Notable Gunsmiths

Seldon (Sheldon) Peters was a noted maker of the “Kentucky Long Rifle” who lived at Getaway in Lawrence County, Ohio, from 1845 until his death on 3 January 1909.

Peters was a son of Freeborn Blacks, Thursey, and probably Esom Peters (who died before 1840) of Amherst County, VA. (Source: 1830 & 1840 Amherst Co. VA census).

Mother Thursey (Tirza) brought her ten children to Lawrence County, Ohio, before 1845 when Seldon married Martha Ferguson. The family settled at Unionville (also Russell’s Place and Getaway) and Seldon was listed as both a shoemaker and a gunsmith besides being a farmer. He lived on the township road back of the Methodist Church. He also trained other gunsmiths.

The Association of Ohio Long Rifle Collectors (AOLRC Newsletter, Vol. IV, No. 1, Feb. 1982 (1982)

This issue has a picture of a Peters rifle, while several sources list Seldon Peters as a gunsmith. Ohio Gunsmiths & Allied Tradesmen (Souce: pgs. 83 & 84) lists gunsmiths from Lawrence County, Ohio.  Sell Peters – 1816 -1909 – Amherst Co. VA to Law. Co. – Getaway – Union Twp. bur. Getaway

Of the twelve gunsmiths listed, Sell Peters trained four of them.

1. *Joseph Howard – 1813 NC  death before 1900 – to Gallia To Law. Co. Platform Rome Twp. OH 217
2. Thomas Markin – 1821-1891 – Sharps Creek Aid Twp. bur. Aid Cemetery
3. George Lafayette Brammer – 1861 -1947  – Willow Wood, Htng, Chesapeake bur. Spring Hill -Htgn
4. *Henry Lewis – 1865 – death after 1940 – Burlington – Fayette Twp.

* denotes they were African-America

“Muzzle Blasts Magazine” states that Peters was part French and part Negro and regarded as the best barrel cutter in southern Ohio. His guns were of the Blue Ridge style and more ornate than those of later Ohio gunsmiths. The AOLRC article identifies the gun as a “Full Percussion Rifle” with a fine, large patch box.

Additional information:

• Between 1859 and 1861 there are 3 ‘exchange’ deeds with Thomas Templeton, Sheldon Peters, and Francis Russell – Section 8 Township 1 Range 16 (Union at Getaway) (Source: Lawrence County, Ohio, Deed Book 20, page 2173).
• 1840 Amherst Census page 16

Interesting: There is an obit in Democrat & Chronicle – Rochester, NY, and one obit in The Town Talk – Alexandria, Louisiana
Both appeared the day after death – Noted gunsmith dies – a relative?

SOURCE: Association of Ohio Long Rifle Collectors, Vol. IV. No. 1, Feb 1992, page 6

There were several well-known African American gunsmiths who worked in Ohio. There are several of these craftsmen about whom we know very little. John Brown was a black gunsmith in Athens, Athens County, Ohio, in the post-Civil War period. (Hutslar, page 43).

A man named Frost, reportedly of African American and Amerindian ancestry, made guns in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Sulphur Springs, Crawford County, Ohio. He supposedly used scrap parts, including old automobile springs from which he forged gun barrels. (Hutslar, page 85). An African American named Stanley Sunders was reportedly a gunsmith in Gallipolis, Gallia County, Ohio. (Hutslar page 138).

Selwyn [sic] Peters was of mixed racial heritage. He was half African American and half French-Canadian. In the late 1890’s he worked in Getaway, Union Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. Reportedly, Peters died in the very early twentieth century at the age of 100 years. [correction (1816-1909 aged 87)].

A number of Peters’ guns have been reported. He decorated his more expensive guns with a body, deep-cut engraving. (Donald Hutslar, Gunsmiths of Ohio, page 230). Henry Lewis was a similar mixed racial heritage. He was a crack shot. In 1906, he participated in a shooting match in Gallia County. He was a gunsmith c. 1900 in Burlington, Lawrence County, Ohio. (Hutslar, page 230).