Sweger Arms History
My name is Derek Paul Sweger. I am the great-great-great grandson of William "Billy" Sweger. I am a trustee for the Perry County Historical Society, a member of the Perry Historians, a Scout Leader for Blain Troop 105, and am the 9th generation of my family to reside in Perry County.
My great-great-great grandfather, William Sweger, was a well-known gunsmith in Perry County, along with the Shuler family. William Sweger was born in Perry County on February 3, 1815 to Johanas Schweiger and Margaret Weary. He was one of five children. At an unkown point, Johanas Schweiger Americanized his name to become John Sweger. This was a well-known trend at the time; during the forefront of America’s birth.
This photo was taken in Newport of William (Billy) Sweger in 1890
William was a member of the German Reformed Church of Elliottsburg, which is now known as Messiah Luthern Church. It was at this church that he met his wife, Mary Ann Bausum. William and Mary had eleven children; seven boys and four girls, and lived on a farm on Limestone Ridge, about one mile from their church. As a side note, Billy’s wife, Mary, was the only literate wife of all the gunsmiths in Perry County.
The Sweger farm included a house, hog shed, barn and gun shop. In addition to gunsmithing, William was known for raising locally acclaimed fruit, particularly grapes and cherries. William’s father, Johanas, was recorded as having a distillery, which may have been a factor in William’s choice of crops.
Unfortunately, nothing remains of the Sweger farm except for the gun shop’s foundation. Careful measurements taken by Roy Chandler in 1969 show the gun shop as being 18 feet by 15 feet. Today, it is hard to even tell that. The foundation is slowly being covered by dirt and fill.
Although we know that the number of guns that Billy made was quite large, it is difficult to determine just how many he made throughout his lifetime. Although he is not recorded on the census as making guns until 1840, we know that he made at least one customer-requested gun in 1838. It was the norm of this time period to first become an apprentice to a gunsmith, thus learning how to make your own tools and eventually your own guns. Since there is no record of Billy being an apprentice to anyone, it is the assumption that he was making guns even prior to 1838.
Through the records kept, we can determine that Billy made roughly 20 guns a year for close to 50 years. Each gun was sold for between $13 and $15, and that was with little or no decoration. It took about 3 weeks to make one gun. On an 1870 Census, it is reported that Billy had $200 invested into his business, employed one hand for 6 months, and had made guns that valued $400.00.
Billy made both flintlocks and percussion rifles. He always used double-set triggers, which have 2 triggers. The back trigger is pulled first to set the front hair trigger. Then, the front hair trigger is pulled to fire the gun. Billy always marked his barrels by either stamping W. Sweger, engraving W. Sweger, or stamping or engraving just W.S. Out of all the other Perry County gunsmiths, Billy used the Perry County Key Hole patch box the most. During his later years, Billy incorporated the back-action percussion lock into his rifles, which was very unusual to be used on a single shot gun.
Billy’s rifles were not fancy by any means. They were plain rifles built for every day use by ordinary people. You will find some rifles with German Silver inlays, but these are the exceptions and are far outnumbered by the simpler rifles.
The caliper of the rifles varied from .32 to .50. Billy Sweger was quoted as saying "My guns got to shoot" meaning that is what the guns were built for first and foremost.
During his early years, Billy made his own barrels. The majority of his barrels had seven lands and groves, but there are some with eight groves. They were all octagon barrels and some were tapered at the muzzle to make the muzzle lighter. Billy’s rifling had a slow twist of 42" to one turn. Near the end of Billy’s career it was easier just to buy the barrels. Billy’s rifling bench is said to be owned and on display by the Landis Valley Museum, but on my own personal visit there, as well as several inquires regarding the rifling bench, I have yet to substantiate this claim.
Billy’s territory for selling guns encompassed both Middle and Western Perry County.
In a story once told by Roy Chandler, there was a gentleman by the name of Cadwallader Jones. Mr. Jones lived in the area of Elliottsburg. As deer hunting had become quite poor in Perry County, Mr. Jones came up with an idea. For this, he paid a visit to a young William Sweger. He had Billy make him a rifle of about .45 caliber with a heavy stock and long barrel. He also equipped the rifle with a percussion lock, which was rather new at the time. After some weeks of adjusting loads and determining sight settings, Mr. Jones was able to hit any spot at will. After picking his target in an orchid, Mr. Jones was able to drop his deer with a single shot. The best figures indicate that Mr. Jones and his muzzle-loading Sweger rifle shot the deer at no less than 700 yards.
Billy’s rifles were often used in "shoots", which are competitions to see who can shoot the best group at a target at 20 rods (which equals 110 yards). At the shoots in Elliottsburg, they shot at cross-marked shingles in the prone position with a rest. Typically, about 20 people would participate. These shoots were often family outings, making a day of it.
William Sweger died on June 24, 1892, leaving behind a legacy which will always be a part of Perry County’s rich and historical heritage. If you get a chance to stroll through the cemetery at Messiah Luthern, you will find William Sweger buried right out front, along with his wife, his one son, George Washington Sweger, his wife, Catherine, George’s son, Clarence, his wife, Gertrude, and several other family members.
contact me at Derek@Swegerarms.com
(717)636-1226-(717)789-0027