Horn, Powder

Object Name:

Horn, Powder

Object ID:

1957.035.01

Creator:

Tilton, Benjamin

Date:

1750-1775

Description:

Powder horn. Dark finish horn. Undecorated. Shaped collar at narrow end, flat wooden stopper nailed into wide end. Carved initials "BT" on stopper. Plug missing from tip. Wrought iron nail in center of stopper.

Material:

Skeletal
Horn
Iron

Dimensions:

H-3.75 W-6 L-13.75 inches

Provenance:

According to the donor, this horn was made by Benjamin Tilton and carried by him at the storming of Louisbourg. No Benjamin Tilton has been located who could have been at the storming of the fort in 1745 by a force under William Pepperell. However, Sherburn Tilton, son of Sherburn and father of Benjamin, was born in Kensington, NH, in 1735 and was with General Wolfe at the siege of Quebec in 1759 when Louisbourg was used as a base of operations. Perhaps this is what the family tradition refers to. He later enlisted in 1776 in Col. Josiah Bartlett's regiment raised for the invasion of Canada and in 1777 marched to join the Northern Army at Saratoga with Capt. Robert Collins' company from Sandown. He married Huldah Prescott and settled in Sandown, later removing to Bristol in 1780. He died September 20, 1813, age 78. He had a grandson Benjamin, son of John, and a second grandson Benjamin Emmons, son of Sherburn. Benjamin Emmons married a Batchelder, and their third son, Frank B., settled in Lowell, MA. Perhaps the initials BT are those of his son or either of the grandsons, which could have caused the discrepancy in the family history of the horn.

Credit Line:

Gift of Prescott Batchelder Brown

People:

Tilton, Benjamin

Subjects:

Powder horns, French and Indian War, Revolutionary War