I am seeking information on the maker of a halfstock caplock hunting rifle made by a "V SHAW". The name is signed in hand-cut block letters on the top flat of the octagon barrel. The first initial could possibly be "Y" rather than "V" but that would seem unlikely since very few given names begin with Y.

I tend to believe that this rifle is of Midwestern origin, probably Mississippi Valley. It is stocked in beautiful curly (tiger striped) maple. I would tentatively date it between 1845 and 1875. It was found at an estate auction in northern Arkansas.

I am aware of several Shaws who were gunmakers in Quincy, Illinois and Keokuk, Iowa during the 1840's and 1850's. I have seen a rifle with some similarities stamped "A E & W SHAW KEOKUK IOWA". This would be Alonzo E Shaw who was working in Keokuk in 1850. He had a Twin brother, John W Shaw, who was a gunmaker in Quincy, Illinois at the same time. Their father, John Shaw, Sr. who was also a gunmaker in Quincy, had brought the family to Illinois from Ohio in the early 1840's. John Shaw Sr. was born in New York on Sept. 7, 1795. His twin sons Alonzo E , and John W Shaw were born in New York in 1823. The family was living in Ohio by 1831.

I have not been able to identify "V Shaw" as a member of this family, although I believe it to be a possibility.

Any information on "V Shaw" would be gratefully received.
Curt Johnson
ilgunmkr@insightbb.com (new address)