Fowlers of Two Revolutionary War Patriots

Herman Karl
Lincoln Minute Men
April 1, 2017

American militiamen were armed with a variety of firearms in the period before
the Revolutionary War; they ranged in condition from barely serviceable relics to plain
utilitarian muskets to high quality examples of the gunsmiths art.1 These civilian arms
served a dual purpose as a fowler for hunting and a musket for militia duty. It is rare that
any piece can be attributed to an individual owner. Herein I describe a plain fowler
attributed to Jacob Man, a Wrentham, Massachusetts militiaman and an elegant fowler
attributed to Samuel Dakin, Jr., a Lincoln, Massachusetts minuteman.2 It is very possible
that Man and Dakin carried these guns at the Concord Battle 19 April 1775.
The Jacob Man fowler is in the collection of George Neumann. I commissioned
Larry Cruise of Sidney, Nebraska to copy it as closely as possible from the description
and illustrations in Neumann (1998, 123; Fig. 1).3 This plain, utilitarian musket was

Figure 1. Jacob Man fowler copy

assembled from a hodge-podge of parts at hand. The overall length is about 67, the lock
is an early Dutch type (Fig. 2), the 51 , .71 caliber octagon to round barrel is French,
the brass butt plate probably British is cut down (Fig. 3), the cast brass trigger guard is
American attached by four nails (Fig. 4), the ramrod pipes are sheet brass, the ramrod is
iron, and the stock cherry. An interpretation of documents associated with the gun
suggests that Man carried it at the very beginning of hostilities on 19 April 1775 and
battles later in the war. The resoled frizzen is evidence that the gun was fired many times
during its lifetime. It is noteworthy that the forend was never cut back to accommodate a
bayonet.

Figure 2. Dutch lock Figure 3. Cut back butt plate

1
 Figure 4. Cast brass trigger guard

The Samuel Dakin, Jr. fowler is in the collection of the Concord Museum
Concord, Massachusetts. I photographed and measured the original to build a copy of it.
The original is in very poor relic condition and I had to interpret parts of it most notably
the barrel. The original .62 caliber barrel was crudely cut back at some point in its history
to 36. Analysis of barrel lengths of several dozen extant examples of New England
fowlers of the same period led me to use a 55 barrel, which resulted in an overall length

Figure 5. Samuel Dakin, Jr. fowler copy

of about 71 (Fig. 5). In contrast to the Man fowler, the Dakin fowler was built with
carefully chosen high quality imported components and not assembled with just any parts
available. The gun is not signed, which is surprising for such a quality piece. The stock is
embellished with carving behind the tail pipe and tang and decorative molding the full
length of the fore stock (Fig. 6). The barrel, most likely French, is expertly engraved for
several inches at the breech (Fig 7). The lock appears to be a Germanic export circa
1760-1775 (Fig. 8). The cast iron ornate trigger guard is characteristically French (Fig.
9). The stock is cherry and the existing ramrod that may not be original to the gun is
wood.

Figure 6. Dakin stock carvings

2
The museum acquired the fowler between 1850 and 1880. The 1912 catalog of the
collection describes it as, Fowling piece, used as a musket by Samuel Dakin at Concord
North Bridge, April 19, 1775. Whereas Dakin was present at North Bridge as a member
of the Lincoln minute company, we have only the catalog description that he carried the
fowler. Like the Man fowler, the frizzen was resoled and there is no fitting for a bayonet.

Figure 7. Engraving as interpreted by John Schippers

Figure 8. Dakin lock

Figure 9. Dakin trigger guard

1
Karl, Herman, 2014, What firearms were likely available to Lincoln minutemen circa 1774/1775?,
https://www.scribd.com/document/343729762/What-firearms-were-likely-available-to-Lincoln-minute-
men-circa-1774-1775
2
Mayesh, J.P., Following the paper trail of a truly intriguing colonial longarm, Man at Arms, v. 31, n. 5, p.
32.
Karl, Herman A, in review, A minutemans fowler and powder horn: Man at Arms, for the Gun and Sword
Collector.
Karl, Herman, 2017, Fowling with a minutemans fowler,
https://www.scribd.com/document/343734090/Fowling-with-a-minuteman-s-fowler
3
Neumaan, G.C., 1998, Battle Weapons of the American Revolution, Scurlock Publishing Company,
Texarkana, Texas, 393 p.