The Underhammer Gun: Counterfeit or simply misattributed? Or both?

By Teresa Teixeira Greene

When is a work of art or historical artifact considered a counterfeit? Is it only when the misattribution is done on purpose and succeeds? What about if it picks up a mistaken misattribution so thoroughly that it is believed correct? Or if it is purposely mislabeled but done so very badly? This underhammer pistol, which has been part of our collection since 1980, may fit into all those categories.

This object is a single-shot, underhammer percussion pistol with a wooden grip. It is called an underhammer gun because the firing mechanism (the hammer) is placed underneath the barrel, directly in front of the unguarded trigger. While extremely unusual today, underhammer guns saw a brief period of popularity in New England in the nineteenth century with the invention of the percussion cap. As opposed to earlier firing methods, which relied on a struck spark lighting loose powder on the exterior of the gun, percussion caps contained the powder, allowing for them to be used in all orientations and weather. This placement of the hammer beneath the barrel allowed a variety of sights to be attached to the top without obstruction and protected the shooter’s face from misfires—at the expense of their hand).

In collecting circles, underhammer rifles became associated with gunsmith Nicanor Kendall of Windsor, Vermont, who received a patent for his underhammer mechanism. It was simple and cheap to manufacture: Kendall exploited prison labor at Windsor Prison to construct a large number of guns, which yielded him a number of production contracts with the US military This particular pistol is tied to Nicanor Kendall through a mark on the top of the barrel, where the words, “A. STORY WINDSOR VT.” are stamped.

At the beginning of his career, Kendall apprenticed under Asa Story, so the mark could be used to argue that Kendall’s famous invention was lifted from his teacher, upending the common history of the Kendall rifle.

However, neither Story nor Kendall made the pistol. Astute collectors may recognize the gun as an Anderson pistol—a name based on another misattribution of manufacture in Anderson, Texas. While there is no evidence that these underhammer pistols were produced in Texas, there are several examples of similarly shaped hammers produced in Connecticut and Massachusetts based on designs patented by gunmakers Fordyce and Adin Ruggles. Anderson pistols are often now attributed to Blunt & Syms of New York due to similarities in the hammer and trigger shapes.

A close examination of the mark on the barrel shows that it was made with a series of individual letter stamps, something that would have been an unusual practice for professional gunsmiths—when they were used, most gunmakers’ stamps were a single piece, rather than individual letters. While the Anderson, Texas attribution was a mistake that became widely accepted as truth, the Asa Story attribution was a deliberate mistruth that was likely added to increase the monetary value of the gun by an unscrupulous dealer.

The Vermont Historical Society acquired the pistol for its collection based on the attribution to Asa Story. However, after we compared it to the other Windsor underhammer guns in our collection, it became immediately apparent that the attribution to Story was suspect. Despite having no known connection to Vermont outside the false attribution, the piece will be retained within the collection as a study piece, as a comparison piece, as a testament to Vermont’s importance in the antique gun market, and to demonstrate the importance of verifying attributions and uncovering fakes.

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2022 issue of our member magazine, History Connections. To get it and support the Vermont Historical Society, sign up as a member.