A. M. Willard that came to be known as “The Spirit of ’76.” Public domain via Wikipedia.
Helbling/Springsteen Family, and ALL our American family!
What if we knew of an object that was 243 years old, had been an active part of making America free, and had a connection to our family? Would that make you even more proud to be an American? Would that make you even more proud to have the DNA of such ancestors that used the artifact? Would you feel more connected to history?
Would you also be amazed???
Those were some of my emotions when I saw the following treasure on the website, AmericanPowderHorns.com:
Incredibly, this fragile piece of animal horn has survived 243 years thanks to the wonderful care of collectors like Rich Nardi. If you are a descendant, this is really special, but in the U.S., we are all beneficiaries of the persons who used these horns and settled this country, and who fought for our freedoms.
This horn originally belonged to Capt. Abraham Remsen (1730-1807), who is a 6th great-uncle to the grandchildren of Anna May (Beerbower) Helbling and her husband Gerard William “G. W.” Helbling of St. Louis, MO. (To know your relationship to Capt. Remsen, figure the number of generations you are removed from the grandchildren of Anna May & G.W., and add 6 to know the number of generations between yourself and this Revolutionary War hero.) We cannot know if Capt. Remsen carved it himself, if his troops did the work and gave it to him, or if it was professionally carved, but it is a fantastic artifact, whatever its origin.
So what is a powder horn? Yes, it is just what it sounds like- a horn-shaped object which is hollow and used to store powder for the guns of an earlier time. Cow and ox horns were typically used in the Eastern US. Oxen were plentiful as they were used in farming to pull a plow or to help remove felled trees, drag barges against the current in a canal, or pull heavy loads such as pioneer wagons or military cannon across mountains and plains. Cows were even more plentiful and kept on farms (and even on city lots!) for milk but also for butter, which was often traded for other goods at the general store, and when they were no longer good milk producers, the cows became a source of meat. There were also powder horns made from a variety of animal horns, like bison or water buffalo; powder horns were even made of ivory, wood, or tin.
As Rich states on his website, “The powder horn was the companion to every musket and rifle in early America.” If you didn’t keep your powder dry, your rifle would not fire properly and you would miss the shot of the animal that was to be your family’s dinner… or the shot that would save your child from the attack of a mountain lion… or the shot that would protect the safety of your family and property from nefarious individuals or soldiers coming to take your freedoms. You could even be injured or killed when the gun misfired due to wet powder.
A powder horn was closed at the larger end by a metal or wood plug, and it generally would have a knob on which a strap was attached, as in the right of the powder horn above. The other end often had a metal spout with a cover. In the Remsen horn, the pouring spout is tin that is threaded and pegs made of wood hold the spout to the horn. The cap was also made of tin, and open at both ends to be used like a funnel in filling the horn from the smaller end. A wooden or cork stopper would have been inserted into the spout to keep the gunpowder from spilling out, but that piece has been lost to time. The spout end would be carried toward the front of the soldier or hunter, or when worn cross-body, often slung to the back when marching. When needed, the horn could be quickly grabbed and pulled forward, then cap removed and powder poured into the pan or muzzle, setting up another shot as quickly as possible.
Many- or most?- early Americans, especially those on the frontier, created their own powder horns- its preparation was a good evening or winter activity, or, for a soldier, something to keep the mind and hands busy during the interminable, worrisome, boring hours of waiting for battle. Some polished their horns, both inside and out, as that would make the horn translucent and the amount of powder left inside was easily visible. (“Do I have enough for one more shot at the bear running toward me or should I run?”*) Most horns were probably very utilitarian, but many became beautiful pieces of folk art, with scrimshaw-like carvings that showed what was important to the owner- perhaps a place, a battle, a date, bible verse or saying, or images of nature or people. Some, like Abraham’s horn, give us the gift of their name, too.
Transcription:
“CAPT. ABRAH
AM REMSE
N. NEWT
ON LONG
ISLAND
MILITIA
JUN 1776″
We have so few artifacts that bring us down to the month and day they were created, and even provide the owner’s name. He was “Capt. Abraham Remsen” in June of 1776- the month before he heard the Declaration of Independence! By July, Abraham had been promoted to Major. Abraham was in charge of a section of Long Island, New York militia that were already fighting to gain our freedom from British tyranny, even though the Declaration of Independence had not yet been signed or circulated in June of 1776, the date on the horn.
(There is a lot of story to tell about this family and Capt. Remsen- that will be done in upcoming blogs.)
Speaking of the British, you may have heard them called “Redcoats” as in the iconic ride of Paul Revere, “The Redcoats are coming!”
“Redcoat” definitely described the British uniform, but it was also a derogatory term for the king’s soldiers. In the psychological war that always plays a part in any international or civil conflict, the American patriots had yet another name for the highly trained, professional British army, a name that was even worse. Probably spoken most often with a sneer and a spit, (and maybe some fear), they called the British soldiers, “Lobsters.”
We know that our (some number) great uncle Capt. Abraham Remsen, definitely used the term, “Lobsters” for the British:
(Love that New York accent in the spelling!)
“MY POWDER MAKES LOBSTARS FLEE”
What delightful words to put on the object that holds the powder for his rifle or musket!
In those days, it was thought that the local red lobsters mainly lived on ocean detritus (remains of dead creatures). Lobsters were thus sometimes called “the cockroaches of the sea.” Did the patriots think that was how low the British were- cockroaches? After a storm, lobsters would wash up on the New England coastline, sometimes in piles two feet high! It was a great source of protein, but went bad quickly after the lobster died. Because it was so plentiful, lobster became a food for the poor. Living on Long Island so near the sea, the Remsen family may have eaten red lobster, but they were certainly familiar with piles of lobster rotting on the beach, and the accompanying stench. The Captain and his troops would have been as eager to finish off the British as they would have been for having piles of rotting lobster on the beach just disappear!
One other fun wordplay on this beautiful powder horn- certain powders make fleas jump off mangy dogs. Was the maker of this horn implying that the British soldiers were as unwelcome in America as fleas??
The other side of the powder horn has two ships, full masted, in a harbor, probably New York Harbor. Abraham would have seen them there frequently as the British mustered their forces by land as well as sea to put down the insurrection of British citizens against their king. These carvings have become very worn and hard to photograph over the years, so we currently do not have images of them, but that is in the works.
The bold images and words on Abraham’s horn have brought us into the trenches with him to feel the hatred, the anger, and the emotions of a soldier risking it all for the lives of family, friends, property, and freedom. Now, take a closer look at the rest of this powder horn, and the beautiful, fine-line carving behind the bolder words. There are trees and flowers, graphic bars dividing sections and the cartouche framing his name and information, ‘wingdings’- small graphics use to separate words, etc. And then there are the two rows of houses and a band that states “Newtown,” the town he lived in on Long Island, in what was called “New Netherland” when his Dutch ancestors helped settle it. That image was a good reminder for even the really bad times (which were to come- soon) of why he he had left home and family to take the life of others. Perhaps Abraham could momentarily escape into the images of the houses and trees and be removed from the mundane, often miserable, scenes of camp life and battle that he was living, no matter how brief the sweet reverie. Abraham’s beautiful powder horn would have kept him going, both mentally and militarily, for the long series of battles that was just beginning.
There is much more to come on Abraham Remsen and our Dutch Colonial ancestors of the Springsteen family. In the meantime, please visit Rich Nardi’s website, AmericanPowderHorns.com, for more information about this horn, and other fantastic artifacts from our early history as a country.
Thank you so much, Rich, for preserving and so generously sharing these treasures!
Notes and Sources:
- *Running is not necessarily the best tactic for dealing with a bear- please learn what is currently recommended before you go out into the woods.
- Rich Nardi’s wonderful website is AmericanPowderHorns.com. You can see Capt. Remsen’s horn at http://americanpowderhorns.com/?s=remsen.
- Personal correspondence with Rich Nardi over the years. Thank you for your patience, explanations, generosity, and tender care of these treasures.
- More about powder horns– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_horn and https://www.nps.gov/vafo/learn/historyculture/upload/PowderHorns-with-arrowhead.pdf
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