Smith & Wesson engravers timeline, pre WWII

[mrcvs]

Recently, I was researching engravers of Smith & Wesson, specifically Oscar Young, and noted that Oscar Young died in 1912. Therefore, any engraved revolvers manufactured (not necessarily the ship date, however) after 1912 cannot be the work of Oscar Young. However, a forum member noted another source states, in error, that Oscar Young was employed by Smith & Wesson until 1916. So, I thought it a good idea to create a thread as to when engravers lived, therefore it would be impossible to attribute engraving to a particular engraver if the revolver was manufactured after the engraver’s decease. We can also surmise an engraver was probably not active at least the first two decades after birth. This information is not readily available on the forum, although it might be readily available in the 2018 book Smith & Wesson Engraving, a book I wasn’t even aware of until today.

Using SCSW4 for a list of engravers, here’s what I have.

Richard Bates Inshaw, b. 1805, Wolverhampton, England, d. 03 August 1865, Chicopee, Mass. Richard Bates Inshaw 1805-1865 - Ancestry(R)

F W Martin, who engraved especially Model 1’s, first and second issue. Do we have a first and possibly middle name as Martin is too common a name to pinpoint this individual?

S T Merritt. I cannot locate an S T Merritt in Massachusetts during the appropriate time frame in Massachusetts. There is a Samuel Fowler Merritt, who was a jeweler in Springfield, and he lived from 1820 to 1895. A jeweler certainly could have engraved for Smith & Wesson. Is S T Merritt really S F Merritt? Indeed, handwritten census records show the middle initial of a Samuel Merritt as either a T or an F and they look so similar as to be indistinguishable. Samuel Fowler Merritt

E A Timme, research suggests this is Everett A Timme, born 1827 in Germany

P S Yendell. This is Paul Sebastian Yendill, and there are other spellings of this surname, so which is correct is unknown. He lived 1844 to 1918 in Massachusetts. https://www.myheritage.com/names/paul_yendall

Louis Daniel Nimschke, 04 July 1832 (Germany) - 09 April 1904, Brooklyn, New York. (A less credible source states he died 20 April 1919, but I believe this to be incorrect.). Louis Daniel Nimschke - Wikipedia

Note this source claims Nimschke engraved over 5000 firearms over a 54 year span. That’s about 100 a year. I know some Colt revolvers have markings such as dots, each dot representing, it’s surmised, a day of engraving. Some have 3 dots, meaning 3 days. I don’t see how it’s possible to be that prolific and be on top of your game at all times. Perhaps I’m wrong???

Gustave Young. 1827 - 1895. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/26898
https://www.classicamericangunsmith.com/glossary-3/glossary-y/young-gustave/

Oscar Young, 26 September 1854 (Hartford, Connecticut) - 30 June 1912 Springfield, Massachusetts. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Young-13414

Tiffany Jewelers, founded in 1837. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiffany_&_Co.

Harry Jarvis, active circa 1903 to 1953, was born 06 August 1876, Lynn, Massachusetts. https://mobile.twitter.com/smith_wessoninc/status/629396886940598272

Leon Goodyear. SCSW4 states active 1920’s to 1930’s. I couldn’t find biographical information relative to this individual.

R J Kornbralth. This is Rudolph J Kornbralth. Born 1877, Ferlach, Austria. Emigrated to Hartford, Connecticut. Had a debilitating stroke in 1937, so unlikely to be active after 1937. Died on 23 February 1946. http://www.hallowellco.com/rudolph_kornbrath.htm
http://centerofthewest.libraryhost.com/?p=collections/findingaid&id=65&q=&rootcontentid=77741

Another source states he might have been born in 1888. https://www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/Connecticut/Rudolph-Kornbrath_4jr989/amp

Alvin White. This is Alvin Alexander White. Died May 2006 Sandwich, Massachusetts, which means he was born circa 1915. Mr White appears not to be active until the 1950s and with Colt, and so it appears he’s unlikely to have engraved pre was Smith & Wesson revolvers. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/capecod/obituary.aspx?n=alvin-alexander-white&pid=17741265

Any corrections and additional information is welcome. And perhaps this is all detailed in far better fashion in Smith & Wesson Engraving?

https://gunandswordcollector.com/product/smith-wesson-engraving/

 

[2152hq]

I think you are correct in the assumption that there are far too many firearms attributed to Nimschke,

Much of that accolade came from Larry Wilson who in the 60's got ahold of L.D. Nimschke's engraving pattern book. That through N's granddaughter IIRC.

Larry copied the entire pattern book, wrote a preface and published the thing as a hard cover large format book.
Wilson presented himself to be as much of an expert on classic firearms engraving as LDN was a master engraver himself.
The over '5000 guns engraved' statement came from Wilson's 'expertise' on all things related to the field of classic arms and collectibles.

Many of the ink pulls in the LDN pattern book are not his work and Nimschke did not take credit for them. He placed an X next to those that were not his work to show that.
He collected patterns and pulls from others work that he saw as quality,something all engravers do wether they admit it or not.

Collections are now on computers.
They used to be stacks of pics cut out of magazines and books.
Usually animal pics and scenery ,, old currency, stamps, etc. Anything that caught your attention that could be of use or just gave you more ideas in design.
They used to call it the Engraver's Morgue.

That book that Wilson published was reprinted in the early 90's by R&R Books.

The orig leather bound LDN scrap /pattern book was sold and eventually ended up in the hands of arms collector Rob't Lee,,sinced deceased.
The book was gifted to the Metropolitain Art Museum a few yrs ago from his Foundation. I believe it was on the Museum's 150th anniversary.

LDN's scroll style is what got to be commonly known a 'New York Style Scroll'.
(LDN lived in NYC most all of his life while in the USA.)
Very widely copied. Still popular with engravers. Sometimes also refered to a Colt Style Scroll for it's common use on the Colt C&B and SAA revolvers.

L.D. Nimschke was always a freelanse engraver.
He did work for many of the firearms mfg'rs,,but never was he an employee of any of them or anyone else.

A German who learned the trade in Germany and then came to the USA.
He learned from among others Gustav Ernst while in Germany.
Ernst was a well known instructor/engraver as well as holding the Master Engraver title himself. An unkn name to most in the US when talking classic engraving and engravers of that era. But there is that connection.
He taught many the trade.
Gustav Young was another of his students.

 

[KSK]

In the case of the Oscar Young engraved examples, my understanding is these were all engraved prior to his death in 1912. They were retained by the factory and shipped once an order for an engraved model was received, thus explaining a post-Mortem ship date.

 

[mrcvs]

In the case of the Oscar Young engraved examples, my understanding is these were all engraved prior to his death in 1912. They were retained by the factory and shipped once an order for an engraved model was received, thus explaining a post-Mortem ship date.

As you know, there’s a huge difference from when manufactured and when shipped when it comes to Smith & Wesson revolvers.

I wonder why Smith & Wesson stockpiled engraved revolvers. I would have thought a revolver is engraved only when ordered by a customer and to their specifications.

 

[mrcvs]

I wonder why Smith & Wesson stockpiled engraved revolvers. I would have thought a revolver is engraved only when ordered by a customer and to their specifications.

I think I know the answer to my own question. In modern times, engraving is in great demand. Sign up for it and wait a long time for your custom request to be completed.

Circa 1912, there was more supply than demand for engraved revolvers. Smith & Wesson already had Oscar Young on the payroll. I’m guessing he was instructed to keep engraving, in order to draw a paycheck, and Smith & Wesson would deal with selling these engraved examples from inventory.

Does this sound plausible?

 

[KSK]

Circa 1912, there was more supply than demand for engraved revolvers. Smith & Wesson already had Oscar Young on the payroll. I’m guessing he was instructed to keep engraving, in order to draw a paycheck, and Smith & Wesson would deal with selling these engraved examples from inventory.

Does this sound plausible?

I agree. I think this was probably the situation at the time and would explain the surplus inventory.

 

[2152hq]

The actual engraving of the firearms themselves was secondary. Most of the engravers time was taken up in producing letter & number stamps, dies, roll dies for lettering and numbers and combinations of both.
Also dies and roll dies to produce checkered surfaces, matted surfaces of different textures. Simple instrument and machine markings.
Plus re-sharpening these dies, stamps and roll dies when and where necessary.

That they could also engrave the beautiful patterns into the guns as well was a plus but that was not a big money maker for the mfg'rs.
The engravers were slow workers by the factory standards and that meant they cost a lot of money to keep employed.

Doing all the stamp&die cutting work was their real job.
Other industries that didn't have engravers employed in house had to outsource the work. There were plenty of Engraving Shops around at the time for just that.
Die Cutting was a very common trade.

I think the Young's ran a separate Specialty Engraving Shop for a time aside from their employment at Colt. Die cutting was the specialty there.
Eugene Young stayed primarily in that field of engraving.

Die work is a very difficult trade. Working with everything in reverse image for a start. Cut the die lettering right to left, etc
Plus the die surface you cut is reversed from normal as well.
High surface on the die is low surface on the imprint it makes.

Scroll engraving is easy after you try that.
Much of the quick and dirty lower grades of engraving done on some brands of factory production guns of the time were done by apprentice type engravers. That was the same for any of the mfg'rs.
Some you can clearly see that more than one person cut parts for the same gun. One cut only trigger guards. Another forend irons,,another frames,,etc.

Those simple line and simple scroll patterns that seemed to be necessary at the time to doll up even the lowest of grades wouldn't be shoved in front of a highly paid engraver.
Most of the SxS shotgun mfg's seemed to insist of decorating even the lowest grade with this border line, a few scroll flourishes and bright cut dashes.
Some of the 'lesser' handgun makers as well.
H&A, etc.

Colt and S&W seemed to keep the engraving as special patterns for special order only. Winchester as well.

 

[Flygas]

I’m admittedly not knowledgeable about the other engravers on this list but do know quite a bit about Kornbrath, as I own or have owned many examples of his work from Griffin and Howe, Hoffman Arms Company, and R.G. Owen. Kornbrath had other engravers who did work for him, as well. And as is often the case with engravers, many examples are attributed to him because everyone wants to believe their gun was done by one of the well-known Masters rather than a lesser known artisan.

 

[2152hq]

Dan Cullity was the only engraver that I know of that worked with AAW, that as an apprentice type/learning the trade situation.
I wasn't aware of White farming out work to others and then putting his name on it.
AAW worked for Colt doing their engraving
under the name 'AAWhite, Engraver'
Some of that work is simply mark in hand cut script letters AAW Engr.
Colt had other engravers working there at the time as well.
Alvin Herbert among them,, his bottle of Brandy on his bench. Cognac prefered.

What did happen was that Golden Boys Larry Wilson and Herb Glas (sp?) got their fangs into AAW in the later 60's and got him to sign a contract giving Wilson and Glas exclusive control to manage Whites ever increasing engraving business.
White freelansed outside his Colt employment and did other artist work like jewelry, carving, etc.

White thought it would give him more freedom to work and be less tied to the business side of it which was becoming quite a heavy work load.

What Wilson & Glas did was take Alvin A. White, Engraver and make it into a corporation 'A.A.White Engraver Inc.'

Wilson had moved his way into the Colt inner circle and positioned himself as their lead guy to see about special order projects especially for engraving and custom build.
Of course HIS company was more than glad to help. Colt was happy as long as the work kept bringing Colt good PR.


If you see a Colt Letter on an engraved pistol with the 'Delivered To' adress of 'American Master Engravers, Inc' in Hadlyme, Ct...
That's Larry Wilson and another one of his ghost companies.
The 'Sold To' name is usually the real customer,,not Larry.



AAW himself was saddled with design and only doing special order and high profile projects.under the contract. He was told what to produce,,not what a person like that wants to hear.
The AAW,Inc corp sent out the majority of the engraving work they gathered to 'outsourced engravers' . The work was all marked with the AAW Engravers Inc' marking.
Many thought they were getting work done by White himself.

I was lucky enough to have met White in the early 70's through a mutual friend and engraver that I was learning some of the beginings of the trade from.
Those times have become more and more special to me as I get older.
Funny how that works..

 

[mrcvs]

Two unanswered questions:

1. F W Martin. Does anyone know his first and possibly middle name, thereby allowing for further research?

2. The book Smith & Wesson Engraving, by Michael J Kennelly. Worth the cost? By this, I mean is there lots of factual information within, or is it just a coffee table book, in the style of R Larry Wilson?