AI OR BEN HEATH GUNS
LOOKING FOR INFO ON A.I HEATH OR BEN HEATH RIFLES/PISTOLS OR MUSKETS MADE BY THEM DURING CIVAL WAR ERA.INTERESTED IN PURCHASE OF THESE.
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I checked my copy of 'American Firearms Makers', but could not find any listing. 0 -
From http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnsumner/sumnheat.htm
I imagine you could get ahold of Tim Heath at the below address.
Richmond Heath
Submitted by Tim Heath
Great-Great-Great-Grandson
4080 Hunters Point Pike
Lebanon, TN 37087
Richmond R. Heath and his wife Sarah K. Milan were both born in 1805 in Virginia. Together they left Virginia with their young family and came to Tennessee about 1830.
We first find Richmond and Sarah in Campbell County Tennessee in 1830, with their two young children. After a short stay in Campbell County, the Heaths left for Jefferson County, with a brief stopover in Grainger County where their third child was born in 1831. In 1832 Richmond first appears on the Jefferson County tax records, paying taxes on 70 acres. /dd>
On April 6, 1832 Richmond is elected as Second Lieutenant of the Sixth Regiment of The Jefferson County Volunteers in the Tennessee Militia.
On April 15, 1834 Richmond purchased 90 acres for $75.00 from William C. Rankin of Rutherford County, North Carolina. This land was joining the land of James Corbit. On April 3, 1837 Richmond received a land grant from the State of Tennessee for 93 acres. This land was lying north of the French Broad River on the waters of the Dumplin Creek, beginning on a ridge bordering the lands of McGown, Rains Heath, Franklin, W. Hoskins, Haggard, & Jacobs. December 14, 1838 saw Richmond sell a parcel of land, a small piece on the top of the ridge, for $20.00 to Claibourn W. Lyle. On December 13, 1842, Richmond sold all of his land to James W. Carlock for $200.00. This land was the land grant he received in 1837 plus what was left after his sale to Claibourn Lyle.
The itch to move on had hit Richmond and his family. After the sale of his land, they moved on a little westward to Sumner County Tennessee. Richmond was a farmer, but he also had a trade that left a legacy for his family; he was a gunsmith. This tradition carried on through his sons, and the blacksmith trade to some of his grandsons. Many of the Heath rifles can be found today in Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky. They can be identified by the stock and by the initials on the top of every barrel they produced.
Richmond and Sarah had six know children. They were:
(1) William McKendree "Billy" Heath (1826-1890)
Billy was born February 7, 1826 in Virginia. He married Sarah Frances Miller (1826-1890) in Allen County Kentucky, on March 5, 1849. Here they settled and raised their family of six children. (1) Rufus R. (1850-?), (2) William Elihue (1851-1901), (3) John Fletcher (1853-1932), (4) Infant son (1856-1856), (5) Samantha E. (1858-?) (6) Sarah Lou "Ella" (1861-1934) (7) George Rosecran (1863-1943). Billy like his father was a farmer and gunsmith. Many of Billy's rifles are in family hands today. He died just eight short months after his wife Sarah, on December 14, 1890. They are buried at Union Chapel Cemetery in Allen County Kentucky.
(2) Margaret E. Heath (1829-?)
Margaret was born about 1829 in Virginia. She married Elihue H. Cline on September 18, 1851 in Sumner County Tennessee. Elihue was in the Confederate Army, Co. E, 9th Cavalry. He was captured and sent to Camp Chase Ohio where he died October 5, 1863. Nothing further is known about Margaret.
(3) John Marshall Heath (1831-1901)
John was born February 23, 1831 in Grainger County Tennessee. Like his father and brother, John was a farmer and gunsmith. He married Samantha Elizabeth Foster (1836-1926) on April 9, 1854 in Allen Co. Kentucky. They had ten children. (1) William F. (1853-1864) (2) Sarah Jane Permillan (1857-1941) (3) Stephen A. D. (1860- 1908) (4) Rachel F. (1861-1868) (5) M.M. (?-1865) (6) Isabell T. (1868-?) (7) Courtney F. (1869-1900) (8) Mary Alice (1871-1895) (9) Booker S. (1874-1888) (10) Martha F. "Mattie" (1877-1971). John lived out his live in Allen County where he died on April 21, 1901. As of this date 1995, John and Samantha's log home is still standing. They are buried at the Foster Cemetery in Allen County.
(4) Daniel M. Heath (1834-1891)
Daniel was the first of Richmond and Sarah's children to be born in Jefferson County. Daniel was not quite the gunsmith his brothers were; his trade was blacksmith. His son Brode had a ten gauge double barrel muzzle loading shotgun that Daniel made. During hard times he traded this old gun for a mule. Daniel married Elizabeth Frances Martin (1837-1879) on October 10, 1859 in Allen County, Kentucky at his brother John's house. Daniel became a widower at a young age. He raised his seven children near his home place where his family came to Sumner County from Jefferson County some 35 years before. (1) Mary Jane (1861-1942) (2) William A. I. "Will" (1863-1925) (3) Elizabeth S. (1866-?) (4) Arminta (1868-?) (5) John Richard (1870-1924) (6) Brode (1874-1964) (7) Dora (1878-1910). His son Will took over his blacksmith trade after his death in 1891. Daniel and Elizabeth are buried in the old Martin family plot in Sumner County.
(5) A.I. Thornburg Heath (1837-1924)
Perhaps the most popular of the Heath gunsmiths, A.I. , was born January 29, 1837 in Jefferson County. He was named for A.I. Thornburg (1793-1883) a merchant in New Market of Jefferson County. Thornburg's relationship to the Heath family is unknown.
A.I., like his brother Daniel, settled in Sumner County. He served in the Confederate Army during the War Between The States, in Co. E, 9th Tennessee Cavalry. A.I. was wounded at The Battle Of Hartsville Tennessee, a crippling spine injury that he would carry the rest of his life. He married Martha Ann "Patsy" Johnson (1848-1926) on August 19, 1867, in Sumner County. Together they had six children. (1) Ida C. (1869-1900) (2) William Thomas "Tom" (1871-1948) (3) Raleigh Thornburg "Ral" (1875-1954) (4) Tobias Franklin "Toby" (1878-1915) (5) Alonzo Garfield "Lonnie" (1882-1963) (6) Sallie Ann (1889-1967)
A.I. was a musical man, often filling the air with his fiddle playing. A.I. died January 15, 1924, and his wife of 57 years died on the same day, two years later, and they are buried at The Sherron Cemetery in Sumner County.
(6) Benjamin R. "Ben" Heath (1841-1917)
Ben, the last of the Richmond Heath's children to be born in Jefferson County, was born August 11, 1841. Ben was mostly a farmer, but he also made a few rifles. He served in the Confederate Army in the same unit as his brother-in-law, Elihue Cline, and his brother A.I.
Ben married Mary Jane Johnson (1847-1924) a sister to his brother A.I.'s wife Patsy, on November 2, 1862 in Sumner County. They had six children. (1) Charles T. "Charlie" (1866-1946) (2) Mollie Jane (1870-1962) (3) Magdalene F. "Maggie" (1875-1947) (4) William Robert "Dock" (1877-1964) (5) Donnie Mae (1878-1971) (6) Dora Belle (1883-1970).
Ben passed away on June 12, 1917. He is buried along side his wife at the Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Sumner County.
After Sarah (Milan) Heath's death in 1870, Richmond married a widow named Martha (Helson) Meador (1837-1909). To this union was born one son, Richmond R. Harvey Heath (1872-1925).
Harvey Heath married Alice Harris (1877-1915). They lived in Allen County Kentucky and had one son Genie Clayton Heath (1894-1931). After Alice's death, Harvey went to Florida. Nothing further is known about Harvey.
The cycle of life closed its chapter on Richmond R. Heath about 1879. From Virginia through Campbell, Jefferson, and Sumner Counties in Tennessee and Allen County in Kentucky, he has left his mark, some 670 known descendants, all across the United States.
Regards,
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Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some aquatic ceremony. You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart throws a sword at you!0
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