Overview: After forty-plus years of researching early Kentucky gunmakers and their firearms, the author has found very few references to black men working as gunsmiths in pre-Civil War Kentucky. The few records that exist make only brief comments on a black man working in a gun shop as a laborer or helper… but some of those “helpers” were undoubtedly better trained than the references suggest. There are perhaps two or three references to black men who apparently had the skills to build a complete rifle, but those men did not sign guns and records of their skills were generally kept out of public records... probably to avoid public complaints. After more than forty years of never seeing a signed rifle by a black man in pre-Civil War Kentucky, the author [and many others] thought they did not exist. A recent discovery has shattered that belief.

**Figure No.1:** This plain, full-stocked rifle was made in Kentucky in the 1850s, based on its stock architecture and other key features. The barrel is signed in script, “John N. Maxey.” John Maxey was a black man living in Logan County, Kentucky, before the Civil War. He served in the war for the Union and later moved north to Ohio to work for the remainder of his life. Logan County is in southcentral Kentucky’s Barrens School of gunmaking, and the rifle follows the local tradition of undecorated rifles where performance came before appearance. Barrel: 38-5/8" inches long, .36 caliber, 7-groove rifling.

In the summer of 2023, an auction in North Carolina sold a plain, curly maple full-stocked rifle with an odd name on the barrel, "John N. Maxey." The gun drew little attention, and the author was able to purchase it. One advantage derived from years of researching Kentucky gunmakers is the ability to recall strange names... and "Maxey" was one of those names. He was a black man from Logan County, Kentucky, who immediately after the Civil War was working publicly as a gunsmith in Athens County, Ohio. Prior research on Maxey and his family suggested he was trained as a gunsmith in Kentucky well before the war, but being a black man, he never had the opportunity to put his name on a gun barrel. The assumption was that he worked as a journeyman in the shop of another Logan County gunsmith, but the new rifle disproved that assumption.

**Figure No.2:** The Maxey rifle has a barrel signature engraved in script by a reasonable, but not great, hand. It is important that the middle initial is present, to clearly identify the maker of this rare rifle as John N. Maxey of Logan County, Kentucky.

The full story of John Maxey's life is yet to be unraveled, but there are bits and pieces from his life that provide an interesting overview of a special man in a difficult time.

John Maxey was born October 9, 1828, in Russellville, Logan County, Kentucky. At that time, Russellville was the center of gun making in the Barrens region of southcentral Kentucky, with several accomplished gunsmiths working there including Joseph Blair and Samuel Matthis. Maxey’s status when a young man, whether slave or free, remains unknown. He served in the Civil War from Logan County, enlisting on February 14, 1864, in the U. S. Colored Infantry. After the war, Maxey was in Athens County, Ohio [on the Ohio River across from West Virginia] working as a "gunsmith" according to the 1870 census. His children were listed as "mulattoe" and born in Kentucky, so perhaps he was of mixed race. Maxey was again listed as a "gunsmith" in Athens County in the 1880 census, and his name appeared in several local directories with the same occupation. Late in life, Maxey apparently moved to Springfield in Clark County, Ohio, where he died on March 13, 1915. He was buried in the local Ferncliff Cemetery; his grave is in the Soldiers' Memorial Section and identified by a small, simple white military marker with the inscription, "John N. Maxey, Co. A, 16 U. S. O. I." [perhaps the "O" is a "C"]

**Figure No.3:** John Maxey was buried in the Soldiers’ Memorial Section of the Ferncliff Cemetery at Springfield in Clark County, Ohio. His grave is marked by a simple military stone that documents his service in the Civil War. The stone’s last line appears to read “16 U. S. O. I.” but the last four letters are probably “U. S. C. I.” for United States Colored Infantry.

The recently discovered "John N. Maxey" rifle has been refinished, some wood slivers replaced along the forestock, a newer brass [incorrect] ramrod installed, and two of its four ramrod pipes lost. However, the barrel appears to be full original length with its original muzzle stampings. Of particular interest are the guard’s "square shoulder" above the rear spur where it runs up to meet the guard’s rear extension, and the long 6-inch tang attached with three screws, both strong Kentucky details. The stock’s side-facings [flat area where lock is mounted] are tight around the lock, and the butt profile is triangular, both Kentucky details. The lock also helps to date the rifle. It is original to the gun and has an oval rather than rounded [later style] tail, suggesting the rifle may have been made in the late 1840s and no later than the mid-1850s. The gun is a pre-Civil War rifle made in Kentucky in the 1850s while a slave state, probably from Logan County, and signed by a black gunsmith at a time when such an occurrence was rare to non-existent. Additional research may help shed light on John Maxey's life and when/where he began working independently as a gunsmith. But this rifle, the only rifle known to the author from pre-Civil War days in Kentucky with a black man's name on the barrel, stands out as a special rifle made by a special gunsmith at a time in Kentucky's history when it was almost unimaginable.

**Figure No.4:** This view of the John Maxey rifle shows its curly maple stock wood, double spurred guard with “square shoulder” above the rear spur, tight Kentucky-style side-facing [narrow border of wood] around the lock plate, and clean, triangular butt profile with straight comb and toe lines. The percussion lock also has an earlier style oval tail rather than a rounded tail. Based on the full-length stock, long tang, guard style, butt shape and oval-tailed lock, the gun dates no later than the mid-1850s. Author’s collection.

**Figure No.5:** The back of the Maxey rifle is plain, with a single lock bolt to hold the lock in place and no cheekpiece on the butt. A hint of the long 6” tang held with three screws can be seen in this picture; long tangs were another detail used in Kentucky and some states farther south. The barrel has been heavily cleaned, and the stock scrubbed and refinished. Author’s collection.

**Figure No.8:** The muzzle of the Maxey rifle is stamped with small circles, each with a center dot, running around the muzzle. Muzzle stamps were commonly used in Kentucky and elsewhere and were a simple decoration that, in some cases, helped identify the gun’s maker when not signed. Its worn, 7-groove rifling is faintly visible. The silver bead under the muzzle is a modern intrusive screw, and the mid-line in the stock is not a molding line, but rather a poorly concealed glue joint for the wood splice above it. Author’s collection.

Summary: Very few black men were allowed to work as full-fledged gunsmiths in pre-Civil War Kentucky. The few existing records usually describe them as shop laborers or helpers… but some of them undoubtedly learned the trade well beyond that of a helper. During the author’s many years of researching early Kentucky gunmakers, he had never seen, or even heard of, a pre-Civil War rifle signed by a black man in Kentucky. The discovery of the important John N. Maxey rifle proves that at least one black man had an opportunity to sign a rifle and document his work as a gunsmith in pre-Civil War Kentucky.

A Rifle Signed by a Black Gunsmith in Pre-Civil War Kentucky ©

A Southern Pistol by Kentucky Gunsmith Pleasant Wilson ©

Settle Rifles from Kentucky’s Barrens School: An Example by Felix Settle ©