History and Facts

Trade rifle, powder horn, beaver pelt and Beaver skin hat.



Interesting History and Facts about Jacobsburg and the Henry Family:

• Did you know that William Henry I is one of America's pioneer Pennsylvania Rifle makers?

• Did you know that Henry's Woods is one of Pennsylvania's premier Old Growth Forests?

• Did you know that the first iron furnace and forge in Northampton County were built at Jacobsburg?

• Did you know that Ann Wood Henry was the first Pennsylvania woman to serve in public office?

• Did you know that James Henry drafted the first legislation protecting Pennsylvania's wetlands and waterways?

• Did you know that Jacobsburg namesake settler, Jacob Hubler, is buried in an unmarked grave somewhere at Jacobsburg?

• Did you know that William Henry III went on to found the city of Scranton, PA?
  

• The Lancaster Rifle, with a rifled barrel for accuracy, was referred to by the British as "the widow maker." Later known as the Pennsylvania Rifle, and then as the Kentucky Rifle, it was provided to Washington's troops by Lancaster's William Henry, the Continental Army's armorer.

• Robert Fulton, a Lancaster native, was an early inventor of practical steam applications. In 1807, his steamship "Claremont" sailed up the Hudson river, and was labeled by his detractors as "Fulton's Folly." He designed the torpedo, a double-inclined plane for canals, a rope-making machine, and the US Navy's first steam warship. Two years before Fulton's birth in 1765, another Lancaster citizen, WIlliam Henry, had suggested using steam to propel boats, but had not been able to make it practical.

• In 1750, the first of the Henry gunmakers, William Henry I, opened his gun factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He became Armorer for the Braddock Campaign of 1755 and for the Forbes Expedition of 1758.

• Henrys not only produced firearms for all of our nation's major conflicts from the Revolutionary War through the Civil War, but they were also the primary suppliers of rifles for the largest American business enterprise of the early 19th century, John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company. The Henry firearm became the most prominent weapon of the western frontier due to its durability, accuracy and relatively low cost.

• In 1807 the Missouri Fur Company was founded by Manual Lisa and a year later the American Fur Company appeared with John Jacob Astor, and along with them came the trade items, now coming from Pennsylvania instead of England. By 1817 the American trade had taken over the English based firms and the flow of goods, (guns) were at the top of the trade lists again, this time names like Leman, Tryon, Henry and Deringer being the suppliers. In just a few years fur companies were being sold or taken over by larger ones as the power switched from one group to another, but the flow of goods never slowed. In time the more expensive American guns would see the cheaper European ones coming into the country again as the trade spread further west and north. In1836 Henry had received word that the English guns would be purchased rather than renewing his contracts, as did several other Pennsylvania contractors. Henry did move arms in smaller amounts through 1837, 1838 and 1845, the smaller numbers of guns is probably why the Henry Northwest guns are so rare today, only one or two specimens are known to have survived.
  

  These are just a few interesting facts about the Henry family's record in the history of Pennsylvania and early America. Please visit again to see new facts added to this page.

   

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For further information, contact Jacobsburg Historical Society at 610-759-9029 or email at jacobsburg@rcn.org.