Came across this one on an "Armslist" listing recently and would not have pursued it if not for the etching. It was done fairly crudely but is legible.

I have contacted the Fairmont PD and they are trying to come up with information on Wesley Brooke.

The S/N on this 6" M&P .38 HE is 512761

I did verify through the library in Fairmont that Wesley did indeed work for the PD and passed away sometime in 1953.

There are some strange symbols at the bottom of the etching that I am trying to disifer.......anyone with a clue please feel free to comment.

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Tom Graham SWCA #2303

If anyone here can correctly decipher those, he must be the lead cryptographer for the CIA...

But good luck.

I am wondering if it is some sort of symbol for a brotherhood or fraternity??

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Tom Graham SWCA #2303

I know they say, "Buy the gun, not the story." Looks like you got both!

Very nice.

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Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

Based on the serial number I am guessing this was shipped in the mid 1920's
I will eventually send off to Roy for a letter in hopes that it letters to the Fairmont PD.
My guess is that Wesley A. Brooke was presented his service weapon on retirement.

Hoping the Fairmont PD will be able to give me some detailed information on Wesley.

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Tom Graham SWCA #2303

Here is the information I received from the historian at the Fairmont Library......

Mr. Graham, I found through the Polk City Directory for Fairmont that Mr & Mrs. Wesley A. Brooke (Anna A.) lived at 910 Hawthorne, Fairmont, West Virginia in 1927, then at 820 Field Street, 608 6th Street, and ended at 810 Short Ave.until 1952. His various occupations were listed as police, patrolman, policeman. He served under Chiefs: Lawrence D. Snider 1927, William B. Moran 1929-35, Joseph T. Hodges, James L. Whitecotton (Henry B. Squires as Assistant Chief until 1950), Felix Yanero, and John R. Austin in 1952. In 1952 his wife Anna A. is not listed, and in 1953 his residence 810 Short Avenue is listed as vacant and there are no rural route listings for Brooke.
Our in-house copies of obituaries run from 1982 to present. We have no Brooke records in our genealogy collection (however there are Brooks).

In looking at the wvculture.org vital records research website I typed in the last name Brooke and no date or other information and found the Death Records for Anna (4 Mar 1952) and Wesley (22 Feb 1953) both were buried in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Lumberport, Harrison Co., WV.

For further information you may want to contact Fairmont State University for access to their microfilm copies of the Fairmont Times and Fairmont West Virginian (now combined) newspapers. Also the Marion County Historical Society may have further information (Marion County Historical Society & Museum).

I hope this is enough information to get you on your way.

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Tom Graham SWCA #2303

Stab in the dark, Symbol signature of person etching.

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IN GOD WE TRUST     ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

I have this gun in my database. It shipped March 1927. Must have been previously owned by another forum member.

Ken,

Actually Jim Goldthwaite ran a ship date request to Roy Jinks on this one a couple weeks back......I was out of town and asked him to put in the request for me.

Unless you had it in your database before that??

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Tom Graham SWCA #2303

I sent the photos to Ed Cornett, he mentioned that the symbols may be shorthand of some sort. But he said they did not look like Gregg shorthand.

Anyone else know different types of shorthand?

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Tom Graham SWCA #2303

Could the symbols be part of the IOOF's Lodge markings? Just throwing that out there. I remember going past a IOOF's retirement home years ago and vaguely remember some type of symbols on their sign.

I agree with you on your purchase. Having an old coppers gun is neat. I have a few I carried during my 32+ years and wouldn't sell/trade them for anything.

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Les Ramsey

Tom,

Somehow I missed this when it was first posted. Your email to me today caused me to search it out. Can't figure how I missed a post regarding the PD that I worked at for 22 years!! But I'm afraid that the officer served just a little before my time!!

I will try to see if I can find any more information than you have turned up so far.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

Found what is apparently his wedding photo on Ancestry dot com. He was married on October 22, 1893:



Here is his Will!!



Still digging!!

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

I suspect those “symbols” are flourishes done by the engraver to add a little pizazz to the inscription. Louis Nimschke he was not!

Les,

What a coincidence!! Thanks for looking in to this for me.
Jennifer Martin at the Chief's office tried to put me in touch with a retired Lt . Murphy, but he never responded to my email regarding Wesley Brooke.

Thanks for posting the wedding photo and will.....if he was married in 1893 and passed away in 1953 I would guess he was in his late 70's at the time of his death.

Sure would be nice to know how he served in the Fairmont PD.

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Tom Graham SWCA #2303

Tom, I will try to get in touch with Lt. Murphy. He would be the guy that is most likely to know what historical info is in the Department records. I've been retired 21 years now, and although many of my former students are working there, I've sort of lost touch with the department.

I'm sure that the Brooke that you and I are talking about are the same person. On Ancestry, it also shows the census reports and the City Directory entries, and these all indicate that he was a policeman with the Fairmont PD. Apparently his two daughters never married, or if they did, there is no record in the Ancestry files. One daughter was listed as being a teacher at a local school, Fleming School. But the trail goes cold after that. We know that he is buried in the IOOF Cemetary in Lumberport WV, which is only a few miles from Fairmont.

Just for fun, this old picture is on the FPD webpage, and there is a list of officers, but it’s unclear if the list is of the guys in this pic, and does not include Brooke, so I omitted it.



All in all, a very interesting revolver, and I will try to dig a little deeper.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

Les, if you are anywhere near that cemetary and can get a photo of the headstone that would be appreciated. Email me and feel free to post it here.

And yes, maybe you can make contact with Lt. Murphy for me. He may have not received my email or it ended up in his junk file.

Jennifer Martin at the Chief's office has been trying to help, but has no access to this stuff.

This is fantastic stuff, I really appreciate the help!

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Tom Graham SWCA #2303