North & Cheney Model 1799 Flintlock Pistol
Originally published July-August 2023 · pp. 25–32
The following text is verbatim from the book, Simeon North, First Official Pistol Maker of the United States: A Memoir.
Chapter III Just when the attention of Simeon North was first directed to the need and the opportunity of the pistol manufacture, we have no means of knowing. One writer has stated that during his young manhood, following the close of the Revolutionary war, he made pistols for private sale. There is no family tradition to that effect. But it was in line with his business of a general machinist; it appealed to his natural taste as a mechanic of unusual talents and to his intuitive instincts as an inventor; it was a wholly open field; and it is quite possible that he had entered it in a small way prior to his first venture as a government contractor. We cannot find that there was any one in the country at the time who was regularly engaged in the manufacture; and the need of his country was dire and imperative. We know that in Beckley Quarter, about one mile distant from Simeon North’s birthplace, lived Elias Beckley, Sr., who died in 1816 at the age of eightyone, and who had a gun shop at that place, which was inherited by his son Elias Beckley, Jr., who died in 1828. A tradition of the neighborhood has it that one day as the Beckleys were testing a new gun, a stranger walked around the corner just in time to receive the full charge in
his breast, and was instantly killed. That Simeon North learned the rudiments of the trade from Elias Beckley, we may venture to guess. What we do know, or at least what there is no means of disproving, is that Simeon North was the first official pistol manufacturer of the United States government, and probably the first man in the country to enter upon the manufacture of pistols as the main branch of his business. Up to 1823, when he secured his first gun contract, he appears to have been the exclusive civilian maker of pistols for the government.* His first contract with the government of which we have any knowledge, was dated March 9, 1799, when he was thirty-four years of age, and was for 500 horse pistols at $6.50 each.+ The contract itself is not to be found, but the fact that it was executed appears from subsequent records. The absence of the contract itself is accounted for by the fact that all the records of the War Department prior to 1800 were burned in the fire which destroyed the war office on November 12, 1800. A large portion of the records of the War Department between that date and August 25, 1814, when the British troops entered the National Capital and burned most of the government buildings, were also destroyed.
“NORTH & CHENEY BERLIN” is stamped on the frame’s underside.
The history of this and other arms contracts of the same period is interesting. In 1798, Congress passed an act, approved May 4, appropriating $800,000 for the purchase of arms and ammunition for the government. Immediately following this legislation, contracts were made for 40,000 muskets, 10,000 of which were allotted to Eli Whitney, under contract dated January 14, 1798. On October 15, 1798, Nathan Starr was awarded a contract for swords, and Simeon North the contract for 500 horse pistols, above referred to. On February 6, 1800, before the completion of his first contract, he entered into a second contract for 1500 similar pistols to be delivered within two years. Colonel Decius Wadsworth, writing to the Secretary of War on June 6, 1814, said: “Many of the individuals of small property who engaged in those contracts were absolutely ruined thereby, and the difficulties were so much greater than had been apprehended, it proved in general a losing business to those concerned.” That disaster did not overtake all who engaged in the business, is evident from the fact that Starr, Whitney and North continued in the manufacture of arms under government contracts to the end of their lives.
It is not probable that any of these men received further contracts under this act, as the appropriation was doubtless exhausted before their first contracts were completed. The energy that characterized Simeon North’s operations throughout his long business life, is strikingly illustrated by the way he went about the execution of this first contract. The Whitney contract antedated Simeon North’s by fourteen months, and that of Starr by five months, and yet he was the first of the three to make a delivery. The books of the accounting department of the War Department show that on February 27, 1801, he had received credit for 500 pistols. It would seem that the 1799 contract must have been completed some time before the pistols were passed to Colonel North’s credit; for in a War Department letter book we find the following copy of a letter which indicates that the work was well advanced on the second contract at that time: WAR DEPARTMENT, 7th Feby 1801. DAVID AMES, Sir: Mr. Simeon North informs me that he will in a short time have 1,000 pistol barrels fabricated under contract for the United States, ready for proof. You will be pleased to send an experienced armorer to Berlin for the purpose as soon as Mr. North advises you of being ready.
CONTRACT OF FEBRUARY 6, 1800 1895847 1,500 Pistols to be delivered at Middletown in Connecticut within two years and manufactured within the United States by Simeon North. Agreed upon 6 February 1800. Articles of Agreement made on the sixth day of February Anno Domini, one thousand eight hundred, between James McHenry Esquire, Secretary of the Department of War for and on behalf of the United States of America of the one part and Simeon North of Berlin in the State of Connecticut of the other part. First.—The said Simeon North for himself, his heirs, Executors and Administrators, contracts and agrees to manufacture within United States and deliver at Middletown, in the State of Connecticut, within two years from the date hereof to such person or persons as shall be appointed to receive the same by the Secretary of War for the time being, Fifteen hundred pistols, made and finished in the manner hereinafter mentioned, the deliveries to be made at such times within the said period of two years and in such parcels of not less than Five hundred in each parcel as shall be most agreeable to him the said Simeon North. Second.—The aforesaid pistols are to be made and finished in a workmanlike manner and of good materials, free from cracks and flaws in every part, smooth bored to an exact cylinder, and in fashion, goodness of materials and finish in all respects similar and not inferior to a pattern pistol to be furnished to the party of the second
(Copy not signed.) In only one instance during the fifty-two years in which he was engaged in the business, was Colonel North obliged to ask for any extended indulgence in the time specified for final delivery of arms. That was on the contract of 1813, and was due to the delays incident to the building and equipping of an entire new plant for the manufacture of arms under conditions altogether new in the manufacturing business. His second contract, to which the letter above quoted evidently relates, was signed on behalf of the government by James McHenry, Secretary of War. This contract is preserved in the files of the War Department, and its full text is given:
816 is stamped inside the frame’s brass barrel channel.
part upon his receipt, except that the Bore or Calibre of the pistol is to be the same with that of the pattern Charleville Musket and that the Barrel and Ramrod are each to be one inch longer than the pattern: and also that that part of the Breech of the pistol which lies within the Brass may be formed round on the under part instead of being squared, but it is agreed that the two squares shall be retained one on each side of the Breech as necessary to give a firm position to the barrels within the Brass work. It is particularly required and agreed that the works of the Lock must be of the best Iron, the Steel used for the springs and the face of the hammer of the first quality, and that the stock must be formed of well seasoned Walnut, and all possible care taken that the grain of the wood shall correspond with the curve or bend of the Stock. Third.—The pistols shall be proved at Berlin aforesaid, by a person or persons to be appointed by the Secretary of War for the time being, and as soon as five hundred Barrels are ready for proof, due notice thereof being given to the party of the first part the proof thereof shall be made, and on like notice, with respect to each successive five hundred necessary to make up the whole number, fifteen hundred, proof shall also he made of them. The proof to consist in each Barrel being charged with one eighteenth part of a pound of powder, (the strength of which has been previously ascertained by a proper officer to be equal to throw a twenty four pound Ball, from a Five and half Inch Howitz, at an elevation of forty five degrees, seventy yards, with a charge of one ounce thereof) and a leaden Bullet which will exactly fit the Bore of the Pistol and standing the discharge of the same, after which the person proving shall mark each Barrel so proved with a stamp provided for that purpose. Fourth.—The pistols shall also be inspected at Berlin aforesaid by a person or persons to be appointed by the Secretary of War for the time being, and as soon as five hundred pistols are finally completed and put together, and ready for inspection, due notice thereof being given to the party of the first part, the inspection thereof shall be made, and on like notice with respect to each successive five hundred, necessary to make up the whole number, fifteen hundred, inspection shall also he made of them. The inspection to consist in a careful examination of each pistol to see that it corresponds in every particular with the pattern, except as before mentioned, is free from cracks and flaws, made and finished in a workmanlike manner, and that the locks are sufficiently strong in their springs, and the stocks in wood and other particulars correspond with this agreement. The Wages of the prover and Inspector and all incidental expenses attending the proof and inspection as aforesaid shall be bourne by the United States Fifth.—The party of the first part contracts and agrees for and on behalf of the United States to pay Six Dollars for each and every pistol which shall be manufactured
816 is stamped on the breech plug. conformably to the pattern with the exceptions agreed upon, stand the proof, pass inspection and be delivered at Middletown aforesaid, and to furnish the said Simeon North with fifteen hundred flints for the said pistols. And it is understood by the said parties that no compensation or allowance can be demanded for pistols which may not stand proof or shall be rejected on inspection on account of their disagreement with the pattern in fashion or otherwise save in the particulars provided for or within the true intent and meaning of this Contract. Sixth.—Two thousand Dollars shall be paid and advanced to the party of the second part on closing this Contract, all further advances shall be made at the discretion of the Secretary of the Department of War for the time being and regulated in proportion to the progress made in the manufacture and finishing of the pistols contracted for. The whole residue beyond the advance, or advances that may be made of the price or amount of the whole fifteen hundred pistols, at the rate of six Dollars, for each and every pistol contracted for, which after proof and inspection shall be delivered and receipted for at
Middletown by a person appointed for the purpose, on the part of the United States, to be immediately and without delay, upon such delivery of the whole fifteen hundred pistols, and receipt for the same, fully paid and satisfied. (SEAL OF THE WAR OFFICE) In witness whereof the said Secretary of the Department of War for and on behalf of the United States of America, hath hereunto subscribed his name, and affixed the seal of the War Office; and the said Simeon North hath also subscribed his name and affixed his seal the day and year first above written. JAMES McHENRY Sec. of War SIMEON NORTH [SEAL] Signed, Sealed and delivered in the presence of JOHN CALDWELL NN JONES
*The report of Colonel Bomford of the Ordnance Department, under date of December 27, 1822, furnishing an account of all the small arms made in the two government armories at Springfield and Harper’s Ferry, between the years 1795 and 1821, states that 2,880 pistols were made at Harper’s Ferry in 1807, and 1,208 in 1808, and 1,000 were made at Springfield, in 1818. +Mr. Sawyer states that as early as 1794 Colonel North received a government contract for 500 pistols, but we have been unable to find any evidence of such a contract in the official records. Source: North, Simon Newton Dexter., North, Ralph H. Simeon North, First Official Pistol Maker of the United States: A Memoir. United States: Rumford Press, 1913, pp. 40-49.
VP / US Proof and US acceptance stamps on top of the barrel breech.
Black ink notation reading “H.M. Stewart-Purch. Aug.1950” inside the wood grip and under the strap where it would not be seen.
815 stamped on the bottom of the barrel breech. Note the two lines on the screw head.
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Photographs from the Original Article
Captions and credits appear in the article text as originally printed.