Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Herb Houze
In 1831 Ethan Allen embarked on his manufacturing career with the production of cutlery in the small Massachusetts hamlet of Milford. It was there that he received his foundation and experience in metal working and commercial manufacturing. The products believed made at that factory were shoemakers’ tools, knives, and various other devices for cutting. In that same year he moved to North Grafton, Massachusetts, a nearby village where he continued manufacturing the same line of items and where it is thought Allen had his first exposure to the arms trade with the fabrication of a cane gun patented by Dr. Roger Lambert of Upton, Massachusetts. Evidently with that experience under his belt, and his personal assessment of the market as ready for his gun making ability, Allen embarked on his firearms career with the first production of his underhammer “Pocket Rifle,” in late 1836.
In 1837 Allen was granted his first patent providing for double action operation of a percussion pistol, leading to the manufacture of his “Tube Hammer” pocket pistol and ultimately to the development of his famed pepperbox. In that same year he formed a partnership with Charles Thurber, his brother-in-law. Their manufacturing operations continued at Grafton, Massachusetts until 1842 when, in order to expand their operation and likely make use of better power facilities and broader labor market, relocation was made to the thriving manufacturing center of Norwich, Connecticut, where the firm remained until 1847.
It is not positively known why the location was changed to Worcester, Massachusetts in 1847. It is surmised that better plant facilities and lower prices, and easier means of transportation, were more attractive there. Business continued as Allen & Thurber until 1854, when Thomas P. Wheelock, another brother-in-law of Ethan Allen who had been with the firm since its inception in Grafton, was taken in as a full partner; the name then changed to ALLEN, THURBER & COMPANY. It thus remained until 1856 when, with the retirement of Charles Thurber, the trade name was altered to ALLEN & WHEELOCK. This latter identification remained on the firm’s products from 1856 through 1865.
Thomas Wheelock died in 1864 at age 51. The following year Ethan Allen reorganized and renamed the company “E. ALLEN & CO.,” which by then included two of Allen’s sons-in-law, Sullivan Forehand and Henry Wadsworth. The company operated under that E. Allen & Co. name until Ethan Allen’s death in 1871 when it once again underwent a name change to FOREHAND & WADSWORTH (see Chapter VIII-A). With the death of Henry Wadsworth in 1890 it was reorganized and renamed FOREHAND ARMS COMPANY. Despite Sullivan Forehand’s death in 1898, it operated under his name until 1902 at which time the company name and remaining inventory on hand was purchased by the HOPKINS & ALLEN MANUFACTURING CO. (no relation of Ethan Allen) of Norwich, Connecticut. Principals of the firm, Samuel and Charles Allen, are said to have been employees of the Ethan Allen firm at an earlier date.
In addition to his many patents for firearms, Ethan Allen was well-recognized as the inventor of special equipment (patented in 1860) for the manufacture of cartridges...machinery that was to remain in popular use by himself and others for many years. Allen & Wheelock also manufactured quite a few sizes and calibers of rimfire and lipfire ammunition. Boxes bearing the A& W label are eagerly sought after by gun and ammunition collectors alike!
A name that often appears linked with the Allen firm and has a more direct association than the usual agent’s marking which may be found on some Allen firearms is that of William H. Onion, a nephew of Ethan Allen. Onion established himself in business in New York City in the early 1850s and it is fairly evident from labels on cased guns, as well as advertisements in periodicals of the era, that William Onion was both in business with and financially backed by his uncle and by Thomas Wheelock and Charles Thurber. For a short period he even operated under the name ONION & WHEELOCK. This close association to the factory and its owners makes cased outfits with the Onion & Wheelock labels or markings quite desirable.
Listed below is the chronological order of the Allen firms with the various names they operated under, locations and dates of each: A quick method of identifying the era and relative scarcity of most Allen marked weapons.
E. ALLEN Grafton, Massachusetts 1831-1837
ALLEN & THURBER Grafton, Massachusetts 1837-1842
ALLEN & THURBER Norwich, Connecticut 1842-1847
ALLEN & THURBER Worcester, Massachusetts 1847-1854
ALLEN THURBER & CO. Worcester, Massachusetts 1854-1856
ALLEN & WHEELOCK Worcester, Massachusetts 1856-1865
E. ALLEN & COMPANY Worcester, Massachusetts 1865-1871
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(NOTE: Material on Allens, especially pepperboxes, may be found in several other books covering American firearms appearing in complete bibliographic listings elsewhere in this book, notably Chapter IV and Chapter VII Pepperboxes. These are: American British and Continental Pepperbox Firearms by Jack Dunlap, Pepperbox Firearms by Lewis Winant, The Collecting of Guns, Edited by James E. Serven, and Sellers & Smith, American Percussion Revolvers.)
*Henry, Paul. Ethan Allen and Allen & Wheelock; Their Guns and Their Legacy. Woonsocket, Rhode Island: Mowbray Pub. Co., 2006. A “must have” for the study and collecting of these makers; a remarkable wealth of detail in text and color illustrations.
*Mouillesseaux, Harold R. Ethan Allen, Gunmaker: His Partners, Patents And Firearms. Ottawa, Canada: Museum Restoration Service, 1973. A major guide to the subject with a great wealth of biographical material on Ethan Allen and his partners as well as details on their products.
*Thomas, H. H. The Story of Allen & Wheelock Firearms. Cincinnati: Krehbiel Company, 1965. (Distributed by Rutgers Book, N.J.) The first work devoted solely to Allen arms, a pioneer in its field with numerous photo illustrations.
Lambert Patent Percussion Cane Gun See Chapter VII-C, Lambert (E. Allen’s first gun making venture).
Ethan Allen First Model Pocket Rifle
First Model Pocket Rifle made by Ethan Allen, Grafton, Massachusetts. Underhammer Single Shot Pistol. Made c. mid-1830s through c. 1842; total quantity a few thousand.
31 caliber standard, but also made in 32, 34, and 44, with varying frame sizes; box like frame shape standard. Rifled barrels of from 5-1/8" to 9", part octagon, part round. Made without ramrod; mountings of iron. Saw handle grips of walnut (sometimes rosewood), usually with silver oval inlays. Scroll engraving standard on frames of later production.
Batch numbers only under barrel or top of strap. Standard marking on frame: E. ALLEN/GRAFTON/MASS. and POCKET RIFLE/CAST STEEL/WARRANTED. Dealer or agent markings sometimes present, e.g., A. W. SPIES MISSISSIPPI POCKET RIFLE , and will add premium to the values. Frequent advertisements in the St. Louis “Missouri Republican” by Allen dealers Mead & Adriance of that city (see 7E-021) often mentioned this model. The Jan. 27, 1838 issue offered it as “...the celebrated Mississippi Rifle Pistol.” An earlier edition, Jan. 11, 1837 advised they had three dozen on hand that were “...highly recommended by all who have used them as excellent for sportsmen or for defense.” MEADE & ADRIANCEagent markings as well as those of WOLF & GILLESPIE are also occasionally encountered on this early Allen and add premium to the value shown.
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