A New Kentucky Pistol Helps Identify an Old Kentucky Pistol ©
Foreword: Early pistols from Kentucky are rare; when a new one is found, it is a significant event for collectors of early Kentucky firearms. At times, new discoveries help identify previously unidentified or misidentified firearms, further advancing current knowledge of Kentucky gunmaking. The recent discovery of a signed “E. C. Burden” pistol has done just that. It not only expanded the known work of Kentucky gunsmith Edmond C. Burden, but also helped identify two similar style pistols as Kentucky products that were previously misidentified.
Figure No.1: The “E. C. Burden” pistol is a simple under-hammer stocked in curly maple. It has a small brass shield-shaped inlay for the owner’s initials with “KY VOLs” scratched on it. Author’s photo.
Figure No.2: The barrel on the Burden under-hammer pistol is clearly marked “E. C. Burden” in capital letters. The same name stamp was used on all of his rifles and pistols recorded by the author. Author’s photo.
Edmond C. Burden: Edmond C. Burden is a well-known Kentucky gunsmith who worked at Carlisle in Nicholas County, Kentucky. He was born in Nicholas County in 1826 and began working at Clayton in Nicholas County in 1847. Burden married Nancy D. Wells in Nicholas County in October of 1850 and soon after moved to the county seat, Carlisle, to work. He reportedly gained a reputation for excellent work that extended beyond Nicholas County. During his time at Carlisle, he was elected County Jailer in 1852 and took on younger brother, James M. Burden, as an apprentice about 1853; James later worked in Bracken County, Kentucky. In the early-to-mid 1860s, Burden moved to Elizabethtown in Hardin County, Kentucky, where he worked as a gunsmith until 1879. He then moved to Hutchinson and later Raymond, Kansas, where he continued working as a gunsmith until he retired in 1900. In February of 1900 Burden moved south to Benton County, Arkansas. He settled in the town of Rogers, where he died in 1913.
Figure No.3: The “E. C. Burden” pistol’s extended tang has vine-like engraving with dotted borders. The opposed vines flowing out from a center point reminded the author of another small under-hammer pistol he had seen with similar engraving and signed “J. Barlow.” Author’s photo.
Figure No.4: The backstrap on the Burden pistol repeats the pattern of vine-like engraving with opposed vines emerging from a center point and enclosed in dotted borders. Note the rear sight is an integral part of the extended tang. Author’s photo.
The “E. C. Burden” Pistol: The author knew of the small. curly maple stocked under-hammer pistol for several years, but it was over-priced, so he made no attempt to buy it. The price eventually came down, and it joined the author’s collection of Kentucky firearms. Like many collectors of American longrifles, the author’s primary interests were earlier rifles and pistols; under-hammers were a somewhat later style gun, less exciting, and needed something special to catch the author’s attention… and the little pistol had that “something special.” The pistol’s barrel was stamped “E. C. Burden,” so its maker was unmistakable. Despite appearing like a common under-hammer, it had distinctive engraving on its extended tang and brass backstrap. The engraved pattern, two opposed vines emerging from a center mark and enclosed in dotted borders, was immediately recognized as being similar to the engraving on a better-known under-hammer pistol marked “J. Barlow dec 29 1854” and attributed to Jesse M. Barlow [1805-1882] of Rush County, Indiana. The engraved patterns were so similar, it could not be coincidence; there had to be a connection.
Figure No.5: The tang on this under-hammer is engraved with two vines extending in opposite directions from a center point and bordered by rows of dots. The barrel is signed “J. Barlow dec 29 1854” with similar vine & dot engraving. The pistol has been attributed [incorrectly] to Jesse M. Barlow of Rush County, Indiana. Photo courtesy G. Barlow.
Figure No.6: A front view of the Barlow under-hammer shows its well-made yet simple trigger, notched hammer, flat butt, and rear sight that is integral to the long, extended tang. Photo courtesy G. Barlow.
The Burden/Barlow Connection: The strong similarities in engraved patterns on the Burden and Barlow pistols encouraged additional research into the two gunmakers’ lives to find a connection. Research into Edmond Burden’s background revealed a close connection with a “J. Barlow” gunsmith, but it was not the expected Jesse M. Barlow. Rather, it was Joshua Barlow [1822-1901], a Nicholas County, Kentucky, gunsmith who worked at Carlisle and in 1847 married Burden’s older sister, Martha Burden, the same year Burden completed his apprenticeship. Joshua Barlow moved to Bracken County, Kentucky, by/about 1850, the same time Burden moved back from Clayton to Carlisle to work, presumably to replace the departing Joshua Barlow. Joshua worked in Bracken County for about five years before moving on to Fulton County, Illinois, in 1855. The close family relationship and appropriate timeframe strongly suggest Burden was apprenticed to Joshua Barlow in Carlisle, providing the “connection” for the similar engraved patterns [and several other details] on their under-hammer pistols. Further strengthening the relationship were inter-family connections a generation earlier, and mutual connections to William Kenton, brother of early Kentucky pioneer Simon Kenton. Conversely, no close connection between Edmond Burden and Jesse M. Barlow was found.
Figure No.7: A second “J. Barlow” marked under-hammer pistol more closely resembles the Burden pistol with its simpler trigger and hammer and brass spacer between the stock and barrel. Courtesy G. Barlow.
Figure No.8: The second pistol is signed “J * Barlow” on the barrel and continues the use of opposed vine-like engraving on its extended tang and barrel. The engraving style appears to be unique to pistols from [or with ties to] Nicholas County, Kentucky. It differs slightly from the Burden pistol’s engraving by having its opposed vines run inward rather than outward, yet the effect is very similar. Also note the similar brass backstrap with round-headed screw just below the rear sight. Photo courtesy G. Barlow.
Conclusion: The fresh “E. C. Burden” under-hammer pistol with its distinctive vine-like engraving has caused the reassessment of two similarly engraved under-hammer pistols, both signed “J. Barlow” and previously attributed to Jesse M. Barlow of Rush County, Indiana. New research has shown the “J. Barlow” pistols were made by Joshua Barlow of Nicholas County, Kentucky, where E. C. Burden was born, grew up, trained as a gunsmith, and worked for many years. Joshua Barlow was Burden’s brother-in-law, and their mutual timeframes and locations strongly suggest Barlow taught Burden the trade. Further evidence for Joshua Barlow being the maker of the two “J. Barlow” signed pistols includes:
1) Mr. Robinson, the g-g-grandson of gunsmith Jesse M. Barlow, stated in a published internet article that Jesse Barlow always signed his guns with his middle initial “M.” The author has seen over a half-dozen Jesse M. Barlow rifles, about evenly split between full-stocked and half-stocked guns, and all had the middle initial “M” included in their barrel signatures.
2) Comparisons of the capital “B” in the script signatures on the “J. Barlow” pistols and several “J. M. Barlow” rifles, all dating to the 1850s, show significant differences in letter formation, indicating two different hands were involved.
The well-supported conclusion from a more in-depth look at the “E. C. Burden” pistol and the similarly engraved “J. Barlow” pistols, is that not only the Burden pistol, but both Barlow pistols as well, were made in Nicholas County, Kentucky, by brothers-in-law Edmond Burden and Joshua Barlow. The discovery of the Burden pistol has added not just one, but three, new pistols to the annals of early Kentucky gunmaking.
Post Script: Burden’s name has been linked at times to the well-known Berdan Sharpshooters of Civil War fame. Some people believe Edmond Burden made the highly accurate rifles used by the “Burden” [sic] Sharpshooters, giving the Sharpshooters their name. The Berdan Sharpshooters were actually named after Hiram Berdan, a fine marksman of the day, who came up with the idea for a specialized force of exceptional marksmen and presented it to the War Department. The Berdan Sharpshooters were armed with a modified version of the latest Sharps New Model 1859 Rifle with double-set triggers and bayonet mount. Approximately 2,000 of the rifles were delivered to the 1st and 2nd Regiments of Berdan Sharpshooters during the Civil War… an impossible task for a small civilian gunsmith.