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Benjamin's Two Powder Horns

A Tale of Two Powder Horns

Some of you will remember the email below that I sent to the list five years ago and the photos of a powder horn that was made for and possibly by "a" Benjamin Rogers that we posted to the web site. Well, we have now found a second powder horn that must have been made by the same person and it too has the name of Benjamin Rogers on it. This second powder horn has a date of 1763. Note that the first horn had the dates 1758 and 1763 on it which are the starting and ending years of the French and Indian War.

This second horn also has the name of a another man on it, a Freebon Hambilton. This was probably Freeborn Hambilton or Hamilton b. 13 Nov 1751 in Greenwich, Kent County, Rhode Island and died before 1790. He was married to Mary Sweet.

Given that we know that Freeborn Hambilton was born in Rhode Island and his son, Freeborn Hamilton was also born there in 1785, the likely hood that this was "our" Benjamin Rogers who was in SW Virginia during this time is pretty slim. Your comments are welcome.

Jerry

Posted in Aug 2003:

Cousins,
I have recently found a person who is in possession of a powder horn that belonged to "a" Benjamin Rogers. The powder horn has the dates 1758 and 1763 inscribed on it. The first thing that came to mind was the start and end date of the Fr. and Indian War (1758-1763). While there we have found no positive evidence that Benjamin took part in the Fr. and Indian War, it is well documented that he was involved in the Battle of Point Pleasant along with some of his sons. The only possible thing I can find related to service in the Fr. and Indian War is a reference on page 1418 of Annals of SW VA. that mentions a ______ Rogers receiving land for his service to the King in the Fr. and Indian War.

It appears that the first name has been "lost". In that same reference I note that Walter Crockett also received a land grant for service in the Fr. and Indian War. Benjamin or his son, Benjamin, was in Crockett's company during the Battle of Point Pleasant.

After examining the photos of the powder horn I see that it appears that the horn was made in 1763 and the date 1758 appears to be inside an outline of a fort. As far as I can determine, Fort Chiswell in what is now Wythe Co was the only fort constructed in VA during 1758. We know that Benjamin and his family lived near Fort Chiswell and that his son, Benjamin, was married there in 1788. I am attempting to obtain information about the appearance of the fort, but it appears to have been dismantled about 1796.

I want to emphasize that we are no means sure that this is our Benjamin's powder horn, but I welcome your comments or insights that you might want to share.

Jerry

Put your mouse over the image for a larger view.

Horn #1

Horn #2

This page was last updated on: June 26 2008