In articles past, I have mentioned powder horns as something that can have no value or be worth quite a bit both historically and monetarily. An unmarked horn with no provenance is not worth a whole lot but occasionally a good one comes to light.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted about just such a horn. The client sent me a few shaky and unclear images, but I could glean enough from them to tell it was something to investigate. It is a simple horn with a typical flat pine plug, but in a few lines, there was a lot to work from. Carved into the side of the horn was “ELI KIMBALL HIf HORN MADE AT MT. INDE/PENDANCE ON OCTOBERX30X1776X ABOUT/THE TIME OF GENERAL ARNOLf DEFEAT ON/LAKE CHAMPPLAIN.” All the misspellings and backward letters added to the charm and it was time to start the research. By the end of the day I had a fairly clear picture of the story of the original owner.

Eli Kimball was born in Bradford, Massachusetts, on April 3, 1759 and between then and 1775 he and his family moved to the town of Amherst, New Hampshire. Though no rolls have been found for his early service, the date on his horn, October 30, 1776 and his location at Mt. Independence place him around Ft. Ticonderoga during the time of General Benedict Arnolds defeat at the Battle of Valcour Island on October 11-12, 1776. On July 18, 1777 General John Stark was authorized to organize a force of New Hampshire militia to thwart British forces moving south from Canada under General John Burgoyne. On July 21, 1777, Kimball’s name appears on a roll for Captain John Bradford’s company, Colonel Moses Nichols Regiment who were to muster at Ft. Number 4 near Charlestown, New Hampshire, as a part of General Stark’s New Hampshire force and fought at the Battle of Bennington (Walloomsac, Town of Hoosick, New York) on August 16, 1777. He was released from service on September 27, 1777 and according to the Kimball family genealogy died in 1783 at the age of 24. I could not find how Eli passed away, but it was very sad to see that he never lived a full life. After speaking with the consignor, the Kimball family had lived in the 18th century home they own years ago. My thoughts are that after Eli’s death the horn was given to a sibling and passed down through that lineage till it reached the current owner. That will take a little more work, but I should be able to figure that part of the story out.

I enjoy getting these types of things for auction. Not just for the sale but to research the story of the human being that owned the object that can go with it to its next home, be it a collector or institution.