6 Generations

[Europe]

My son reminded me that the rifle that was recently given to his grandson ( my great grandson ) has now been used by 6 generations of family members, starting with my grandfather. We also have my grandmothers Bible and a couple other things

Rifle, shotgun, knife, whatever ( even if not a hunting/fishing item ) What do you have that has been passed down from generation to generation and the story, if there is one, that goes with it

 

[VAspeedgoat]

Not exactly the same, but our farm is 9 generations deep with me and my children will be the 10th. One thing that is unique is that it's all been in the same last name. The first three generations are buried on the farm but the original homestead was passed to a daughter that never married.

Hunting wise, I have a shotgun shell box made of leather with a wooden shell holder that was my great grandfather's. There wasn't much big game around in those days so small game helped provide.

 

[Europe]

VAspeedgoat

Now that is something. Congratulations to your family. Wow, the memories! thank you for sharing

 

[BrentD]

I have a few firearms that are 3 generations old. A 97 Winchester tops the list with old hunting licenses dating back to 1917 Montana under the butt cap. But other than that, not a whole lot sadly.

What is this 6-generation gun and maybe you could post a picture of it? I'm quite sure it fits the time frame of firearms that I find interesting, whatever it is.

 

[Europe]

nothing exciting at all Brent, except that it has been in the family so long. A winchester pump .22.

 

[BrentD]

Ah, you mean an 1890 Winchester I suspect. I have one too, also a 3 generation gun. They actually are pretty exciting. At least to me. That and an H&R 722 were my constant companions, along with a golden retriever of course, when I was a wee lad in the Arrowhead Country.

Is it in good shape still?

 

[Europe]

sadly it is not in good shape, as it was kept on the barn for years when I was a girl.

a boy with his gun and his dog---perfect picture Brent

VAspeedgoat. I am still processing 10 generations on one piece of land---unheard of today. I am so happy for you and your family.

 

[BrentD]

Maybe it could be rejuvenated? Mine needed a relining, and some other TLC. I was hard on it when I was a kid, but I didn't abuse it. Just used hard. So I relined it and rechambered from shorts to long rifle. Hard to be an 1890 Winchester. Many a squirrel and rabbit will tell you the same.

 

[RockinU]

Given to my Great Grandfather by my Great Great Grandfather I believe in 1905, the story is he gave one to each of his sons.



We also still have all the survey equipment that my Great Great Great Grandfather used to survey the county after we won our independence from Mexico, but it's on long term loan to the local museum.

 

[rwc101]

My dad was the first in the family to start hunting. Early 80s so not much vintage stuff around the house. I was given a Colt revolver by a friend though. Serial number suggests it was made in 1916. Friend said it was his great Uncle's service revolver when in the NYPD, but he's a world class bullshitter so I doubt that's true.

 

[Panda Bear]

Rockinu, love that lever .32.

I am also impressed with the length of time vaspeedgoats family farm has stayed in the family

I have some Ivory Harpoon heads and stone knifes that was supposedly from my ancestors but have no direct confirmation of that.

 

[Irrelevant]

I have a Steven-Maynard JR 22-SHORT that my grandfather received from his grandfather. But honestly there's no story behind it. My grandfather never used it, just kept it in the closet. It's kind of a cool looking gun, I would have preferred something with a story attached to it.

 

[NR_Hunter]

I have a few of my great grandparents shotguns from both sides but that’s it. My dad never hunted so there was never a real strong hunting tradition passed down, but looking at old pics of my great grandpas, they really got after the birds. it skipped a few generations but got back to me eventually cause even tho I do more big game hunting now, bird hunting is still kind of my original passion.

 

[VAspeedgoat]

sadly it is not in good shape, as it was kept on the barn for years when I was a girl.

a boy with his gun and his dog---perfect picture Brent

VAspeedgoat. I am still processing 10 generations on one piece of land---unheard of today. I am so happy for you and your family.

We're only about 1.5 hours from DC, if you're ever around I'll show you the ponderosa. It's about half the size it was at the turn of the century. Two generations of 10-14 kids tends to break up a farm. Ha!

 

[Panda Bear]

I have a few of my great grandparents shotguns from both sides but that’s it. My dad never hunted so there was never a real strong hunting tradition passed down, but looking at old pics of my great grandpas really got after the birds. it skipped a few generations but got back to me eventually cause even tho I do more big game hunting now, bird hunting is still kind of my original passion.

Still pretty cool. IMHO

interesting posts,

Brent, are the rifles you have all originals ( as opposed to replicas ) and do any of them date back and come from, a specific time and place. . The battle of the Alamo, as an example only

VAspeedgoat. when it was homesteaded, what were the crops raised on it at that time and is any part of it still used for those crops ? or maybe it was a dairy farm , etc

 

[VAspeedgoat]

Panda,
Historically it was uninhabited hunting grounds for native Americans. The German and scotch Irish settlers came out of PA and established small farms that focused around livestock and small grains. There is still a strong culture of butchering and meat preservation especially with hogs. As the country progressed the area became an important small grains area and became known as the bread basket of the Confederacy. Most of the south were cash crops such as cotton. We were an important military target during the civil war. The valley was burned to starve out the Confederate army and there is still contempt for northerners to this day because of the that. Post civil war the dairy industry grew but we are home to the modern poultry vertical integration scheme. Those two industries still thrive today but cash grain crops are still prominent. Wheat is a major player in that but corn and soybeans now dominate. Very few farms survive souly on cash crops now.

 

[Randi]

that is good stuff vaspeedgoat
I have some of my great grandfathers traps that he used in Alaska.

 

[corndog1]

My grandpa handed down his browning sweet 16 made in Belgium to me. I plan on knocking down some rooster on the hi line with it this year. It will be about exactly one year after he passed when I plan on going.

 

[noharleyyet]

Thoughtful interesting thread Ms. Europe.

 

[BrentD]

Brent, are the rifles you have all originals ( as opposed to replicas ) and do any of them date back and come from, a specific time and place. . The battle of the Alamo, as an example only

Panda, yes those that were handed down were originals. They date back to particular farmsteads in the case of the maternal side, but on the paternal side, I don't really know what piece of land they are tied to, if any. One of them in my paternal grandfather's .380 Remington Semiauto handgun that he used for running payrolls on the North and West sides of Minneapolis, probably back in the 1930s or so I would guess.

The 97 Winchester started shooting prairie chickens a dozen miles north of where I live now, but the birds are extinct now, and the gun went out Montana with a great uncle before coming back to me in the 80s.

But the two .22s were from my dad's side and I don't know what or how they were used except my dad said his dad hated loons (THAT is pretty loony, how can anyone hate loons?) and shot at them some sort of gun, probably one of these. The H&R I gave to a guy I met somewhere so he could raise his kids with it. I wish I knew whatever became of it. The 1890, that one gets used on many things today. An 1890 Winchester is no slouch of a rifle and it could easily last many more lifetimes. They are worth restoring, refurbishing, etc, to keep them running.

There were not a lot of firearms in the family, but as the only male child and only hunter, on either side of the family, eventually, they all came down to me. No real stories came with them. My grandfathers were gone before I knew to really ask them much about their usages. My maternal grandfather was a longtime bird hunter, but that is about all I know aside from the licenses under the butt plate. Somewhere, I have photos of them. I think I posted them here a while ago.