Jacob and Samuel Hawken were American gunsmiths and traders who operated from their shop in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

from 1825 to 1855. They are famous for designing the "plains rifle" named after them (the

Hawken rifle The Hawken rifle is a muzzle-loading rifle that was widely used on the prairies and in the Rocky Mountains of the United States during the early frontier days. Developed in the 1820s, it became synonymous with the "plains rifle", the buffalo gun, ...

History

Born in Hagerstown, Maryland, Jacob (born 1786) and Samuel (born October 26, 1792) were brought up to become gunsmiths. Despite the fact that local folklore sets the establishment of their shop in 1807 the evidence suggests that Jacob worked for the

Harpers Ferry Armory The Harpers Ferry Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, was the second federal armory created by the United States government. (The first was the Springfield Armory.) It was located in Harpers Ferry ...

from 1808 until at least 1818, when he moved to

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

and bought of land in New Madrid. He also entered into a partnership with a

gunsmith named James Lakenan which lasted until the latter's death on August 25, 1825. Meanwhile, Samuel had established his own enterprise in

Xenia, Ohio Xenia ( ) is a city in southwestern Ohio and the county seat of Greene County, Ohio, United States. It is east of Dayton and is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the Miami Valley region. The name comes from the Gree ...

; but after the death of his wife and father, he relocated to St. Louis, where he formed a fresh business, separate to that of Lakenan and his older brother. James worked supplying guns to the American Fur Company. The Hawkens became partners, however, after Lakenan's death. Their shop, though it excelled in gun-smithing, was also a bastion of old-fashioned craftsmanship; for up until 1848, they repaired and restocked tools as well as firearms and produced brass axes, tomahawks, gun worms and even basket-style hilts for swords. Jacob Hawken died in 1849 (his burial location is unknown) and Samuel continued with the business on his own. In 1855, he retired and passed the shop to his son William, and William's business partner Tristram Campbell. Samuel Hawken died on May 8, 1884, at the age of 92, in St. Louis. He was buried at

Bellefontaine Cemetery Bellefontaine Cemetery is a nonprofit, non-denominational cemetery and arboretum in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1849 as a rural cemetery, Bellefontaine is home to a number of architecturally significant monuments and mausoleums such as t ...

History

References

Further reading