Kentucky’s Heath Family and Their Tennessee Style Rifles ©

Overview: Kentucky's nine schools of gunmaking were all heavily influenced by early migration patterns. Along the state's southern border, early Kentuckians often came up through Tennessee and their rifles shared characteristics with Tennessee guns. Kentucky’s Mountain School rifles from the southeastern “hill country” often displayed Tennessee influences, and the same held true for rifles from the southern part of the Barrens School in central Kentucky that bordered on Tennessee. While not fancy, Barrens School rifles often had slim, graceful stocks that gave them an inherent beauty despite a lack of decoration. In the southern end of the Barrens School, the little-known Heath family of Allen County, Kentucky, produced some of the school’s most attractive guns with Tennessee influences. The Heaths migrated north from Sumner County, Tennessee, and settled in nearby Allen County. Family patriarch Richmond Heath was an early Tennessee gunsmith of Grainger, Campbell and Sumner Counties who had five gunsmithing sons. Three of his sons, when of age, moved north into Kentucky to work. The two oldest, William and John, made similar rifles for many years in Allen County. Younger brother Daniel learned the trade but was less proficient and did primarily blacksmith work.

Barrens School Rifles: The heart of the Barrens School was Russellville in Logan County where two gunsmiths, Joseph Blair and Samuel Matthis, made full-stocked rifles with fine architecture, iron mountings, a lack of decoration, and a reputation for accuracy; their guns were the epitome of Barrens School rifles. Samuel Matthis made some of the best Russellville rifles, and a good example of his work is seen in Figure No.1. Its fine stock architecture, well-forged and almost delicate iron furniture, and good curly maple wood make it one of the Barrens School’s better rifles. Rifles from outlying areas often had brass mounts, but they were otherwise typical Barrens School guns that lacked inlay work and seldom had molding lines.

Figure No.1: This Barrens School rifle was made by Samuel Matthis of Russellville in Logan County. It has a Kentucky triangular butt with well-formed iron mountings but lacks decorative elements, making it typical of better Barrens rifles. Another Russellville gunsmith, Joseph Blair, worked slightly earlier than Matthis, and made similar guns, suggesting a working relationship at one time. Author’s collection, photo by J. Jaeger.

The Heath Family: Richmond Heath was born in Virginia in 1805, learned the gunsmith’s trade, married Sarah Milan, and in 1830 moved to Campbell County, Tennessee. He then moved to Grainger County in 1831, Jefferson County in 1832, and finally Sumner County in 1842 where he settled near the Tennessee/Kentucky line and remained for the rest of his life. Richmond had a large family with five gunsmithing sons. Three of his older sons, when of age about 1850 +/-, moved north across the state line into Allen County, Kentucky, where they worked as gunsmiths for many years. Those sons were William “Billy” McKendree Heath, John Marshall Heath, and Daniel M. Heath. William and John made slim half-stocked rifles with strong Tennessee influences. Their work was very similar; often only the barrel mark identified which brother made the gun. Heath rifles were always signed with large block-letter initials. Younger brother Daniel was less proficient at gunsmithing and worked primarily as a blacksmith. Heath rifles resemble guns being made in Tennessee at the time, with slim stocking and a nose cap set substantially beyond the rear ramrod pipe, almost like [but not quite] a Tennessee-style three-quarter stocked gun.

William “Billy” Heath: Billy, the oldest of the Heath brothers, was born in Virginia in 1826, moved with his family to Tennessee in 1830, and learned the gunsmith’s trade from his father, Richmond Heath. About 1848 after completing his training, he moved to Allen County, Kentucky, where he married Sarah Miller in 1849. Billy worked as a gunsmith at Scottsville, raised a family, and died in 1890. His rifles are more common than other Heath rifles, probably because younger brother John worked for him for several years and did not sign rifles until he opened his own gun shop. Billy used both walnut and curly maple for his stocks and marked his barrels “W M H” in large block letters. The rifle in Figures No. 2, 3, and 4 is typical of his work; its signature is shown in Figure No. 5. The rifle differs from John Heath’s rifle with its cheekpiece, suggesting it may have been made a few years earlier than John’s rifle… but John’s rifle has an earlier style guard, so the presence of a cheekpiece may have little bearing on when a Heath rifle was made. Billy also made rifles without cheekpieces.

Figure No.2: A full-length view of a Billy Heath rifle from Allen County, Kentucky, shows the Heaths’ usual stock profile with the nose cap well beyond the rear ramrod pipe. Stock wood is poorly figured maple. Barrel: 38-1/2” with .32 caliber bore. Courtesy J. Carter.

Figure No.3: The front of the Billy Heath rifle shows its rounded side facings often seen on Tennessee rifles. The mountings are all brass including the late style guard; the author has not seen an iron-mounted Kentucky Heath rifle. Courtesy J. Carter.

Figure No.4: The rear of the Billy Heath rifle has a low and somewhat bulky cheekpiece. The late style guard suggests this rifle is later than John’s rifle illustrated below without a cheekpiece. Note the teardrop-shaped lock bolt washer, typical of most Heath rifles from Kentucky. Courtesy J. Carter.

Figure No.5: Billy Heath marked his rifles with three large initials for William McKendree Heath. Other known Heath rifles are marked in a similar manner. Courtesy J. Carter.

John Heath: John Heath was born in Tennessee in 1831, learned the gunsmith’s trade from his father, and moved to Kentucky in 1852 to join older brother William in his shop. John married Samantha Foster in Allen County in 1854, raised a large family, and died in 1901. During his life he worked as both a gunsmith and farmer. His rifle is illustrated in Figures No. 6, 7 and 8 and closely resembles the work of older brother Billy. The rear sight sits several inches behind the rear ramrod pipe, suggesting the barrel may have been shortened at the breech. But Heath rifles normally have their rear sights set farther back. The barrel signature is well-centered, the rear sight is properly positioned, and the barrel is full original length at 43 inches. The slender stock with nose cap set well beyond the rear ramrod pipe gives the rifle a definite Tennessee feel. The Heaths used an unexpected method to attach their stocks to the barrel. There are no visible barrel pins. Instead, a “hidden” pin in the pewter nose cap catches a single, open-ended hook-style barrel loop. The barrel is held in place by only the tang bolt and the hook-style barrel loop in the nose cap. As might be expected, the stock is not as rigidly attached as on guns with several standard barrel pins. John used both walnut and curly maple for his stocks and selected nicely figured curly maple for this gun.

Figure No.6: This well-made John Heath rifle is stocked much like his brother Billy’s rifle above, but with much better curly maple. As with Billy’s rifle, the rear sight sits well behind the rear ramrod pipe while the nose cap sits well in front of the rear pipe. The gun retains its original, oxidized finish with rich, mellow color. Barrel: 43” long with .34 caliber bore. Author’s collection, photo by author.

Figure No.7: The back of the John Heath rifle highlights its original finish. The rounded bow on the guard suggests this gun is earlier than the Billy Heath rifle above with its later style guard. Despite Tennessee influences in stocking, all mountings are brass. There is no barrel pin visible in the forestock; a hidden pin in the pewter nose cap is hooked by an open-ended barrel loop when the barrel slides back into place. Author’s collection, photo by author.

Figure No.8: This signature is similar to Billy Heath’s signature in Figure No.5; all Heath gunsmiths used three large, block-letter initials to sign their guns. Close inspection of the initials indicates they are stamped into the barrel. Slight differences in the letters on this barrel compared to letters on the Billy Heath rifle indicate different stamps were used; it indicates John had left Billy’s shop and was working independently in his own shop, with his own stamps. Author’s collection, photo by author.

Figure No.9: Pictures of Kentucky gunsmiths are rare; this is a picture of John Heath [second from right] at his home with wife and several children. The extension on the back of the house with two chimneys may have been John’s gun shop.

Summary: The Heath rifles of Allen County, Kentucky, are good examples of Barrens School rifles with their attractive stocking and sparce decoration. Perhaps more importantly, they show the strong Tennessee influences present in the southern region of the Barrens School near the Tennessee line. As was true for most Barrens School rifles, Heath rifles were/are not well-known outside their home county, but the locals thought they were the finest, most accurate shooting guns made in Kentucky.