Finding Aids

The Jenks family produced talented inventors over many generations. Between the 1820s and the 1870s the family businesses were the leading cotton textile machine builders in Pennsylvania. During the Civil War, the firm operated a rifle factory as part of the Union war effort. The collection consist of a series of fragments handed down in the Jenks family related to several of their business ventures.

Bruce A. Bydal (1937-) worked as a research engineer at the DuPont Company for over twenty years, is an expert in gun primers and chemicals, and an avid gun collector. He also worked with the Remington Arms Company, a subsidiary of the DuPont Company, to develop a new shotgun. The papers include descriptions of Bydal's work in DuPont's food and packaging division and his work at the Nylon plant in Martinsville, Virginia. However, approximately one-half of the records pertaining to his work in applied mathematics at Remington Arms, a gun manufacturing company acquired by DuPont during the great depression.

Francis Gurney du Pont (1850-1904) was the youngest son of Alexis I. du Pont (1816-1857) and Joanna Smith du Pont (1815-1876), and grandson of Éleuthère Irénée "E.I." du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. The collection consists of a volume containing a record of rifle scores of du Pont.

The Henry family were armsmakers who operated a family gun manufactory in eastern Pennsylvania for five generations. The records of the Henry family document the line leading from the first William to Granville, with some records of William, III. The main body of records deals with the operation of the Boulton Gun Works, its predecessor operation at Nazareth and the associated gun shop and store in Philadelphia.

Hudson Maxim (1853-1927) was an inventor and chemist best known for his work in the development of smokeless gunpowder and military explosives. This item is a brief note in which Maxim describes the invention of the gun as the "greatest life saving instrument," dated 1915.

Hudson Maxim (1853-1927) was an inventor and chemist best known for his work in the development of smokeless gunpowder and military explosives. This collection includes a copy of an agreement between Maxim and E.I. du Pont de Nemours (October 17, 1897), whereby Maxim sold to the company his patents for smokeless powder. Also included is correspondence with du Pont family members and government agencies related to smokeless powder; the machine gun designed by Maxim; and Maxims's book, Defenseless America, an anti-pacifist polemic.

John Krider (1813-1886) was one of Philadelphia's most prominent gunsmiths during the nineteenth century. This collection consists of two bank books and a ledger.

John Krider (1813-1886) was one of Philadelphia's most prominent gunsmiths during the nineteenth century. L. C. Siner & Co. was the successor company that continued Krider's business into the 1930s. This small collection of business papers documents Krider's and L. C. Siner & Co.'s gunsmith and sporting goods shop. It includes bills and receipts for guns, fishing equipment, ammunition, lumber, and other items sold in the store.

John Krider (1813-1886) was one of Philadelphia's most prominent gunsmiths during the nineteenth century. This collection consists of fifty-nine account books (1840-1939), including wage accounts (1853-1857), accounts for the repairs of guns (1904-1909), records of daily powder sales (1891-1893), and the treasurer's record for an unidentified gun club.

John Krider (1813-1886) was one of Philadelphia's most prominent gunsmiths during the nineteenth century. This item is a receipt book containing the signatures of numerous Philadelphia merchants.

The Maxim Silencer Company was the first company to manufacture gun silencers for commercial use. The company was founded in 1908 as the Maxim Silent Firearms Company by Hiram Percy Maxim (1869-1936) in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1912, Maxim incorporated his business as the Maxim Silencer Company. Maxim was an engineer and inventor. The records of the Maxim Silencer Company consist of directors' minute books from October 18, 1912, to October 19, 1956. There are a small payroll book showing payments; newsclippings and magazine articles on the company's history; issues of the company magazine from the World War II years; and good selection of the company's trade catalogs, both for the firearms silencers and snowplows and snow blowers.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). These two items are related to his service in the Navy, one a letter concerning his business interests in California, and one report regarding rotten gun breechings.