I need some help,please!!!

Forums: North America, Revolutionary War Rifle, Col Wetzel
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I need your help folks,preferably from someone in the New England area,or near Concord Mass.

I am trying to find any info possible on a person,but I don't have the research skills needed to find out what I want.

Let me give you some info...

I have an old Revolutionary war rifle,passed down to me from my grandfather.
He got it from his grandfather,etc.

I just recently found out that the rifle was made by a man in or near the Concord area.
He was a blacksmith and a gunsmith,and he led a volunteer company from Concord during the Revolutionary war.
I don't know his first name,all I have is "Col. Wetzel"

Apparently he made all of the rifles his company carried.

I am a direct descendant of his,and am trying to find out more about him.

Can anyone help?

Thanx!!

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I'm checking. Lewis Wetzel, of course, was in his time a famous Revolutionary hero. He the son of a German Immigrant and lived most of his life in Ohio. At an early age he was kidnapped by Indians, and thereafter became a woodsman par excellence. He was a deadly shot, and was able to reload a muzzle-loader while running full tilt through heavy woods ... an amazing feat that so far as I know was never duplicated. However, he doesn't meet several of your parameters. Wrong location, and no so far as I know a gunsmith ... though he was certainly known for his skill with guns.

Setanta can probably give you more on Lewis Wetzel, and he may have information on a Wetzel gunsmith from MA during the Revolution.

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just popping by to move this up the list - hopefully fishin will check in, as he's pretty dang good at the people-finding thing.

generally, I'd hit up a message board with a group like

http://www.americanrevolution.org/reenact.html

for help with a query like yours

Good luck! you're very lucky to have a piece of family history like that.

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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/revlist/

(and I'll give a holler to Set about this question as well)

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I need some help please
Try entering "Wetzel Revolutionary Gunsmith" on Google.

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Lewis Wetzel, Famous Indian Fighter; 1763-1808?

Quote:

THE FREEPORT PRESS

Pub. Oct. 5, 1882
Harrison Co., OH

J. W. WESTLAKE of Burr's Miles, Belmont county, has in his posession the rifle formerly owned by the famous Indian fighter, Lewis Wetzel.

It was this rifle that he used to shoot four Indians in his running fight at St. Clairsville in 1782.

Quote:

C.B. Allman's book 1939 - Lewis Wetzel Indian Fighter has stories in it about the above subject families traveling from PA to W.Va. and settling in and around what is now Wheeling, W.Va. Has anyone any information on these families other than what I read in this book? I believe the Eberly's in this wagon train led by Lewis Wetzel to have been John Eberly (b. 1755 Durlach, Lanc Co, Pa d. 1823 in Cumberland Co, Pa.) wife - Elizabeth(Bricker)Eberly (b.1759 Cocalico, Pa d. 1823 in Cumberland Co, Pa) m: Nov 1776 in Lancaster Co, Pa so believe this wagon train took place around 1777-1780.

I can come up with all kinds of information on Wetzel, but haven't found anything in MASS.

Are you sure about the Mass connection?

Lewis Wetzel's father was John Wetzel; From Germany.

There is a county in W.Virginia named Wetzel after him.

The Book by C.B Allman, "Lewis Wetzel Indian Fighter"

Was a scout for "General Mad Anthony Wayne" During the Revolutionary War.

And was sopposed to live around the area of Wheeling Creek, VA

From Ancestory.com, I run a search all the way back to 1700, to see what might come up....

Quote:

Family Data Collection - Individual Records Record about Lewis Ludwig Wetzel
Name: Lewis Ludwig Wetzel
Parents: John Wetzel , Mary Bonnett
Birth Place: Shenandoah, South Branch Cedar Creek, VA
Birth Date: August 1763
Death Place: Adams Co, MS
Death Date: 1808

Quote:

The Border Wars of the Upper Ohio Valley (1769-1794)
By: William Hintzen

The bloody war for the Eastern Frontier. Actually the opening of the Eastern Frontier was more bloody and more prolonged by far than the better known Western Frontier. Here are the heroes of Fort Henry (now Wheeling, West Virginia) and Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh)Lewis Wetzel (Deathwind) and his brothers, Daniel Boone, Jonathan Zane, Betty Zane, Simon Kenton, Sam McCulloch, George Rogers Clark, Mad Anthony Wayne and their foes, the Girty brothers and many others. History at its most exciting!

Quote:

During the next several years Levi was in various military or militia battles. He possibly
trained under Samuel Brady and Lewis Wetzel and became a "Spy" with General Anthony Wayne, who became known as "Mad Anthony".

You'll find this link a good one: http://www.wvculture.org/History/journal_wvh/wvh50-5.html

Quote:

Lewis Wetzel was one of the most colorful characters on the American frontier. He was a famous Indian fighter and guide who was born in August 1764 on the South Branch of the Potomac River in present day West Virginia. In 1769, his father relocated his family to Wheeling Creek.

http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/wv/Wetzel/wethistory.html

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/colonial/pioneer/chap12.html

Ok, I'm done searching...lol,

I'll look again, if you want some more information, through Ancestry...but you need to figure out why or what the connection to Mass is? I still haven't found one. One of the links has him listed as Dutch?

Have fun!

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Not surprisingly, most searches lead to the famous German gunsmiths of Pennsylvania. The Wetzel name is often associated with gunsmithing in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, but usually these were folks who lived in the mid-19th century, or later. Someone who specializes in studying early gunsmithing might know of a footnote somewhere that was relevant.

There's quite a bit on Lewis Wetzel, but I've found nothing to suggest he had acquired the specialized skills of a gunsmith. I think we should dismiss Lewis as the object of our search ... he just doesn't meet enough of the search parameters. He scouted for the Revolutionary Army, but certainly never held officer rank. Leaders of local militias in Mass. tended to be Captains, not Colonels. What is needed is a detailed search of militia rosters in the vicinity of Concord from the mid-18th century to at least 1785.

MM, can you give more description of the firearm? Is it a musket, or long-rifle? Flint, or percussion? What markings are there on the lock and/or breech? What kind of stock is it, and is the weapon "fancy" or utilitarian? Further information regarding your ancestor would also help. How sure are you that he was referred to as Col. Wetzel? How sure are you of family stories that your beliefs are based on?

For many years, in my family, there was a high degree of certainty that my Great-GrandMother was a full-blooded Comanche. She was said to have hated whites, and was a very difficult person to be around. When I was about 5 years old a group of exotic people visited the ranch. I thought they were Gypsies, but later was told that they were Indians and relatives. One of the visitors was a short heavyset woman that everyone deferred to. I came to believe that was our "missing" relative. There story was that she lived most of her life on the Rez with her youngest son, and there was great detail about their lives. The oldest of my two sisters became interested in geneology, and has traced our various family branches back to around 1066 when a remote ancestor was one of William the Conquerors men at arms.

What my sister discovered about our Indian roots was that in the 1870's my grandfathers Dad was the Postmaster in Comanche County, Texas. He died, probably of Influenza, and his widow took over the Post Office there. They were both from Tennessee, and were listed as White on the census. Time and tales changed her from an Anglo woman Post Mistress in Comanche County, Texas into a bitter,hate-filledd Comanche woman. She never lived anywhere near a reservation, and is buried in a regular cemetery. Family histories aren't always a good source of what actually happened in the past.

BTW, Lewis Wetzel died near Natchez and was buried there with his gun. His wife is said to have buried the firearm with him because it killed so many that it would haunt any house it remained in. The body was found and reburied in Ohio ... I think. Oh well.

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[/QUOTE]MM, can you give more description of the firearm? Is it a musket, or long-rifle? Flint, or percussion? What markings are there on the lock and/or breech? What kind of stock is it, and is the weapon "fancy" or utilitarian?

Quote:

Asherman, thats all the information on the gun...that I could find. Still looking though...

I can't find a connection to Mass..anywhere...and I have went wayyyy back.

I did however find out while looking for mysteryman's family --if his is indeed the line of Lewis Wetzel Indian Fighter...that we have something in common...lol That our family's made the trip over together from Germany on the Brittania in 1731, his family is listed on the ships log along with mine. (Small world)

http://www.progenealogists.com/palproject/pa/1731brit.htm

Mine is the Friedli and Blattners, his is the Wetzel's.

One thing I have learned doing Geneology, is sometimes you have to go backwards, before you can move forward....

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Quote:

Asherman, thats all the information on the gun...that I could find. Still looking though...

I can't find a connection to Mass..anywhere...and I have went wayyyy back.

I did however find out while looking for mysteryman's family --if his is indeed the line of Lewis Wetzel Indian Fighter...that we have something in common...lol That our family's made the trip over together from Germany on the Brittania in 1731, his family is listed on the ships log along with mine. (Small world)

http://www.progenealogists.com/palproject/pa/1731brit.htm

Mine is the Friedli and Blattners, his is the Wetzel's.

One thing I have learned doing Geneology, is sometimes you have to go backwards, before you can move forward....

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Ok....its a long rifle, flintlock..I'm assuming,since percussion cap didn't come into use till the mid 1800's. I have more on this Lewis Wetzel, this website is one of the best one's I've see.

http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/spring97/wetzel.html

Quote:

Lewis practiced shooting the long rifle until, legend says, if the target was big enough for him to see, he could hit it first shot.

This link below is a family website:

http://communities.msn.com/HansMartinWetzelAncestry/home.htm

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@mysteryman,

Dear mysteryman,
I just came across this while I was trying to get some bio info on Wm Hintzen. I, too, am descended from that Wetzel line, i.e. "Capt John Wetzel", brother of the famous Lewis referenced below.
I'd love to get in touch and share information, since we're apparently related.
Did you ever resolve your mystery gunsmith issue?
Sincerely,
john christy wetzel

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@wetzupdoc,

I still haven't found anymore info other ymthrn What I have.
However, I did have a man tell me that my rifle looks more like a Pennsylvania Long Rifle.
However, this is a smoothbore musket and not a rifle.

I would love to see what info you have really the Wetzel family.
You can wither send me a pm thru here or you can contact me are [email protected]

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@wetzupdoc,

I can't believe I wrote 'brother' re Capt. John.
He was the father , of several, in particular Lewis, who never married and is the legend "Deathwind", and of my ancestor, Martin, the oldest sibling. All three were famous in the Indian fights and John and Martin, in particular, in the Revolutionary War.
Could 'Col' be 'Capt'?

They landed, btw, on the Brittania, as noted in this correspondence string, at Philadelphia and made their way west via Lancaster, Greene Co in SW PA, to the Ohio River Valley, notably WV, Wheeling area. I never came across any references to 'gunsmithing' but several family members dropped off on the way and settled in Lancaster et al. Maybe someone made his way north to Mass?
jcw

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I need some help,please!!!

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