Committee of Safety Pistol
date: label: date made
content: ca 1776
name: label: maker
content: Whetcroft, William
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .66 caliber smoothbore flintlock pistol was made by William Whetcroft of Annapolis Maryland around 1776. It has a pin fastened walnut stock. This pistol has an S-shaped brass side plate, a brass thimble and trigger guard and no butt cap.
label: Description
content: It is stamped “WW” in a sunken rectangle on the barrel and lockplate. The barrel is also stamped “MARYLAND.”
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: On October 21, 1775, the Maryland Council of Safety contracted William Whetcroft to make 50 muskets per week for the Council. There are no records of a pistol being produced for the Council of Safety, but that does not mean he did not manufacture them for the Council.
label: Description
content: This pistol may be the only known pistol made for the Council of Safety. It is difficult to guarantee though. The “WW” stamp is an identifier for Whetcroft. Also the brass mounted lock, and American wood stock are other factors leading the authors of Historic Pistols to believe this pistol is in fact a Maryland Council of Safety contract.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: Flayderman, Norm. Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms…and their Values, Gun Digest Books, Iola, 2007. 9th edition.
label: Description
content: Gardner, Robert E. Col. Small Arms Makers: A Directory of Fabricators of Firearms, Edged Weapons, Crossbows and Polearms, Crown Publishers Inc, New York: 1963, p. 208.
label: Description
content: Smith, Samuel E. and Edwin W. Bitter. Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845, Scalamandre Publications, New York: 1986, p. 18.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Maryland, Annapolis
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
label: See more items in
content: Military
label: See more items in
content: The Bitter Collection of Firearms
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: The Adriana and Edwin W. Bitter Family Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1987.0014.32
label: catalog number
content: 1987.0014.32
label: accession number
content: 1987.0014
label: collector/donor number
content: P184L
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol, flintlock
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: iron (part material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (part material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (part material)
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 6 in x 13 3/4 in x 2 1/2 in; 15.24 cm x 34.925 cm x 6.35 cm
label: Measurements
content: barrel: 1.676 cm x 21.59 cm; 11/16 in x 8 1/2 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13 3/4 in x 6 1/4 in x 2 5/16 in; 34.925 cm x 15.875 cm x 5.9055 cm