Okay, so my M&P Model of 1905 4th change didn't ship to J. Edgar Hoover or to John Dillinger. It was shipped to a drug store in Steubenville, Ohio in 1922. Now some may find that uninteresting and a waste of $50 (not to mention a waste of Mr. Jinks' time), but that tidbit of information led me on very pleasant journey back to 1922 Steubenville where I "met" a man named William Beall.

Mr. Beall was the owner of The Beall & Steele Drug Company, wholesale druggists who also sold firearms. With the help of Erika at the Steubenville library, I was able to obtain a period photo of his store and of the man himself. With the aid of Google maps, I was able to locate the store and see it as it is today. And, lastly, I hopped onto ebay and found a couple of original period receipts from Beall & Steele, including the signature of Mr. Beall, who, in all likelihood, once held my revolver.

Again, probably not very exciting to some, but I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and thank Mr. Jinks and his helpers for affording me the opportunity to travel back in time.

Attached Images

	1a1.jpg (60.3 KB, 488 views)
	1a2 1922letter.jpg (43.1 KB, 431 views)
	1a3B Beall&Steele Store.jpg (108.5 KB, 483 views)
	1a4b Beall Market Street Today.jpg (81.4 KB, 461 views)
	1a4b beall store.jpg (73.2 KB, 435 views)

A few more photos ...

Attached Images

	1a5 beall photo.jpg (166.2 KB, 269 views)
	1a6b Beall receipt (2).jpg (80.2 KB, 273 views)
	1a7 Beall Autograph.jpg (44.1 KB, 234 views)

Maybe not "exciting" but certainly interesting. Thanks for sharing that with us. I enjoyed it.

I think it's great that you used the letter as a starting point to track down more of the history of your revolver. It sort of puts a human face on the gun and adds to its character. A worthwhile bit of detective work, I think.

A novel way to add ambiance to your revolver. Since we have so many LEO active and retired here.... It would be cool if some stepped up to do local research when a member received a letter with information that led to a specific location, store, PD etc. I know I would be happy to assist.

I find your research in to your revolver's past an interesting step back in time. Thanks for sharing.

What a great story, thank you for sharing!

A 5 year old Dean Martin may have walked in with his momma and looked in the glass case at your .38.

Good catch and good detective work as well.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

It's great that you did more research after you got the letter. That's another reason doing these letters enjoyable.

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Don Mundell

Great to now have a revolver with a "history". Not many S&Ws have their history known.

Bill

Very fun read!

Thanks for sharing,

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Great history, thanks for sharing.

Sent from my SM-S975L using Tapatalk

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Regards,
Bruce

YES!!! And this is why I love to find a gun associated with a name or place, either on the gun or in a letter. The research is my passion and is something my wife (she's a genealogist) and I can share.

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

Thanks for sharing. What a wonderful memory for you and yours.

Great story. Thanks for sharing. Sometimes research can turn in to a tar-baby. Pulling one string just leads to another.

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Dana K. Williams

This was a great post! I really enjoy these kinds of stories. It is always a plus to add history to the guns we love. You sir, are to be congratulated on your detective work and thanks for sharing it with us.

By the way, isn't it kind of sad to see how our small city downtowns have changed, and usually not for the better. I recently saw a 1937 movie of my small hometown in Indiana. It was a far more vibrant and inviting place then than it is today.

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I'm gonna grow fins.

I love this stuff. Good job.
Jeb

Great research! I find the back stories always interesting. Good job.

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Randy
Provenance nerd

Nice job chasing down the backstory. I love that kind of thing!

Great post! Firearms genealogy, one might say. I remember the time I stood in front of my grandfather's livery stable in California. Or the time I visited the funeral parlor (yep...) where he and grandma got married. Putting people together with places is a thrill to me. Of course, Grandpa and Grandma are long gone. Your revolver isn't. You can hold it and imagine the days of its youth. What a kick! Thanks for posting this.

Excellent detective work!

I've been able to unearth background information like this on pretty much every one of my guns that lettered to "just a hardware store", as some folks like to put it who discourage people from lettering "ordinary" guns.

The only one that seems to remain forever elusive to me and everybody else is the infamous M. W. Robinson of New York City. As a distributor, a lot of earlier S&W's letter to the company, but they seem to have had hardly any public footprint at all.

Can you check to see if yours has the "MADE IN U.S.A." stamp on the left side of the frame? Probably not, but that was about the time the frame stamping started. Would be nice to know the earliest SN with the stamp. I had two roommates at OSU from Steubenville. They always pronounced it "Stumville." Amazing I still remember trivia like that from so long ago.

Cool little bit of history investigation.

I got a bunch that need looked up...when are you available.

A little history on that locale may bring one to think that the likes of Hoover and Dillinger may have been at least aware of the place.(?)

Very interesting post. Thanks for sharing your trip back to 1922 with the rest of us!

Thanks for sharing this, I really enjoyed it. These are the moments that make history come alive.

"DWalt, the only thing on the left side of the frame is the trademark S&W logo ... no "MADE IN THE USA"."

My mistake - the stamping would be on the right side. But you probably looked there too. I didn't expect it to be there.

357magster, thanks for helping to prove there is much more to Smith and Wesson collecting than just owning a revolver.

Great stuff.

You've ensured that Mr. Jinks' time was not wasted by adding the Paul Harvey touch. Nice work. I love this stuff.

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Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

Looks like there have been a lot of buildings on Market Street extensively remodeled or demolished. My old home town, also in Southern Ohio on the Ohio River, still looked very much like the first picture the last time I was there about 16 years ago. Many of the smaller towns along the Ohio River have not changed a great deal since the 1940s.

Thank you for this post and your research. I notice that Smith & Wesson did not appear on the store letterhead even though they were obviously doing business with S&W. Perhaps S&Ws were too expensive for most customers. Just my random thoughts.

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Bob.
SWCA 1821