THE STORY OF THE "FAMILY GUN"
submitted by George Davison
My Great Great Grandfather, Andrew Applegate, was born on June 7, 1822 probably in Wellsburg, Brooke county, West Virginia, and he spent all of his life there ( he died on ?). At the age of about thirteen he found a buffalo powder horn nearby Wellsburg, along Buffalo Creek. He had a long life interest in fire arms and was an excellent marksman. He is also said to have had a major problem with hard whiskey.
In 1848 ( probable date) he entered a national (or regional) rifle match, probably held in Pittsburgh and he won. The runner up is supposed to have been an officer from West Point. The prize for the winner was a beautiful long rifle, inlaid with brass and silver. It is a cap and ball muzzle loader, which I suppose would be called a "Kentucky long rifle". This rifle has always been called the "family gun";, and it was passed down to me in the following way.
After winning the contest, Andrew returned home to Wellsburg, probably on horseback or in some sort of coach. The townspeople turned out to cheer his arrival, and a small brass band which "serenaded" him, was on hand for the festive occasion. But according to family oral history, when he arrived in Wellsburg he was so drunk that he fell down, "inebriated" as people used to say politely. Many years later, a cousin of mine, Clara Helsley, who was a grand daughter of Andrew, told me about his arrival in Wellsburg and also the interesting events which followed concerning the rifle.
Some years after winning the contest, and after apparently suffering hard times, Andrew sold the rifle to a Mr. King Bennet for a price, it was said, of ten dollars. Bennet, however, over a period of time, concluded that the purchase of such a beautiful rifle was not really justified, and so he decided to give it back to the Applegates, with the proviso that they would not resell it, and so it was returned to the family. After that the "family gun" has always been passed down to the eldest male heir in the family.
I do not know on which date Mr. Bennet gave it back or exactly to which member of the Applegate family. At some time, probably after 1900's it came into the possession of Clara's brother, George Reynolds Helsley. Reynolds was born in Wellsburg on July 6, 1889 and he later served with the American army in France during World War I. He died in Wellsburg on February 10, 1937 at the age of forty-eight still a bachelor. The rifle was then passed to his brother, Rev. Paul V. Helsley, a catholic priest. Father Paul was born on July 6, 1895 and died on November 4 (?). Father Paul, of course, had no children, and near the end of his life he passed the fun on to my father, Edward W Davison. My father was born in Wellsburg on September 24, 1907 and he passed away on January 24, 1979. On his death I came into possession of the rifle and the powder horn. When I bite the dust they will be passed on to my eldest son, Mark Edward Davison, who at the date of this writing is thirty seven years old. I am now sixty four, and I have a photo of myself holding the rifle, just barely able to lift it, when I was about five years old. I was told as a small child that the "family gun" would one day belong to me.
Clara told me that she thought that the rifle was made in Steubenville, Ohio ( about eight miles from Wellsburg) and the gunsmith may have been Appleby. The rifle, however, bears markings "J. Teaff", inlaid in a silver panel on the top of the barrel.
The family connection between the Applegates, the Helsleys and the Davisons occurred by the marriages of three of Andrew Applegates daughters as follows:
Elizabeth "Lizzy" Applegate b August 3, 1862 d (?) was married to Andrew Helsley
Nancy Ellen Applegate b April 9, 1860 d February 21, 1885 ( she died along with her husband and all of their children due to a massive gas explosion in their home in Wellsburg) She had married Conrad Helsley, and he was a brother of Andrew Helsely
Mary Catherine Applegate b April 7, 1855 d May 9, 1890 was married to George Davison on April 7, 1875. He was my Great Grandfather.
submitted by
George Rogers Davison
5828 Spruce Creek Woods Drive
Port Orange, FL 32127
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