ADVENTURES IN PURSUIT OF OLD GUNS

ADVENTURES

PURSUIT

OLD GUNS

By James

Serven

Thank you, Mr. President. Such kind words always fall

pleasantly on the ear, deserved or not.

This is the first time

have been asked to speak on "All

Fools Day." I hope the selectionof the day and the speaker

have no significance.

Every speaker tells his audience how happy he is to be

with them, but in my case that feeling

very genuine.

Many of you are long-time friends and it is always more

enjoyable to address a friendly, knowledgeable audience.

Now that we have satisfied our thirst and hunger I would

hope that you can now sit back and relax comfortably. I

promise to make this vocal visit relatively short. Certainly

I would not wish any of the lovely ladies present to suffer

the discomfort of those distressed women we see on tele-

vision who complain "My girdle is killing me!"

could ramble on at considerable length about

gun

collec-

ting and to prevent this I shall stick to the pages before me.

JAMES

SERVEN

There are many here this evening who have had experiences

as interesting as mine, or perhaps even more exciting, and I would much prefer to listen to their experiences

than to recount my own. But here in this great national capitol there seems to be a strong adherence to the

seniority system, regardless of other qualifications.

I believe your program chairman thought that after forty years of

gun

collecting

must certainly have ex-

perienced some thrilling moments and amusing situations. Perhaps he also thought that these events might

give some insight into the great potentials ingun collecting and might in some measure reveal to the ladies

why we men

find

this hobby so fascinating.

While

I was interested in guns in a "cowboy and Indians" sort of way early in life, it was not until 1926

that the notion to collect occurred to me. At that time, somewhat reluctantly,

bought an almost mint,

round barrel Colt Navy pistol for

$3.00.

Shortly after this earth-shaking purchase a struggling artist asked me to accept some old pistols in lieu of

cash to settle a bill he owed our lumbercompany. I paid his bill and took the pistols. That made me almost

a collector.

The next few years were very busy ones for me with little time for a hobby, but in late 1931 I took a a

sabbatical leave from formal business, spending much of the following year in the delightful Catskill Moun-

tain village of Woodstock, New York. Nowthere was time for a hobby and for some of the free-lance writing

I had long wanted to do.

Early in 1932 I heard of a gentleman named P.

Cowles in Waterbury, Connecticut, who wished to sell

a collection of antique pistols. So

drove over to Waterbury,

and

upon arriving there found

group of

nice

martiaI

pistols,

many

Civil War revolvers,

lot of Philadelphia derringers,

and

other desirable

pistols

about

300

alI.

Mr. Cowles wanted $6 apiece. In those days, following the market crash of 1929,

you did't part

with

$1800

without some second thoughts. However, the collection seemed like a bargain to

me until the owner said, LYou'll have to take those long

guns

over there in the corner at the same price.

In my ignorance I was then not at all interested in bulky shoulder arms especially since I was temporarily

residing in a rented studio. But I finally agreed to take the long guns.

had given these pieces scarcely a

glance, but when I got them home I found some fine Sharps rifles, two engraved Volcanic carbines and among

other nice pieces an almost mint engraved Henry rifle which had been presented to an army officer by the

S. Government! That one piece today would bring far more than I paid for the entire collection.

this, my first adventure into buying a

gun

collection, dame fortune was very kind to me. Subsequently I

found that you had to give that fickle lady some help.

Having heard

that

a crazy fellow from over in the Catskill Mountains at Woodstock was throwing his money

around, an old-time collector named E. W. Adt of Torrington, Connecticut, wrote to suggest that I look at

his pistol collection. His description of the pistols was tempting

all Colts and

S. martial pistols.

my Woodstock friend, Dick

Short, and I made another trip over to Connecticut and came home with 346

more choice antique small arms at a price per piece not much above the Waterbury guns.

Reprinted from the American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin24:28-34

Additional articles available at http://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/resources/articles/

Connecticut was good to me in those early days.

short time later I bought a Colt sidehammer

pistol with Charter Oak stock which a lady had

found in the cupboard of an old house she had

bought and remodelled. She insisted

$15

was a fair

price.

These prices, of course, seem ridiculous to us

today but what about today's prices in relation to

those 10, 20 or

years from now? If a Flemish

painting that has done nothing more important

than hang on a wall will command a price of a

million dollars, what will be the value of a

beautiful firearm that

steeped in our national

PROBABLY

TKE

FIRST PRODUCTION RSTOL

BEAR

TIIE

COLT

NAME,

THIS

SERIAL

NUMBER

history?

AND

MADE AT

PATEFSON,

WAS

UN-

COVERED

BRODKLYK

FLAT

AND

WHCHASCD

FOR

$35

After the purchase of the Cowles and Adt collec-

tions you might say I was "up to my waist" in

guns. Not long after this I decided to spend the

winter in Arizona.

I selected the pieces I

wanted to keep and asked Dick Short to place an

advertisement in the American Rifleman and sell

the others.

Despite the great economic depression of that

time, the guns sold like hot cakes, and I then had

concrete evidence that not only were old guns a

great part of our national history and a source of

MANUFACTURED

AT PATERSON

N.J.

THIS

BEAUTI-

recreational enjoyment but that collecting them

FUL COLT PISTOL WAS SHIPPED TOIRELAND AND

LATER CARRIED

CANADA.

was economically sound:

The winter on a ranch in Arizona convinced me

that Arizona was the place I wanted to live, but

the move was not immediately possible. Again I rented a studio for the summer at Woodstock and, when I

could, renewed my search for old guns. Amongother things I placed some "wanted" ads in the newspapers,

hobby and

gun

magazines, and in farm papers such as the Rural New Yorker.

It was about this time that I met a number of other collectors, notably men like John and Harry

Lunn,

Bill

Luce, Howard Rulison, Tony Fidd, John Laidacker and Dr. Leo Brady

all living in or not very far from

Ithaca, New York. With them andothers I was one of the organizers of the Eastern Arms Collectors Associ-

ation, the name now changed to New York State Arms Collectors Association. Advices from men in this

group led to many interesting purchases, including the Dr. J.

Scrafford collection at Syracuse, one of the

fine collections featured in the gun books by that famous pioneer collector and author, Charles Winthrop

Sawyer.

I found fellow collectors a very fine and helpful group of

men. I was having a lot of

fun,

too. I had traded Roy Vail

of Warwick, New York, a Chinese rug for a ship model

and then traded the ship model to an eager ship model

collector in Kingston for a small collection of old pistols

which included a fine matched pair of ivory inlaid wheel

locks.

My remaining days of residence in New York state brought

with them further pleasant experiences, but in

1935

I made

the big move to Arizona and purchased a small cattle

ranch south of Tucson.

I had purchased all Dr.

M. Scrafford's surplus arms

before leaving New York, and very soon after I arrived

in Arizona I completed negotiations to purchase his main

collection of

448

pistols. When I went to pick up about ten

shipping boxes at

the Tucson express office, two

Marshals suddenly appeared and wanted to know why a

rancher needed so many guns. It seems there had been

some trouble with

gun

running into Mexico and my ranch

was only an hour's drive from the border. I showed them

the contents of one box

all flintlockpistols

and there-

EIGHT OF THE FOURTEEN PATERSON COLTS

THE

1500

PIECE ALBERT

FOSTER

COLLECTION

after had no trouble with the law.

THE AUTHOR CAUGHT UP WITH THIS FINE WALKER COLT PISTOL NEAR

ANGEL'S CAMP

CALIFORNIA'S MOTHER LODE COUNTRY. IT WAS HANG-

ING OVER THE BACK-BAR OF A TAVERN

- -

BUT NOT FOR LONG1

THE

19408.

During the five years I lived on my Sonoita ranch I made frequent trips to the East and in the process

bought some important collections. One was the

Bierly collection, on loan at the Carnegie Museum in

Pittsburgh.

In the process of my increased collecting activity I had met a number of gentlemen whose

friendship has been amongmy greatest rewards in this hobby. Among these early friends were Carl Metzger

and our President Emeritus Harry Knode, both of Dallas. Carl and Harry were close friends and Harry

has been responsible for the excellent display of the Metzger collection at Texas A

Udiversity. Carl

Metzger provided the encouragement

that led me to write my Colt book. Harry can remember when we

struggled in Carl's gunroom to take gun photographs with an old 3A Kodak. You might say that Harry has

advanced somewhat in photography since. then.

When Carl Metzger heard I was going east to buy the Bierly collection of about 1,000 pistols he asked to

with me.

picked him up in Dallas and we drove toward Texarkana where we planned to stay the night.

had

man

see about a gun along our route and when we reached this man's residence in East Texas Carl

decided

he would wait in the car. In about a half hour I came back to the car with a cardboard box under

my arm. Carl had a high-pitched Texas drawl and turned it up to inquire, "What in blazes took you so long?"

I assured him the box contained a nice pepperbox pistol (a type then selling for about $15). "Good Lord,"

Carl exploded, "If it takes you that longto buy a pepperbox, how long would it take you to buy a Paterson?"

"Well, it's a nice pepperbox," I replied. "Take a look." Reluctantly Carl opened the box and when he did

his voice hit high C! What he found was a beautiful Paterson Colt, cased with all accessories!

This was an auspicious start for what turned out to be a most enjoyable trip, and with one of the finest

gentlemen I have ever known.

Our route to Pittsburgh took us through Kentucky. One night we checked in at a hotel in Bowling Green and

having nothing else to do we inquired if there were any gun collectors in town. We were assured that indeed

there was one. An hour later foundus in the local undertaking parlor, quite alive, and being escorted through

several somewhat macabre work rooms in which guns decorated all the walls. Finally, after this guided

tour, during which the history of each

gun

was recited, our enthusiastic undertaker friend took us into his

private office and with an air of great pride withdrew from his safe a small derringer pistol. "This little

gem," he assured us, "was in the pocket of the minister who married Abraham Lincoln!" A derringer

wedding was a new one to us, but we took it in stride.

Next our host, with glowing enthusiasm took from the safe his greatest prize. It was just about the rustiest

Remington

.44

cap and ball pistol we had ever seen. "This pistol,'' he told us, "was carried by a great

confederate general who was leading a charge across the river when he was shot from his horse and his

pistol lost. Only recently it was recovered." Pointingto the pistol he said reverently, "This is the original

rust." Two years later

bought the gentleman's entire collection, stories, rust and all.

Although I had had tentative agreement on the price of the Bierly collection before going to Pittsburgh it

took an all-night sessionand twobottles of Gibson's Rye to get the bill of sale finally signed. Mr. Bierly was

a very remarkable man

a big, ruggedpoliceman with very little formal schooling. But he had a sense for

fine things, getting together, in addition to thepistols, important collections of china, hand-woven coverlets

and other antique items. He livedintoadvancedage. I suspect he had one hollow leg and a cast iron stomach.

Carl Metzger and I packed most of the Bierly guns for shipment to Arizona and took a few of the outstanding

pieces with us to display at the first Ohio Gun Show either of us had attended. This was in Columbus and the

year was late 1939 or early 1940. There we met Henry Stewart and Dr. Buck of Pennsylvania, Sam Smith of

Wisconsin (then on his honeymoon) and of course a number of the prominent Ohio collectors like Bud

Shumaker.

ALBERT FOSTER JR..

OFFICIAL OF THE COLT

COMPANY.

CHARLES WINTHROP

SAWYE9

THE PIONEER

AUTHORING

GUN

BOOKS.

CHARLES COOK

(1872-1937)

WAS ONE OF THE

TRULY GREAT ARM5 COLLECTORS OF HIS TIME.

MAJOR

WILLlAbl

G. RENWCY A TUSCON NEIGH-

BOR

AND

CLOSE FFUEND OF AUTHOR SERVEN.

The purchase of the Bierly guns set off a chain reaction, and soon

thereafter I was invited to purchase the extensive Ault collection

down the river from Pittsburgh at Martin's Ferry. While there

Father Kloss, a genial Catholic priest, decided he, too, would sell

his gun collection. I still hear from him occasionally. He used the

money to

send two nephews through college. On top of that, the

director of a museum in nearby Wheeling urged me to accept a

nice big Virginia Manufactory flintlock pistol in trade for some

antique bottles which were among the incidentals

the Ault collec-

tion. To this day I do not know who got the better of that trade, but

both were happy and

guess that is one of the best ways to judge

a trade.

1940

had an attractive offer for my ranch and cattle, so

sold

and moved to Santa Ana, California. Although

bought a home .in

that orange-grove surrounded city I also purchased a small ranch

near San Juan Capistrano and had my horses shipped over from

Arizona.

I had hardly gotten settled in California before an outstanding

collection of about

casedpairs of duelling pistols and many almost

mint uncased pistols were offered by a very wealthy family in San

Marino. This started a long succession of purchases up and down

the West Coast.

Some of my most interesting California experiences were had along

the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in an area known

as the Mother Lode Country. Up near Angel's Camp in Bret Harte

and Mark Twain country, where they hold the famous jumping

frog

contest each year, I bought a nice small collection and hauled it to

the motor freight dock in nearby San Andreas for shipment

Santa

Ana. While there the agent said, 'You ought to

up to that

gin

mill near Hathaway Pines. They must have

500

old pistols on the

wall behind the bar."

I had heard stories like that before and Hathaway Pines was up the

mountain and well off my planned route, so I let it pass. About a

year later, however,

was

in that area and decided I would investi-

gate.

The gin mill in question turned out to

log

cabin tavern

with one

big

room

front where the bar was located and small

living quarters

the back. It

was

dark

there and when

got up

the

bar

saw about

"Saturday-nightspecials"

worth

apiece

wired to chicken wire stretched across the wall above the back-bar.

I thought, "What the hell, I'll have a drink anyway." As I slowly

downed the drink my eyes became better accustomed to the dim

light and suddenly I saw something close to the ceiling that gave me

a start. It had to be a Walker Colt!

struck up a conversation with the tavern owner and asked if he

would like to see some old guns I had in the car. He was quite

interested. I chanced to have several pairs of very cute little flint-

lock derringers with me. Presently his wife came into the bar and

fell in love with those little pistols. To make a long story short, I

left with the Walker, leaving him the small pistols and a Colt

Dragoon. He told me that the Walker pistol had been found in a safe

after the death of

old Chinese merchant. He claimed that he

hated to part with this particular pistol because he sometimes used

it to shoot squirrels. When

had a chance

examine the pistol in

good light I found

all

the

chambers fully loaded. The verdigris-

covered lead balls must have

been

there for

years!

The sheriff of Calaveras County where this Walker Colt was found

had his home and office in San Andreas. We became good friends.

One day he took me over to his house and showed me a very clean

Texas Paterson Colt pistol. He didn't care to sell it right then he

told me because it was given to him by

old man whom he had

befriended just before the old man died.

told the sheriff, a big raw-boned man who was well known for his

toughness up there in the Mother Lode country, that

he should

change his mind I would pay him a certain figure. A year went by

and one day the express man brought a package to my door. In it

was the Texas Paterson pistol. No note. Nothing. I immediately sent

a check for the amount I hadsuggestedearlier. Still no word but the

check was cashed. When I saw the sheriff some months later he

was quite satisfied and said: 'We had an understanding. When I trust

a man, I trust him." That was the kind of man Joe Zwinge was.

Another time in back country not far from San Andreas I called on

a farmer who was said to have some guns. He had a long porch

across the front of his house devoid of any railing. It was evident

that the chickens roosted there frequently and the only place to sit

was on several broken down chairs and a big wooden chest.

The farmer was very noncommittal about owning any guns, and we

talked about crops, the weather, and a few other irrelevant things

for about an hour until he was satisfied as to my identity and pur-

pose. Finally he said, "Yep, I've got some old guns I'll sell. Get

up off that chest and I'll show 'em to you." He had some good and

rare pieces, too, but not for long.

While these Mother Lode trips were filled with interesting and

rewarding experiences, purchase and redistribution among my

collector friends of the Albert Foster, Jr. collection must be

regarded as a high spot in my collecting, and a privilege for which

I shall always

deeply grateful. I knew this was one of the country's

truly great collections but I was not prepared to find

Paterson

Colts, a closet full of cased Colt pistols stacked up like cordwood

and a total of

1500

top quality arms, not to mention accessories,

books, catalogs, etc. Added pleasure from this transaction has been

in the continuing friendship with Mrs. Foster andher son Lindsley,

and with Mrs. Foster's attorney JohnWatson, aprominent collector

in his own right.

I can claim no great sagacity in acquiring the Foster collection, or

many others. It was merely being at the right place at the right

time with the right price.

The Charles Cook collection was another great milestone in my

collecting experience. Mr. Cook was one of the foremost collectors

of his day and, as in the case of the Scrafford collection, the Cook

collection was a major source for illustrations anddata in the early

gun

books authored by Charles W. Sawyer.

When

attended Brown University at Providence, the fraternity

house where I lived on Manning Street was but a few blocks from

Mr. Cook's large home on Waterman Street. If he had had some

pretty daughters I might have met him at that time, my interests

then being somewhat foreign to

gun

collecting. But I never had the

pleasure of meeting Mr. Cook.

The great stature of the Cook collection became known to me soon

after I began to take collecting seriously. Most collectors of that

day regarded Mr. Cook with a sort of reverent awe. He was a fine

gentleman and the ideal of a successful student of American arms.

At first it was just a nice dream, but eventually purchase of the

Cook collection became a reality.

It seemed to me that great collections like the Scrafford, Bierly,

Foster, Andrews and Cook collections were worthy of a special

catalog, with bound copies going to the former owner or his heirs.

Those who have plain copies of these catalogs today seem to treasure

them, too.

Probably some of my most exciting experiences involved rare

Walker and Paterson Colt pistols. I mentioned earlier that friends

in the collecting field had been very helpful. Here is an outstanding

example: One day I called on Harold Young at his shop in Nutley,

New Jersey, and bought a few unimportant Colt pistols. Harold

specialized in military arms. He told me that there was a man

"SINGLE SHOT" SAM SMlTH STARTED OFF RlGHT

TAKING HIS BRlDE TO A GUN SHOW ON THEIR

HONEYMOON.

CAPTAIN FRED CLARKE. AN ARDENT GUN COL-

LECTOR AND A POLICE OFFICER.

JOSEPH GNAU.

KEEN COLLECTOR FROM

SAN

FRANCISCO.

CARL METZGER (LEFT)

AND

HARRY KNODE

(RIGHT) DEMONSTRATE THAT SOMETIMES THEY

HUNTED FOR OTHER THINGS THAN OLD GUNS.

living in Paterson whose father had workedin the Colt Paterson factory. Harold had been up to see this man

several times but never could find him at home. "You are especially interested in Colts," Harold said,

"Here's the address. Maybe you'll have better luck."

Paterson was on my route home, so

stopped in at the address given and was delighted to be greeted by an

elderly gentleman who assured me that he did have an old Colt pistol. He went upstairs and brought down a

big cardboard box. When he opened the lid I had a pleasant shock. There was the most beautiful Walker

Colt

had ever seen, along with the original nipple wrench and bullet mould! It seems that the pistol had

belonged to Aaron Pulhamus, this gentleman's father, who worked not only at the Paterson factory but also

at Whitneyville when Colt's Walker models were made there. Needless to say, I made haste to purchase the

pistol, later rewarding Harold Young generously for his unselfish lead.

Some of you may remember that I had the privilege to be the banquet speaker at the 1958 American Society

meeting in Dallas.

The theme of my talk at that time was "Are Antique Firearms a Good Investment."

Fortunately, my affirmative conclusions have since beenproven sound. Let me illustrate what has happened

in the specific case of the Pulhamus Walkerpistol which I have just mentioned. At a 1970 auction the nipple

wrench brought more than I paid for the entire outfit, and the bullet mould alone brought considerably more

than the price at which I sold the pistol and accessories to a prominent and very knowledgeable member of

this society, whose friendship I have treasured over the years.

Another illustration of the value trend

that of a beautiful cased Paterson pistol which I purchased in

Canada in the 1940s for $1500. I sold the pistol for $2000, bought it back for $3500, sold it again at a profit

and while I am not sure of the exact price paid by the present owner, a member of this society,

am confi-

dent it could not be purchased for ten times the price at which it was purchased in the 1940s.

Paterson Colts seem

have a way of turning up, creating hope, anxiety, and sometimes disappointments.

One of my most aggravating and drawn-out experiences in the pursuit of a Paterson Colt involved a fine

cased set in Germantown, Pennsylvania. The gentleman in residence there was a strange individual with a

pointed beard. He was patronizingly cordial in showing me the pistol where it gathered dust on the top of

an old bureau in his attic. For ten years thereafter, whenever I was in the area, I would inquire about the

pistol, always receiving an amused but polite turn-down. The thing that really raised my blood pressure

was that one Christmas this dog-in-the-manger character sent me a toy pistol!

But he who laughs last laughs best andone day when I telephoned, his wife answered.

explained the reason

for my call. "Whythat's mypistol," she exclaimed, "it was my father's." When I told her how much I would

pay for the pistol she said, "You come right over and get it." Victory here was sweet, indeed!

Probably the most amazing incident came early in my collecting experience. As

have mentioned previously,

placed some "Wanted" ads in the Rural New Yorker. One of these ads inquired for Colt pistols made at

Paterson, New Jersey. One day I received a very breezy letter from a man in Brooklyn who said that he

had seen my ad and owned such a pistol

and, Oh yes, the only number he could find on it was Number

I had had my leg pulled a couple times by tempting tidbits, and was very suspicious. But one can't afford

to ignore such a letter, so I wrote and asked for more specific information

possibly a picture. No

answer.

Almost a year later I was in New York City for a few days on other business and

thought about that letter

from Brooklyn. Having a free afternoon, I decided to go over to Brooklyn and satisfy myself that this pistol

either existed or the letter had been a hoax.

Arriving at the address given, a modest brownstone flat, I was met by a middle-aged lady. She advised that

her husband was not home, butwhenIexplained the purpose of my visit she said, "Yes, he

has

an old pistol,

and I wish he would get it out of the house!" She consented to show me the pistol.

Holding it gingerly between two fingers she laid a fine belt-model Paterson Colt pistol on the table beside

me. With a rapidly increasing pulse

slipped out the wedge and removed the barrel. There it was

Serial

Number

The other parts bore the same number. Trying to be nonchalant,

told her I would telephone

her husband when he returned that evening.

I thought the intervening hours would never pass, but finally the time came and I made the call. A gruff

voice answered the telephone. "Yes, I'll sell thepistol," the speaker told me, "but don't think you're gonna

steal it!"

I assured the gentleman that such a thought was farthest from my mind. "Well, I'll not take a cent less

than $35," he declared firmly. I hope my gasp was not audible at the other end. Speechless for a moment,

groped for something to say. Thinkingof nothing more relevant I recounted what a hard time

had experi-

enced in finding his home that afternoon.

"Where are you staying?" he inquired. I toldhim the name of the hotel. "How long will you be there?'' Well,

I would have been there a week if necessary, but I quickly assured him I would be in all evening.

I must admit that my conscience bothered me somewhat after this transaction but I was certain that, con-

sidering the kindof man the owner was, I never would have obtained the pistol if I had aroused his suspicions

by a much higher offer.

These are but a few of the highlights which have contributed to my enthusiasm for

gun

collecting. In the

pursuit of this hobby one meets many interesting and wonderful people, builds firm friendships, gains

knowledge which can often

turned to profitable investment, and new light is shed on our nation's history.

Speaking of light in a different sense, Thomas Edison was once introduced as not only the inventor of the

light bulb but also the inventor of the first talking machine. Edison arose to reply and said: "It

not quite

correct to say that

invented the first talking machine.

invented the first talking machine that you could

turn off!

that note I shall turn off this talk, and wish to thank you very much for your patient attention.

DR. WILLIAM SAYBOLT ENJOYEDHISLONGISLAND

RETREAT WHERE HE KEPT ONE OF THE NATION'S

TOP QUALITY COLLECTIONS OF KENTUCKY

RIFLES.

aEOROE SMOOTS, OWNER OF THE FAR WEST

HOBBY SHOP, ONE OF THE LEADING EARLYARMS

DEALERS ON THE SEST COAST.

DR. A.

CLYNE BUILT A GREATCOLLECTIONOF

KENTUCKY RIFLES.

HAROLD

yoma