By STEVE MARTIN
Sheridan Historical Society
Sheridan resident Marilyn Bell has had an old rifle in her family for years which she thought may have been a relic of the Civil War. Rather than discard it, she decided to donate it to the Sheridan Historical Society because the Museum does have a small collection of Civil War era gun memorabilia, so we certainly welcomed this addition to the collection.
As it turns out, the firearm is a pre-Civil War .38 caliber hunting rifle.
When Marilyn brought the rifle to the museum, it was in several pieces and there were parts missing, so a restoration gunsmith was contacted to restore the rifle. Retired local educator Joe Rushton worked with Noblesville gunsmith John Schippens to put the rifle together. As luck would have it, the gunsmith had several parts for this type of rifle in his shop, plus he was able to locate the additional pieces he needed without too much difficulty. The rifle was fully restored within a few months and returned recently to the museum.
Bell had not seen the rifle since she initially brought into the museum, and she was surprised and pleased with the result of the restoration.
The top rib of the rifle barrel is stamped with the name “S. BECK.” Samuel Beck was a prominent gunsmith in Indianapolis in the mid to late 19th century, at a time when skilled gunsmiths were valuable members of their community. Beck was held in high regard by his community, and his guns were worthy of that regard. While we will never know for sure if the gun was used in the Civil War, it was more likely used locally for hunting smaller game.
If you would like to know more about Samuel Beck, use your favorite search engine to research his name. He and his family have extensive Indiana and Indianapolis history.
If you would like to see the restored rifle, please come by the Sheridan Historical Society Museum located at 315 S. Main St. in uptown Sheridan. We are open to the public on Tuesday and Friday afternoons from 1 to 4 p.m., and beginning in January, we will be open on the second and fourth Saturday afternoons, also from 1 to 4 p.m. We are also open by appointment if you call ahead (317-758-5054) to make arrangements.
Steve Martin serves as the Vice President of the Sheridan Historical Society. He can be reached at shmartin1@comcast.net.