May 23rd 2015 Premier Firearms Sale
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/22/2015
While the gun is a fairly common and an average condition Colt 1849 Pocket Model with the following features: 4” octagon barrel, single action, five shot, .31 caliber percussion, manufactured in 1853, with the nickel plated trigger guard and back strap; it is the inscribed back strap that sets this gun apart. It is period inscribed “William Parker” on the backstrap and was consigned from Pennsylvania. A google search for William Parker dating to the Civil War era turned up some interesting information. We found a William Parker from Pennsylvania with a Civil War, slave, and abolitionist history. William Parker was a former slave who escaped to Pennsylvania in 1838, where he became an abolitionist and anti-slavery activist in Christiana, Lancaster County, where he was a farmer and led a black self-defense organization. These little pocket Colts were the perfect self-defense pistol for the time. He was notable as a principal figure in the Christiana incident (or riot), 1851, also known as the Christiana Resistance. Edward Gorsuch, a Maryland slaveowner who owned four slaves who had fled over the state border to Parker's farm, was killed and other white men were wounded in the party to capture the slaves. The events brought national attention to the challenges of enforcing the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.Upon Gorsuch's death, Parker fled the area traveling by the Underground Railroad to Rochester, New York, where he met up with Frederick Douglass. He helped Parker get across the river to Canada. Settling in Buxton, Parker learned to read and write, and became a correspondent for Douglass' North Star newspaper. William Parker was renowned in the area for his activism against slavery, and his bravery in the protection of his and other blacks' civil and political rights. He assisted many runaway slaves and was one of many people in the area involved in the Underground Railroad. It was his boldness and leadership in the resistance at his house in Christiana that sparked the events that day. As to condition, all numbers are matching. The original walnut grips retain 75% of their varnish, approximately 30% of the original nickel plating remains. Balance of the gun is basically a brown/gun metal grey patina. Nipples are original. Most of the cylinder scene still visible. Lock up is perfect. Bore is strong with some light abrasions. It has three boogered screws. Even the wedge and loading lever numbers match. Further research into the life of William Parker and the Abolitionists movement in Pennsylvania would surely add some interesting historical information.