#MC91
1877
Quarto (ca. 8x5 in). Brown ink on yellowish lined wove paper. Fold and pencil marks, but otherwise a very good letter written in a legible hand.
Historically interesting autograph letter, documenting the beginning of the arms industry in the American West.
The addressee of the letter, “The Sharps Rifle Company,” was one of the most prominent American firearms manufacturers of the mid-19th century. Founded in 1851 by Christian Sharps in Hartford, Connecticut, the company gained a strong reputation for its innovative breech-loading rifles, which were widely used during the Civil War and became especially popular among buffalo hunters, scouts, and settlers in the American West. The company ceased operations in the early 1880s following declining demand and internal financial difficulties.
In the letter, Daniel A. Fraser (ca. 1846-?), a stationary engineer from Virginia City, Nevada, makes an urgent request to the Sharps Rifle Company for .45 caliber ammunition supplies, including a bullet mold with two “cannelures,” a swage pin, and 2,000 ball patches. As follows from the text, Daniel had a deep knowledge of firearms and appears to have been a regular customer of the company.
The text of the letter:
“To Sharps Rifle Co.
Please send me by Express C.O.D. one bullet mound 45 cal with two canvaleurs suitable for US Springfield rifle musket, also one suage pin for lacking out bullet, as I broke the one in my suage. If you have not got any duplicates you need not make it as it would probably not fit. The suage is 45 cal, 420 grains, also send me two thousand ball patches for 45 cal balls, and oblidge.”
