Worcester, MA - Gun Pioneer's Tombstone Fixed

[Kevlar]

There is little doubt that early American gun manufacturer Edwin Wesson would be a saint, if the 4 million-member National Rifle Association were a religious instead of a right-to-bear-arms organization.

That is why a local gun enthusiast and owner of a 160-year-old Wesson gun was shocked to learn this summer that Mr. Wesson's gravestone lay forgotten and broken in a Worcester cemetery.....

http://www.telegram.com/article/20100801/NEWS/8010428/0/NEWS04.

 

[IPSC_DRL]

My wife just handed me the paper a few minutes ago and said "You will probably be interested in reading this."

Such a good wife.

 

[BBQ.Uncle]

That's such a great story. Thank you for that. Perhaps Mr. Rose would be interested in joining a NES shoot sometime, if he isn't already a member.

 

[JayD]

Very good read. I'm glad someone took the time to fix it

 

[DavidC77]

The link won't open for me, can someone add the wright up here???

EDIT: Ok it just worked, boy that is a pita, I keep losing it or it won't open, I finlly hit print when it opened and now I can read the story, arggggggggg.

 

[MisterHappy]

Nice.

It's too bad that the history of our area is so easily forgotten. Never knew that Northborough was a seat of firearms manufacture .... maybe that's why GOAL is located there!

 

[atmay]

Road trip?

 

[Sibb]

It's nice to read a story with a happy ending.

 

[Speedway]

The link won't open for me, can someone add the wright up here???

EDIT: Ok it just worked, boy that is a pita, I keep losing it or it won't open, I finlly hit print when it opened and now I can read the story, arggggggggg.

There is little doubt that early American gun manufacturer Edwin Wesson would be a saint, if the 4 million-member National Rifle Association were a religious instead of a right-to-bear-arms organization.

That is why a local gun enthusiast and owner of a 160-year-old Wesson gun was shocked to learn this summer that Mr. Wesson's gravestone lay forgotten and broken in a Worcester cemetery.

Edwin Wesson, born in North Grafton, taught the gun manufacturing trade to his younger brothers, Franklin Wesson, who became a Worcester rifle maker, and Daniel Baird Wesson, who, with Horace Smith, in 1852 founded Smith & Wesson, the largest handgun manufacturer in the United States.

When California gun collector Dan Woods, who specializes in Wesson guns, decided to sponsor a limited-edition book about Edwin Wesson, he contacted gun enthusiasts including Richard Littlefield of Jaffrey, N.H., and David M. Rose of Charlton.

Mr. Rose, 72, who served four years in the U.S. Army 181st Combat Engineers, is a former team captain of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Amateur Trap Shooting Association and a world championship trap shooter, with more than 200,000 registered targets hit. He is also an NRA benefactor, the highest level of membership in that organization. Both his children and his two grandchildren are life members.

“I started shooting when I was old enough to hold a gun. The right to bear arms is part of our rights and our heritage as Americans. It makes me mad that some people try to take those rights,” Mr. Rose said.

Mr. Rose had a particular interest in Edwin Wesson, since Mr. Rose had inherited an 1841 percussion target pistol manufactured by Mr. Wesson.

“Edwin Wesson built the best target rifles and target pistols in the world at the time,” Mr. Rose said.

Edwin Wesson was born in 1811, the eldest of 10 children of North Grafton plow manufacturer Rufus Wesson and his wife, Betsy Baird Wesson. He learned the machine trade from his father and opened a gun shop in 1837 in North Grafton. He married Nancy Maria Harrington of Worcester and tutored his brothers, Franklin and Daniel, from age 17 to 21 at his shop.

According to retired museum director and gun collector John D. Hamilton of East Longmeadow, who has been researching Edwin Wesson for 15 years, Mr. Wesson moved his gun shop to Northboro, then, in 1848, to Hartford, where he died of a heart attack at age 37 on Jan. 31, 1849.

“Edwin Wesson had the highest reputation of any rifle barrel manufacturer in this country. He died two days after being interviewed by a reporter from the Hartford Courant, which had a story about a tour of the Wesson factory and its new Smart steam engine using reheated steam. Edwin must have worked himself to death. He was in hock up to his ears when he died,” Mr. Hamilton said.

He said bond holders tried to keep the factory running after Edwin Wesson's death, but the factory closed in 1849, leaving his widow a patent pending on “a revolving pistol with beveled gears to rotate the cylinder.” His widow sold the patent to a Springfield gun manufacturer that ended up losing a landmark patent trial with the Colt Manufacturing Co. in Boston.

Over the years, the site of Edwin Wesson's grave was forgotten.

Mr. Rose solved that mystery with a single phone call earlier this summer.

“I knew Franklin Wesson was buried at Rural Cemetery in Worcester, so I called there and learned Edwin was also buried here, along with his 1-year-old son, Albert, who died on Oct. 11, 1839,” Mr. Rose said.

When he came to see the stone, he was shocked to see it broken in half and lying on the ground.

John H. Cobill, superintendent of the cemetery at 180 Grove St. in Worcester, said, “When they are first put up, white marble stones look beautiful, but over the years, they wear through.”

He said Rural Cemetery is a private, 40-acre cemetery that opened in 1838, when the surrounding land was rural.

“We have mayors, judges, senators, Civil War Brigadier General George B. Boomer, and members of the Salisbury family,” Mr. Cobill said.

He said the cemetery has had calls from family members requesting that stones be repaired, but Mr. Rose was the first to ask if he could repair a stone himself.

With permission of the cemetery trustees and the blessing of Henry T. Michie, president, Mr. Rose, a retired brick mason, took the stone to his home, then contacted his cousin, Auburn cemetery commissioner and historian Kenneth R. Ethier.

“Ken helped immensely, guiding me through this restoration. He said to wash the stone only with water and a plastic brush and to use a special epoxy to put it back together,” Mr. Rose said.

Jack Moore Associates Inc. of Worcester donated the masonry epoxy, which successfully glued the gravestone back together.

Mr. Rose delivered the stone back to Rural Cemetery on July 21. The stone was placed on a new marble base and erected the next day, when Mr. Rose and his wife, Virginia A. Rose, saw it.

Mr. Rose said, “They did a wonderful job. Edwin Wesson had a huge impact on gun manufacturing in the United States. He deserves to be remembered.”

 

[DavidC77]

There is little doubt that early American gun manufacturer Edwin Wesson would be a saint, if the 4 million-member National Rifle Association were a religious instead of a right-to-bear-arms organization.

.”

Thanks, it stayed open long enough so I was able to print it but I'm glad you were able to print it here, easyer to read.

Thanks