| home > collecting > henry stewart collection |
The Henry Stewart Antique Firearm CollectionVirginia Military Instituteby David Minshall |
||||||||||
 In
September 2003 the Great Britain Long Range Muzzle Loading Rifle Team
travelled to the United States to compete in the 4th MLAIC Long Range
World Championships at Camp Butner, North Carolina. During their tour,
opportunity was taken to visit the Virginia Military Institute (VMI),
Lexington. The VMI museum has a stunning display of multi-chambered arms,
which is part of the Henry Stewart (pictured left) collection. The team
Adjutant, Martin Tebbs, had arranged with the Director of VMI Museum Operations,
Colonel Keith Gibson, for a visit to the museum and a private viewing
of the Stewart Collection. |
|
|||||||||
|
Virginia Military Institute The VMI opened its doors on 11 November 1839. Originally the site of Lexington Arsenal, this was transformed into a military college such that students, while protecting arms, could also pursue educational courses. Perhaps the most famous of the Institute's staff was Thomas Jonathan Jackson, Professor of Natural Philosophy ('Physics' as it is called today), Optics and Artillery Tactics. He later gained fame as a General in the Confederate forces and was commonly known as "Stonewall" Jackson. |
 |
|||||||||
|
On 12 June 1864 Union forces under the command of General Hunter shelled and burned the Institute. Thanks to the post war dedication of General Smith and other faculty members, the VMI reopened and the buildings were replaced. Distinguished scientists and military men joined the staff, and one of the founding fathers' aspirations that the VMI would produce "fair specimens of citizen-soldiers" was substantiated by the service of VMI graduates to their nation in peace and war. The VMI Museum The VMI museum is housed in the Jackson Memorial Hall. The building, erected in 1915, stands next to the barracks and has a ground floor auditorium with the floor below housing the museum. Historical collections chronicle the creation and development of the VMI and the contributions of alumni to history. There is much on display depicting Cadet life at the VMI, including displays of their personal living quarters and artefacts of daily life. The museum also contains a fine art collection. As one would expect, much space is also given over to the American Civil War. The museum is a major repository of artefacts relating to General "Stonewall" Jackson. |
||||||||||
|
Henry Stewart Antique Firearm Collection Over a fifty year period, Henry M. Stewart, Jr., VMI Class of 1935, assembled one of the world's great antique firearm collections. Many of the pieces in the collection are one-of-a-kind or the only known surviving example of its type. The museum at present does not have facilities to display the whole collection, although it plans to in the future. Those displayed at present offer a glimpse into the fascinating world of the 19th century small arms inventor's quest for the development of, and lucrative government contract for, a multi-shot arm. The breadth of the collection is stunning with successful arms such as Colt's alongside obscure items such as Porter's revolving vertical turret rifle and Allen and Cochran turret guns. This was a fascinating view of American ingenuity, and a glimpse of what may be hidden away in the main collection. |
|
|||||||||
 Members of the Great Britain Rifle Team with Colonel Gibson (right) |
Having discussed the museum display with Colonel Gibson, all left the site and headed by car to the store room where the bulk of the collection is held. Colonel Gibson had taken time to prepare for the visit and had selected a number of British cased revolvers to display such as Adams, Kerr and Tranter. All were fine examples of the type with what appeared to be complete sets of accoutrements in their cases. During the introductory talk, it became evident that Stewart was not only a gun collector but a research student in the field. Besides many books and papers on the subject he had collected over 350 US government patent office models relating to firearms. The total collection numbers over 800 pieces and is available to serious researches by appointment. |
|||||||||
 A whole rack of Colt longarms |
 #3 Model Colt Paterson Revolver |
|||||||||
|
Time was spent viewing an array of early breech loading arms on a circular rack. Moving around the room there was a stunning collection of cased Colt Paterson long arms and handguns, a selection of early air rifles, and more examples of early multi-chambered long arms, including a whole rack of Paterson long arms with some being presentation pieces. It took some time to appreciate what was being viewed. Eventually, glancing around the room one started to note shelves full of cased pistol sets, draws full of other arms and accessories such as powder flasks and tools. In the short time available it really was too much to fully absorb, and each team member probably left with something different in their mind as a highlight they had seen. After what felt like an all too brief visit the team had to leave the VMI to continue on their journey south. The collection provided much time for discussion in the following days, and those who had browsed the holdings knew that they were privileged to have seen something special. Right: Early breech loading rifles |
 |
|||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
