Michael Sells, Kentucky’s Best Known Ohio River Gunsmith
Foreword: Michael Sells of Bracken County is one of Kentucky’s best known Ohio River gunsmiths due to the number of rifles and historical records that have survived. He worked in Augusta, a port town on the Ohio River, where river traffic provided a constant stream of new customers to supplement local sales. But Sells was also a businessman who looked for other business opportunities that included a wool carding mill and iron foundry, making him an important citizen in Bracken County’s early years.
Figure No.1: This early Michael Sells rifle has his first type stock architecture with more drop in the butt, a little less butt height, scooped cheekpiece, no patchbox or inlay work, and his early style guard. These rifles tended to have a more hooked/curved rear trigger which, along with the scooped cheekpiece was reminiscent of Carolina rifles. The rifle dates to circa 1835. Courtesy D. Schlegel, photo by J. Jaeger.
Background: Sells was born into a gunsmithing family. His father was Benjamin Sells Sr., a Pennsylvania gunsmith, and his mother was Catherine Baum, daughter of Pennsylvania gunsmith Charles Baum Sr. and sister of noted Pennsylvania gunsmiths Samuel and Charles Baum. Benjamin Sr. moved to Brown County, Ohio, across the Ohio River from Bracken County, Kentucky, in about 1800 where he married Catherine Baum in 1802. Michael was born August 11, 1803, grew to manhood in Brown County, and learned the gunsmith’s trade [along with younger brother Benjamin Jr.] from his father. When reaching adulthood [age 21] in 1824, he decided to remain in Ohio to work as a gunsmith. His earliest advertisement was in The Castigator newspaper of Ripley, Ohio. He was working in Ripley and seeking a “well recommended” apprentice between 14 and 18 years old with “industrious habits and good moral character.” By 1835 he was in Georgetown [county seat of Brown County, Ohio] when he ran a gunsmithing and wool carding advertisement in Figure No.2 that announced his up-coming move to Augusta, Kentucky. Records suggest Sells traveled back and forth between Brown County, Ohio and Bracken County, Kentucky between 1827 and 1835, selling his rifles on both sides of the Ohio River. In April of 1836 Sells and his first wife, Mary Dillman Sells, purchased a home in Augusta and permanently moved across the river to Kentucky.
Figure No.2: In late 1835, Sells purchased a building with steam power in Augusta, Kentucky, then purchased equipment for wool carding. He was already running his gunsmithing business out of the building in late 1835 and planned to be carding wool by spring of 1836.
Figure No. 3: By June of 1836, Sells had his wool carding equipment installed and running, and was soliciting carding business form local wool growers. The advertisement makes no mention of Sells’ gunsmithing done in the same building on High Street.
Sells’ Rifles: Early in his career, Sells made rifles that were long and slender with a pronounced comb, “scooped” or concave cheekpiece, and strongly hooked rear trigger. An early ca. 1835 Sells rifle is shown in Figure No.1 above. Early guns lacked patchboxes and inlay work, barrel signatures were hand-engraved as “M. Sells” often followed by the year [1831 to 1838 dates are known], and butts tended to have less height with a bit more drop in them. By about 1839 or 1840, Sells’ rifles had evolved to their “Kentucky” stock shape that most collectors recognize today with shorter barrels around 40 inches, non-scooped cheekpieces with a flattened lower edge, taller butts, and later style double-spurred guards. An example of an early 1840s Sells rifle signed “M. Sells Augusta, Ky” with “Kentucky” stocking is shown in Figure No.4. By the 1840s, a few of Sells’ Kentucky guns had patchboxes, and occasionally limited inlay work appeared. A fine Sells rifle from the mid-1840s with full patchbox and silver inlays is shown in Figure No.5.
Figure No.4: By the late 1830s, Sells’ rifles had taken on their “Kentucky” style with taller butt, guard with more oval bow and double spurs, cheekpiece that was flat rather than scooped, and a rear trigger without a strong hook in it. This rifle is typical of Sells’ 1840s work, with most rifles rather plain without a patchbox or inlay work. Courtesy D. Schlegel, photo by J. Jaeger.
Figure No.5: In the 1840s, Sells began to use full patchboxes, always of the same design, while inlay work remained rare. This mid-1850s Sells rifle is exceptional for its silver inlay work that includes forestock inlays, several small teardrop inlays at tip of patchbox and on rear side-facing, and a large silver ring in the cheekpiece. The is the only single-trigger Sells rifle known to the author, and it may represent a special-order rifle by a demanding customer with its single trigger, silver inlays, and fine stock wood. Barrel: 42 inches, .40 caliber, 7-groove rifling. Author’s collection, photo by Author.
Sells’ patchboxes had a distinctive shape that went unchanged for many years. Boxes had solid [non-pierced] side leaves and a finial with its tip shaped like a stylized acorn. His “trademarks” include the stylized acorn in the finial tip and six simple rays engraved around screw heads with three rays on either side of the head. Toe plate screws were similarly decorated similar rays, but no other engraving appeared on his guns. A typical Sells patchbox with acorn finial and rays around the screw heads is shown in Figure No.6, and a toe plate with rays around the screw heads is in Figure No.7. Well less than half of his rifles had patchboxes, but when present they were similar in design and easily recognized by his “trademark” details. Early signatures were engraved, but Sells stamped his post-1840 rifles with “M. Sells” or “M. Sells/Augusta Ky.” He probably made pistols, since river traffic was partial to pistols for self-protection… but the author has never seen a signed “M. Sells” pistol.
Figure No.6: A close-up view of Michael Sells’s standard patchbox pattern shows its full hinge across the box, solid side-leaves, solid finial with a stylized acro tip, and Sells’ trademark engraved rays around the screw heads with three simple rays on either side of each head.
Figure No.7: Sells’ guns with patchboxes had toe plates with matching rays around their screw heads. The simple, straight-line engraving cuts suggest Sells was not proficient at engraving and was restricted to making only basic cuts to decorate his metal surfaces.
Entrepreneur: Sells was an accomplished gunsmith, but he decided to apply his business skills to new ventures. By 1836 he had purchased a building and equipment and opened a wool carding factory in Augusta. An advertisement for his new wool carding business appears in Figure No.3 above. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the business in 1841 with a total loss of building, equipment, and inventory; a local newspaper’s report of the fire is shown in Figure No.8. By 1842 Sells was refocused on gunsmithing with his advertisement in Figure No.9 offering new rifles for sale along with gun repairing and general blacksmithing. In the mid-to-late 1850s Sells opened a foundry that made stoves and other cast iron pieces. By that time, his son Benjamin was assisting him in his business ventures. When Sells died in 1871, he was one of Augusta’s best known and wealthiest citizens.
Figure No.8: Sells purchased a building and carding equipment in late 1835, was carding wool by mid-1836, and in 1841 lost his carding factory to a devastating fire.
Figure No.9: After losing his wool carding business, Sells focused on gunsmithing in this 1842 advertisement. He advertised new guns, black-smithing, and gun repairing.
Summary: Michael Sells was one of northern Kentucky’s best-known gunsmiths who made guns for the local citizens as well as travelers on the Ohio River. He had an entrepreneurial spirit, growing his gunsmithing business while venturing into the wool carding business and later an iron foundry. But throughout his life, he maintained and grew his gunsmithing business in Augusta, servicing a large area and producing many rifles. His dedication to gunsmithing left a number of surviving rifles, most well-made but rather plain, while a few had patchboxes and occasionally touches of inlay work. His surviving guns, along with the historic records he left, have made him Kentucky’s the best-known gunsmith who worked on the Ohio River.