I just received the letter on my HD.
It was shipped 9/22/1949 to Police Chief Bruce Weatherly of Madison, WI.
I have been able to find some information on him on the web.
He was Chief in San Antonio before coming to Madison in 1948; he was dismissed 10/59 and returned to Texas, where he was later killed by his wife.
I would appreciate any information that anyone out there might have about him.

I just received the letter on my HD.
It was shipped 9/22/1949 to Police Chief Bruce Weatherly of Madison, WI.
I have been able to find some information on him on the web.
He was Chief in San Antonio before coming to Madison in 1948; he was dismissed 10/59 and returned to Texas, where he was later killed by his wife.
I would appreciate any information that anyone out there might have about him.

JP,
I don't have any info on Mr Weatherly, but would love to have the serial number of your HD for my Database.
Thanks,
Bill

__________________
38-44heavyduty.com

jp:
A quick Google search shows he was dismissed after the mayor turned him in (via a citizen's complaint) for drinking on the job, driving under the influence, fixing a pal's ticket, driving his secretary home in his squad car, womanizing, and crashing his squad car. Sounds like he was from Texas.
Ed

Ed, you crack me up.
Ain't he shot nobody?
probably has some Georgia blood in 'im....

__________________
Regards,
Lee Jarrett

How long did it take to get your factory letter? Bud

That is a kick-***** history to go along with the gun! You may be able to research and find his badge and photo to go with the HD, making it all worth much more, I would assume. Congratulations, Waistgunner

Did it mention anything about his wife shooting him with a heavy duty?

__________________
OFT/NRA LIFE MEMBER

__________________
Gary Grace
S&WCA #1837

Bud--I mailed the request on May 23, received the letter on September 23--four months to the day.

OFT--All I could find so far, is that his wife shot him on July 25, 1962, with a .38, in their home in San Antonio. I could not find out the model used.
In September of 1962, a grand jury returned a "no-bill" against her and she went free.
Do you have any more information down your way?

According to this site Bruce became chief 8/05/46

http://www.sanantonio.gov/SAPD/history2_30s.htm

Here is his picture:

http://www.sanantonio.gov/SAPD/Chiefsphotogallery.htm

Notice of him becoming combined chief and street superintendent in Madison, Wisconsin was in the Wisconsin state journal 12/15/48.

This article tell of his replacement by Wilbur Emery on 10/31/59:

http://www.madisonmagazine.com/article.php?section_id=9...tory&story_id=210063

Here is an article about his drunk driving:

http://www.madison.com/archives/read...0604040382.php

Fun with the internet. Thanks Al!

__________________
To be a rock and not to roll

April 13, 1959 Police and Fire Commission votes 4--1 to dismiss Police Chief Bruce Weatherly for drinking on duty, driving under the influence, and using a city-owned car to drive his secretary home from the Hoffman House.

James Davis
www.collectablearms.com

From an article in The Capital Times (Madison, WI) on January 9, 2004:

".....they returned to San Antonio, where they bought a 12-acre farm. Bruce, who had spent a brief time in the Mendota state hospital here, entered a psychiatric hospital in Galveston after Inez filed lunacy charges against him. She dropped them, and in summer 1962 Bruce was offered a job with the U.S. State Department helping Brazil organize its police force.

The Weatherlys never made it to South America. On July 25, 1962, Inez walked into the second story bedroom of their San Antonio home carrying a .38 caliber revolver. The shot penetrated Bruce's abdomen. An hour later he was dead. It was big news in Madison, of course, where it had earlier been revealed that late in his tenure Weatherly had wiretapped much of city hall.

In September 1962, a Texas grand jury returned a "no bill" against Inez Weatherly. She went free and declined all comment about the man who never knew better than to get smart."

I also ran across brief mention of a 1944 San Antonio shoot-out involving Bruce Weatherly, another officer who was wounded, and a shooter. No mention of the guns involved, but maybe Bruce was packing that big HD!

What a great story ! Thanks for sharing it with us. Bud

You have to love Texas Grand Juries... clearly she used the old and respected "he needed killing" defense... successfully...

Chuck

4 months to the day. Well I guess I wont fret none about my request that was sent out a little over 3 months ago.

I guess there are still a lot of guys wanting letters of authenticity on brand new guns. At least the cost of the letter is going up. maybe that will discourage some of this foolishness. There really are older guns that need to be researched and Mr. Jinks is just one man.

BTW, not trying to de-rail the thread. It sounds like you have an interesting HD. Do you have any pics you could share.

__________________
too TOO young!!

It did not have the original stocks on when I purchased it (it had 1980's target stocks). It now wears Skeeter Skelton stocks from Tedd Adamovich @ Blumagnum.

Buford,

That's what I was going to mention.

Try checking with the San Antonio PD, see if they have records on the gun used.

Would there be a list of what was in the estate on passing? If he only had one .38...

"Ain't he shot nobody?"

he was dismissed after the mayor turned him in (via a citizen's complaint) for drinking on the job, driving under the influence, fixing a pal's ticket, driving his secretary home in his squad car, womanizing, and crashing his squad car

This old boy was a bit too busy to take the time to shoot somebody, LOL!

I have been checking newspaper accounts from Madison and San Antonio. According to local accounts, she shot him with a .38 snubnose revolver (not an HD).
Since I purchased it from a shop in southern Wisconsin, my guess is that he sold or traded it to someone in the Madison area before he returned to Texas.
Since the letter only states that he ordered it, and he was the chief, it might even have been ordered for another officer. As the letter only mentions this one gun, I would guess that it was a personal purchase. Since the gun and box are in excellent condition considering the age, I doubt that it ever spend much time in a holster...
Inez (Heard) Weatherly, 1921-2002, was a descendant of Judge C C Dyer of Dyersburg, TN. Dyer was one of the original 300 settlers in Austin's colony, Texas.

An you have pictures of the revolver & a letter from S&W to back this up?

Um, I don't get what you mean.

__________________
No life story has happy end.

A single-post humorist, I think. But I'm glad he said something because it brought back this thread about an interesting old gun with some fascinating associations.

__________________
David Wilson

I am His only Grandson. I can give you all the info you need... The press in Madison, as well as the political machine were as corrupt then, as they are now. My Grandfather was hired from out of State to address the corruption... He was called the pied piper of crime in SA... Youngest Police Chief in the country at the time.

Madison proved to be too much for him.

RIP BW.

I will check with my Aunt, but, I'm pretty sure she has the gun my grandma shot him with. I have his first .38

Welcome to the Forum jmax! Sounds like you have an interesting family! Do you have pictures of the gun in question?

__________________
Even older, even crankier....

They did everything they could to destroy him in Madison... He was outnumbered, and being an outsider, did not have a chance against the good old boys that controlled that city... We do have an interesting family...The old 300 rreference is correct. CC Dyer was just one of our esteemed or notorious family members...

You can also thank another cousin, Ely Whitney Jr. for developing the manufacturing processes that made the Colt revolver possible.. can't remember the exact process, but as the story goes, Ely was some sort of fabrication genius...

My Granparents were on good terms when he passed... Inez told me, a few months before she died, that the two of them had a good laugh moments before his death... Basically, after she had Shot him, he started bleeding from the mouth... He wasn't dead.. he bled out waiting for an ambulance. Anyway, upon seeing the blood from his mouth, Inez became angry as she thought she had just shot him in the mouth, ruining a thousand dollars in recent dental work......

Priceless stuff jmax, thanks for contributing.

__________________
Sure you did

On Madison. com:

Bruce Weatherly, 1949-1959

24. Bruce Weatherly, 1949-1959

__________________
~ S&W aficionado in training ~

From the above link:

, ......including new disciplinary rules and instituting its first officer training program (previously new police officers were given a badger and a gun and paired with a more senior officer for a couple weeks).

Wonder why they gave them a badger......

__________________
Halfway and one more step

This is quite an interesting post. Hopefully we can learn more about the Chief and his untimely exit in life.

I guess saleen has the gun...

Hey what is 10 to 14 Old Fashions amongst friends ?

Careful, Ed,you might offend some of us in the Alamo City.

__________________
Randy
Provenance nerd

I saw this yesterday, and came back to see if Saleen had posted any pictures or documentation. I see that hasn't happened.

If you can explain to me how to load the pictures, I'll do it. BTW, I also have the holster. I'm not very computer savvy, thanks.

Wow! Colorful story standing alone. Would have been interesting to know the size of the department. Maybe I've missed something, but...

AS noted above, the fact of an order by a police chief, certainly not conclusive that he was the future owner. Perhaps as likely, ordered for a subordinate as part of ‘checks and balances’/recordation; controlling who with what armament in his Department. Also possible at that time, “agency head” required to be involved with the order to achieve “law enforcement” or perhaps greater ‘agency’ discount. Also if to be a city purchased weapon, likely the chief designated official purchaser. The possibility too, of the gun as an award or crony reward.
While I do realize older times with far less formality to such orders, yet many seeming possibilities. Considering his position, inferentially, the chances of the gun passing through his hands rather than coming to rest there, seeming at least equal if not greater.
Just a speculative…
My take

Because Wisconsin is the Badger State?

__________________
I need ammo, not a ride.

Because the team mascot at UW is the Badger.