise, Idaho

Good work, Thanks for the information, I have him dead in about four places and this is the FIRST obit I have ever seen. Please write me at mjpetrov@acsalaska.net
you don't list an email and the PM system does not always work.

PM and email sent.

I'm certainly not a professional historian or writer, but have done a little geneological research in the past. Piecing together the basic outline of Howe's life is a bit tricky, because he was married four times and moved around a lot. In addition, all his children were female (which makes tracking the surname more difficult) and he literally seems to disappear for the last 20 years of his life. However, the "red herring" in the story is the incorrect place of death in the Social Security Death Index; I speculate that solving that riddle may also shed some light on his whereabouts in his later years.

Cheers,
Peconga

Thanks, I do not have a PM or email? Like a lot of folks that I research I have a lot of information and most of it is hard to verify. It seems there were several James V. Howes. As far a tracking Howe the last place I KNOW he was was Frankford Arsenal in 1941. This is why I never published he died Michigan, I could never find any thing. This is great, you have helped , big-time.

PS: I'm sure he was in California circa 1962. Escondido, CA down near San Diego.

"Who was the mysterious young woman with him on the ocean liner? (He was married; she was not)"

If this is the ship and person you are referring too, she would become wife no. 4, a shipboard romance perhaps?



Spouse 4
Madeline Love Becker
Born: 7 Jul 1898 in , , Massachusetts, USA
Died: 26 Oct 1985 in Escondido, San Diego, California, USA
Marriage: 1943
No known children from this marriage

Name: Madeline Love Howe
[Madeline Love Becker]
Social Security #: 214038985
Sex: FEMALE
Birth Date: 7 Jul 1898
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Death Date: 26 Oct 1985
Death Place: San Diego
Mother's Maiden Name: Rundlett
Father's Surname: Becker