Well, here is another provenance story. Does not involve an April fools joke, but does have a civil war connection.
I got a Registered Magnum from my father's estate. He died in 1992. The gun is a .357 Magnum number 47138, REG 657. When I got it it had diamond target grips and no accessories.
Met a guy at a gun show a few years back that told me about the S&W Forum.
Joined the Forum, the S&WCA and the SWHF. Learned a little about Registered Magnums.
Ordered my first Letter of Authentication. Don Mundell said, shipped on December 24, 1935 to Potchernick's in San Antonio, Texas. 5-inch barrel and blue finish. No record as to what type of stocks or sights were furnished. Appears to have been owned by an FBI agent in the San Antonio, Texas area. Exciting!
Later got a letter from Roy Jinks. Said McGivern front sight, square notch rear and checkered walnut Magna stocks.
Got a message from SWHF that there were five documents available for the gun. I ordered them.
Potchernick's order for two .357 Magnums REG 657 and 658, both with McGivern Gold Bead front sights.
Order form for REG 657
Letter from S&W saying REG 658 changed to 275 and would ship sooner than 657.
Invoice for REG 657
Letter from Potchernick's to S&W saying...
We are returning a 375 Magnum Revolver with a 5 inch barrel, serial number 47138. This gun is the property of Jomer C. White , c/o the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and who is very much dissatisfied with it, and says the gun is out of time. Please correct this irregularity and return to us immediately and oblige.
Letter is signed by F. L. Toepperwein, president.
Interesting side note. F. L. Toepperwein is the younger brother of the famous Winchester exhibition shooter Ad Toepperwein.
Notice they call the gun a 375 Magnum instead of a .357.
When I posted this information, several Forum members said they thought Jomer was a typo or misread. Said there was an agent named James C. (Doc) White who was from Texas.
If you are looking at something written in cursive, an "o" is very similar to an "a" and an "r" is very similar to an "s." So Jomer becomes James. Some members showed examples of other folks named James whose signatures looked like Jomer. Particularly Etta James. Had a few posts about Etta Jomer.
A Forum member has a wife that is an FBI agent. She emailed Dr. John Fox for me. Dr. Fox is the FBI Historian. He says that there was never an agent named Jomer.
I think my gun belonged to James C. (Doc) White. In 1936 there were about 400 FBI Special Agents. The only other agent I found with the last name of White was James' brother Tom. Tom was SAC in Oklahoma City and retired in 1927 to become warden at Leavenworth, Kansas. Also have some FBI documents dated 1936 and 1937 that show Doc was stationed in the San Antonio office during those years. The S&W Pre-War .357 Magnum Database lists the gun as owned by Texas Ranger and FBi agent James C. White. There is an S&WCA Journal article on the gun in the Spring 2024 issue.
Doc was born in 1884 near Austin, Texas. His father was Sheriff of Travis County, Texas for a number of years. Doc married Ashby LeNoir McCulloch. She was the grand daughter of General Henry McCulloch, CSA and the great niece of General Ben McCulloch, CSA.
Doc was a Texas Ranger, an Austin Mounted Policeman, a Mounted Customs Agent, a WWI Army Intelligence Officer, a Prohibition Agent, (had a partner named Tom Threepersons for a while) and had a 23 year career as an FBI Special Agent.
He had a brother, Dudley that was also a Texas Ranger and brother Tom was a Texas Ranger and an FBI agent.
About three years ago I posted asking the value of this gun. If you think the gun was owned by James C. White that might enhance the value. The answers were all over the place. handejector said, "it needs factory grips." I bought a set of pre-war Magnas. He added, "I have sold guns that belonged to Texas Rangers. I have sold guns that belonged to FBI agents. An FBI gun is a different game from other Reg Mags. A Texas Ranger gun of any type is a different game from any similar gun. A Reg Mag that belonged to a guy that was a Texas Ranger and an FBI agent is probably unique. With factory grips on it I would price that gun at $30,000 minimum. Starting below that would be foolish. At some auction house like Rock Island or Morphy, there is no predicting what it might do if you have a lot of provenance." I respect Lee's opinion. He has sold a lot of high dollar guns.
My provenance consists of two SWHF letters and five SWHF documents. In addition I have maybe 40 or 50 pages of documents and photos. Some found on the internet and most from an FBI FOIA request.
A little about his career as a Texas Ranger and a Prohibition Agent. Mostly about his FBI career. He solved a cold case murder on a Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona. He had a few beers with the Governor of Oklahoma and the Chief of the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation in Juarez, Mexico. That is against FBI policy and he was called on the carpet for that. He was in on the arrest of Machine-Gun Kelly and pistol whipped him at his trial in Oklahoma City. He was in on the raid at Little Bohemia in Wisconsin against Dillinger and (Baby Face) Nelson. He took a rifle from a car belonging to Baby Face in that raid that he later used to kill a gangster named Russell Gibson (alias Slim Gray) in Chicago. Using the same gun he was involved in the raid in Florida against Kate (Ma) Barker and her son Freddy. Probably some of Doc's bullets were in the bodies.
Buy the gun, not the story is often said.
If you buy the gun and not the story, you will probably not own any guns with stories.
I got a Registered Magnum from my father's estate. He died in 1992. The gun is a .357 Magnum number 47138, REG 657. When I got it it had diamond target grips and no accessories.
Met a guy at a gun show a few years back that told me about the S&W Forum.
Joined the Forum, the S&WCA and the SWHF. Learned a little about Registered Magnums.
Ordered my first Letter of Authentication. Don Mundell said, shipped on December 24, 1935 to Potchernick's in San Antonio, Texas. 5-inch barrel and blue finish. No record as to what type of stocks or sights were furnished. Appears to have been owned by an FBI agent in the San Antonio, Texas area. Exciting!
Later got a letter from Roy Jinks. Said McGivern front sight, square notch rear and checkered walnut Magna stocks.
Got a message from SWHF that there were five documents available for the gun. I ordered them.
Potchernick's order for two .357 Magnums REG 657 and 658, both with McGivern Gold Bead front sights.
Order form for REG 657
Letter from S&W saying REG 658 changed to 275 and would ship sooner than 657.
Invoice for REG 657
Letter from Potchernick's to S&W saying...
We are returning a 375 Magnum Revolver with a 5 inch barrel, serial number 47138. This gun is the property of Jomer C. White , c/o the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and who is very much dissatisfied with it, and says the gun is out of time. Please correct this irregularity and return to us immediately and oblige.
Letter is signed by F. L. Toepperwein, president.
Interesting side note. F. L. Toepperwein is the younger brother of the famous Winchester exhibition shooter Ad Toepperwein.
Notice they call the gun a 375 Magnum instead of a .357.
When I posted this information, several Forum members said they thought Jomer was a typo or misread. Said there was an agent named James C. (Doc) White who was from Texas.
If you are looking at something written in cursive, an "o" is very similar to an "a" and an "r" is very similar to an "s." So Jomer becomes James. Some members showed examples of other folks named James whose signatures looked like Jomer. Particularly Etta James. Had a few posts about Etta Jomer.
A Forum member has a wife that is an FBI agent. She emailed Dr. John Fox for me. Dr. Fox is the FBI Historian. He says that there was never an agent named Jomer.
I think my gun belonged to James C. (Doc) White. In 1936 there were about 400 FBI Special Agents. The only other agent I found with the last name of White was James' brother Tom. Tom was SAC in Oklahoma City and retired in 1927 to become warden at Leavenworth, Kansas. Also have some FBI documents dated 1936 and 1937 that show Doc was stationed in the San Antonio office during those years. The S&W Pre-War .357 Magnum Database lists the gun as owned by Texas Ranger and FBi agent James C. White. There is an S&WCA Journal article on the gun in the Spring 2024 issue.
Doc was born in 1884 near Austin, Texas. His father was Sheriff of Travis County, Texas for a number of years. Doc married Ashby LeNoir McCulloch. She was the grand daughter of General Henry McCulloch, CSA and the great niece of General Ben McCulloch, CSA.
Doc was a Texas Ranger, an Austin Mounted Policeman, a Mounted Customs Agent, a WWI Army Intelligence Officer, a Prohibition Agent, (had a partner named Tom Threepersons for a while) and had a 23 year career as an FBI Special Agent.
He had a brother, Dudley that was also a Texas Ranger and brother Tom was a Texas Ranger and an FBI agent.
About three years ago I posted asking the value of this gun. If you think the gun was owned by James C. White that might enhance the value. The answers were all over the place. handejector said, "it needs factory grips." I bought a set of pre-war Magnas. He added, "I have sold guns that belonged to Texas Rangers. I have sold guns that belonged to FBI agents. An FBI gun is a different game from other Reg Mags. A Texas Ranger gun of any type is a different game from any similar gun. A Reg Mag that belonged to a guy that was a Texas Ranger and an FBI agent is probably unique. With factory grips on it I would price that gun at $30,000 minimum. Starting below that would be foolish. At some auction house like Rock Island or Morphy, there is no predicting what it might do if you have a lot of provenance." I respect Lee's opinion. He has sold a lot of high dollar guns.
My provenance consists of two SWHF letters and five SWHF documents. In addition I have maybe 40 or 50 pages of documents and photos. Some found on the internet and most from an FBI FOIA request.
A little about his career as a Texas Ranger and a Prohibition Agent. Mostly about his FBI career. He solved a cold case murder on a Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona. He had a few beers with the Governor of Oklahoma and the Chief of the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation in Juarez, Mexico. That is against FBI policy and he was called on the carpet for that. He was in on the arrest of Machine-Gun Kelly and pistol whipped him at his trial in Oklahoma City. He was in on the raid at Little Bohemia in Wisconsin against Dillinger and (Baby Face) Nelson. He took a rifle from a car belonging to Baby Face in that raid that he later used to kill a gangster named Russell Gibson (alias Slim Gray) in Chicago. Using the same gun he was involved in the raid in Florida against Kate (Ma) Barker and her son Freddy. Probably some of Doc's bullets were in the bodies.
Buy the gun, not the story is often said.
If you buy the gun and not the story, you will probably not own any guns with stories.
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...Ben
