It was an ordinary day. Reading about a young man by the name of Henry E. Leman who was a rifle maker in Lancaster County. Henry was not as well known as several other riflemakers, but his name is still known in Lancaster County since he lived in Lancaster shortly after the the Revolutionary War. Henry was born in Lancaster on March 8, 1812. His father's side of the family were French Huguenots who had come to Lancaster County in the early 1700s and settled in the area known as Paradise. His father, Jacob, was a farmer near Lancaster and a brewer in the town of Lancaster. He had served during the Revolutionary War as a private in the Pequea Rangers. His mother was a daughter of Leonard Eichholtz who in turn was related to Lancaster artist Jacob Eichholtz. Henry attended private school in Lancaster until he was sixteen when he began working for Melhoir Fordney, a well-known gun manufacturer. After three years learning the necessary rifle making skills, he moved to Philadelphia were he worked from 1831 to 1834 for George Tryon, a manufacturer of fire-arms. In 1834 he returned to Lancaster and opened his own business. His first shop was part of his father's brewery on Mifflin Street in the center of town. It was here that he did the finer machine work on locks, triggers, sights and other parts of the rifle before assembling them. He had a forge and rifle mill in Upper Leacock Township on the east bank of the Conestoga River near a village known as Catfish that eventually became known as Oregon.
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| Henry Leman's Forge and rifle works along the Conestoga River. |
This is where the milling and forging of the barrels was done. His rifle making skills were meticulous which made his rifles known everywhere in America. In 1837 he got his first contract from the government which continued until about 1860 when Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, offered him a contract for 250,000 rifles. He declined the request, since he couldn't see how he could increase production fast enough to fill the request. He had already increased business in 1850 when he started a factory at East Walnut and Cherry Streets in Lancaster where he did his heavy machine work by steam power. At the same time he also purchased an old brick building on the east side of North Duke Street at 305 S. Walnut Street in the city of Lancaster. In 1851 he married Anna DuBois of Newburgh, New York. They had five children. In 1873 he moved his business into a larger factory at the southeast corner of James and Christian Streets where he made his flintlock rifles and gained fame with his percussions, but never began the manufacture of breechloaders. His prices were anywhere from eight to fifty dollars, depending on the material and the work needed for each rifle. Rifles that were extremely ornamental with silver plates and front sights were his most expensive models. Henry took great pride in his rifles and each one was stamped "H.E. Leman, Lancaster, Pa."
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| Rifles made by Henry E. Leman |
If he was asked to make inferior arms or if any flaws were found in one of his rifles, he would mark these rifles with "Conestoga Rifle Works." If you are a collector of old rifles, perhaps you may have one of his rifles. Henry's rifles more than likely killed more American buffaloes than any other rifle in history. At times he would accept buffalo meat and skins in trade for his rifles. During his last years he lived at 427 North Duke Street where he died on May 12, 1887 in his seventy-sixth year. Lancaster County is known as the "Birthplace of the American Rifle" since it had at one time 94 gunsmiths which included Martin Meylin and William Henry. I read that during Mr. Leman's lifetime, he probably equalled the total output of rifles made by all other rifle makers combined. A real hero of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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