Lot - Historic "Old Hickory" Inscribed New York Flintlock Rifle

Extraordinary and Historic "Old Hickory" Inscribed, Patriotic Engraved, and German Silver Banded and Mounted A. Harrington New York Flintlock Full-Stock Rifle Attributed as Owned by President Andrew Jackson “Old Hickory,” Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), 7th President of the United States, remains one of the most influential and fascinating statesmen in American history. President Trump had Jackson’s official portrait hung in the Oval Office as he admires Jackson’s strength, populism, and nationalism and brought the portrait back in 2025. Jackson won the popular vote in three back-to-back presidential elections and served as the nation’s chief executive in 1829 to 1837. His popularity stemmed in part from his martial fame and fierce reputation after leading his men to victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 as well as the fact that he advocated for the common man over the elites and for preserving the union by force if necessary during the nullification crisis. Jackson was born in the Waxhaws region at the border of the Carolinas in 1767 to Scots-Irish parents who had just emigrated from Ireland two years prior. His father died before Jackson was born. At the age of just 13, he joined the Patriot cause during the American Revolution. Hugh Jackson, his oldest brother, died following the Battle of Stono Ferry in 1778. Jackson and his other brother Robert were captured by the British two years later. While captive, Jackson refused to polish a British officer’s books and received a slash from the officer’s sword. Both of the Jackson brothers also contracted smallpox during their confinement, and Robert died shortly after their mother secured their release. His mother too died shortly thereafter from cholera leaving Andrew Jackson an orphan at the age of 14. Given this harsh beginning, Jackson’s fiery temper, toughness, and daring nature were only fitting. He became well-known for his personal and political quarrels, many of which erupted in violence, often after his adversaries attacked his wife Rachel as a bigamist because her and Jackson had initially married before the prior marriage was properly dissolved. The most famous of these incidents took place in 1806. Charles Dickinson and Jackson had been locked in a heated argument over betting on a horse race and Dickinson impugned Jackson’s wife privately and Jackson’s character in the newspapers. A challenge naturally followed. The terms were agreed: the duelists would stand facing one another just twenty-four feet apart with their pistols down. Once ready, they would be given the instruction to fire as soon as they please. Given their mutual hatred, neither man would delope or shoot to wound; they would both aim to kill. Dickinson was known to be a particularly talented marksman, by some accounts the best pistol shot in the country and demonstrated to his friends that he could shoot a string at 24 paces and put multiple shots into a space the size of a silver dollar. Dickinson even reportedly bet $500 that he’d get Jackson on his first shot. Jackson and his second, Thomas Overton attempted to trick Dickinson into rushing his shot by Overton quickly and loudly instructing the men to fire immediately after the men declared they were ready. Despite this, Dickinson’s shot found its mark and lodged just inches from Jackson’s heart. Jackson, however, was able to stay standing and composed and took deliberate aim. When he pulled the trigger, the cock dropped only to half-cock. Under dueling traditions, a misfire counted as a shot, but Jackson nonetheless re-cocked and fired, his ball passing through Dickinson’s abdomen mortally wounding him. After leaving the scene, Jackson’s surgeon learned of his own wound just inches from his heart. Jackson carried it in his chest the rest of his life and continued to cause him pain, possibly leading to his death many years later. While private violence did little to promote Jackson’s political prospects, violence in the name of the country certainly did. Jackson was appointed major general of volunteers at the beginning of the War of 1812 and charged with defending New Orleans from a British attack. Instead of disbanding his men when no attack came, he led them back home, and earned the moniker “Old Hickory” for enduring the same hardships as his men. He again pulled together a force to fight the Red Sticks, a group from the Creek tribe, who had used the larger war as an opportunity to attack American settlers. At the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on March 27, 1814, Jackson’s army supported by Indian allies defeated the Red Sticks, leaving approximately 800 of the estimated 1,000 Red Stick warriors dead and mutilated and securing large portions of Indian territory Alabama and Georgia. Jackson was promoted to major general in the U.S. Army and again called to defend against British attack later that year. First he and his men fought off an assault on Mobile, Alabama, and then re-captured Pensacola from the British. By December, they were in New Orleans improving defenses and held off the British in multiple engagements. His army, composed of approximately 5,359 men, including Baratarian pirates, Choctaw warriors, freemen, frontier riflemen, militiamen, and U.S. Army regulars defeated an attack by 8,392 British soldiers in the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815. Jackson’s motley force suffered just thirteen killed, thirty-nine wounded, and 19 missing or captured whereas the British suffered 285 killed, 1,265 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. Among the British dead was their commander, Edward Pakenham. It was the greatest land victory for the United States in the entire war. Old Hickory was now a national hero. His martial success continued in the South, as he commanded an attack on the Seminoles in Florida which also added pressure leading to Spain conceding Florida to the United States. Jackson was the territories first American governor, resigning in late 1821 and returning to his home in Tennessee and soon returned to Washington, D.C., as a senator. In 1824, he ran for president. The song "The Hunters of Kentucky" (also known as "The Battle of New Orleans") served as his campaign song and is credited with popularizing the name "Kentucky rifles" for the American long rifle with the lines: "But Jackson he was wide awake, And was not scar'd at trifles, For well he knew what aim we take, With our Kentucky rifles." Another verse noted, “I s'pose you've read it in the prints, How Pakenham attempted To make old Hickory Jackson wince, But soon his scheme repented; For we, with rifles ready cock'd, Thought such occasion lucky, And soon around the gen'ral flock'd, The hunters of Kentucky.” Though Jackson secured the largest share of the popular vote in the presidential election, he lost in the Electoral College. In 1828, he ran again, this time as a member of the new Democratic Party and swept both the popular vote and the Elector College. However, the campaign was brutal, and attacks on his wife cut deep. Rachel fell ill and died on December 22, 1828. Heartbroken, he went to Washington determined to keep his promise to support the common man. He also signed into law the controversial Indian Removal Act of 1830, forcing the relocation of Native Americans to territory west of the Mississippi. He was re-elected in 1832 with over 54% of the popular vote. Though popular, Jackson remained a divisive figure, and, in 1835, he was the first American president to face an assassination attempt. Richard Lawrence stalked the president and attacked him as he was returning to the White House, but both of Lawrence’s pistols misfired. Jackson, by then 67 years old, beat Lawrence with his cane until he was subdued. Given his martial reputation, Old Hickory owned many firearms, some of them gifts from admirers. In addition to dueling pistols for defending his honor and pocket pistols for self-defense, Jackson owned rifles. When he died in 1845, Old Hickory may have left the current rifle to his nephew and adopted son Andrew Jackson Jr. (1808-1865) given he owned another of Jackson's ornate rifles. The rifle is signed "A. Harrington MAKER New York" on the barrel in ornate script with lightly engraved swirling accents. A. A. Harrington of Poughkeepsie, New York, ran advertisements from 1830-1832 for his shop in various issues of the "Poughkeepsie Journal," first for the "Poughkeepsie Gun Factory" and later for "Harrington's Gun Manufactory." His June 2, 1830, dated advertisement indicated he had taken over the shop of P. P. Hayes and was manufacturing rifles, fowling pieces, and muskets and also converted flintlocks to percussion. His June 2, 1832, dated advertisement was published on the same page as the town's proclamation of support for Andrew Jackson in the election of 1832 and notes that A. A. Harrington of Poughkeepsie, under the sign of an eagle, offered double and single barrel guns for $4.25 to $75, fine rifles for $10 to $100, "smooth rifles" for $9, pistols, variety of muskets for $4 to $8, and an assortment of accoutrement. A $100 rifle would certainly have been a high-end piece in the 1830s. Note that the most deluxe rifles from Harrington’s shop were selling for ten times the cost of his plainer rifles. For comparison, that is also double the cost of a Colt Paterson later in the decade. The barrel was manufactured by Remington, "America's Oldest Gunmaker", and has their curved maker's mark partially visible on the left flat at the breech. The company had been manufacturing barrels in Ilion, New York, since 1816 and expanded in 1828 after the opening of the Erie Canal and continued to thrive in the Age of Jackson. The barrel is cut and has holes for a false muzzle (not included) and also features a brass blade front sight, adjustable notch rear sight with decorative finial, the above noted maker's mark, a peep sight with a long extended tang and light engraving, five inlaid German silver bands at the breech (two broad at the rear and three narrower at the front), and a coned vent. The false muzzle was patented in 1840 by Alvan Clark of Boston as a "loading muzzle" and was reportedly solely assigned to Edwin Wesson. However, Wesson began licensing other gunmakers as well, and some New York gunmakers simply made unauthorized use of Clark's design. Shorter barreled rifles were also more popular in that era. The peep sight was also likely installed at that time. The building of highly accurate rifles for competitive rifle matches became a specialty of the Northeast in this period. The lock has a rainproofed priming pan with distinct gutters that direct water away from the powder, a "J-FISHER" maker's mark, scroll and cornucopia engraving, stepped tail, and a roller on the frizzen spring. The rifle has an adjustable single set trigger. The stock is finely figured curly maple and has engraved German silver furniture including an eagle on the bottom of the grasping section of the forend, scroll accented trigger guard, ornate banner inscribed "OLD HICKORY" and scroll engraving on the rounded cheekpiece, scroll pattern accent trim along the edge of the butt between the buttplate tang and toeplate with twist motif borders. The patch box has a pair of deer and foliage, a cougar mask, and bald eagle finial with a banner inscribed with the motto "NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT" held in the eagle's beak. The Latin motto on the banner in the eagle's beak means "no one provokes me with impunity" and is most famously the motto of the Stuarts and the Kingdom of Scotland as well as the Order of the Thistle and multiple Scottish organizations. Andrew Jackson's parents were Scots-Irish immigrants, so the motto is fitting, and it of course also fits his reputation for striking out against attacks on his person and character. It is a motto known to have been used by other American politicians in the Age of Jackson and occasionally appeared in congressional debates and newspapers. The patchbox appears to be purely decorative. No provision for opening the lid has been found after close investigation in search for a hidden release button, and the lid fits tightly against the buttplate. The engraving may be the work of Richard Bates Inshaw who was active in New York in the early 1830s and engraved arms for Samuel Colt in the Paterson era before moving to work for Ames in Chicopee, Massachusetts, in 1836. A comparison to the Inshaw rifle in the Chicopee Historical Society's collection and shown on pages 68-71 of "Colt Factory Engravers of the Nineteenth Century" by Houze is warranted. Houze is recorded as saying the rifle, which is believed to have been a "masterpiece" example of the Inshaw brothers' work, "Is without a doubt the best pre-1850 American firearm I've ever seen," and this rifle is certainly every bit as fine and even more fascinating. This incredible rifle on its own would already be a magnificent example of American fine arms from the "Age of Jackson," but the "OLD HICKORY" inscription on the cheekpiece plate suggesting that this rifle was built for Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) certainly adds considerably to its mystique and historical interest. It would certainly have been fitting as a gift for Old Hickory when he was president in 1829-1837. He rose to prominence as a military hero famous for leading American riflemen to victory over the British in an age when smoothbore muskets remained the norm.

Manufacturer: American

Model: Flintlock

BBL: 34 1/2 inch octagon

Stock: curly maple

Gauge: 42

Finish: brown/casehardened/German silver

Serial NumberNSN

Class: Antique

Condition: Exceptionally fine. The barrel retains 85% of the original brown finish and has aged patina and verdigris on the German silver bands, minor oxidation, and general minor wear. The lock has brown and mottled gray patina, crisp engraving, and mild wear. The German silver furniture displays crisp engraving, minor aging, and light wear. The stock is very fine and displays attractive flame figure, minor dings and scratches, a tension crack at the lock screw on the left, and light overall wear. Mechanically excellent. This is a very attractive and extraordinary "National Treasure" flintlock rifle undoubtedly inscribed for "Old Hickory", President Andrew Jackson.

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Lot 99

Historic "Old Hickory" Inscribed New York Flintlock Rifle

Historic "Old Hickory" Inscribed New York Flintlock Rifle

Starting Bid: $65,000

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