Hello all,
Sorry I haven't been around much, hope everyone is doing well. I have some info that I felt compelled to share with all of you. I visited a cousin of mine recently and we had a conversation about our Great-Great Grandfather who's name was George K. Matson. He was a Union Infantry soldier with the 41st PA Volunteer Infantry Regiment (12th PA Reserve Corp). He mustered into service in May 1861 and mustered out in June 1864 and mustered right back in (while still in the field) with the 190th PA and finished out the war. His unit was present at Lee's surrender at Appomattox. While I have always been a Civil War buff and know a good bit about George's military history, I decided to climb farther up the family tree. This is what I discovered...
George was the descendant of a man named Thomas Matson who sailed to this continent in 1630 with the Winthrop Fleet, which was the next Puritan Voyage after the Mayflower fleet. He was granted land and settled on Pullens Point, now Boston Massachusetts. The neatest thing about this man other than the fact that he was one of my first ancestors to set foot on this continent is the fact that he was a Gunsmith! AND... He built some of the first Flintlock rifled muskets (yes, I said
rifled muskets) in what we now proudly call America! He was a very innovative man as well, having employed a safety mechanism on his lock, an adjustable sight, and rifling his barrel, this man was truly way ahead of his time! Here are some links to Thomas Matson's "Doglock Musket" circa 1650...
https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2...oglock-musket/
http://www.nramuseum.org/guns/the-ga...ck-musket.aspx
If the second link for the NRA museum photos won't show the pics for you, try searching for the "Thomas Matson Doglock Musket" and see if the link will open on your computer or tablet for you. It opens and displays the pics fine on my tablet but I couldn't get it to fully open on my computer for some reason.
All for now...
BPS