Bayonet

Object Name:

Bayonet

Object ID:

2022.009.03 a-b

Place of Origin:

United States

Date:

circa 1814

Description:

Bayonet and scabbard. Triangular steel blade with curved arm and angular socket. Sewn cowhide leather scabbard and frog stitched around edge with two steel rivets; handwoven linen strap attached to top
A. Bayonet
B. Scabbard

Material:

Steel
Leather
Linen

Dimensions:

L-15 inches

Provenance:

Owned by Mark Demeritt (1792-1875) of Farmington, NH, who married Abigail E. Leighton (1799-1881) of New Durham, NH, in 1816. They farmed land in Farmington and raised nine children born between 1818 and 1840. Mark Demeritt's military service began with his appointment as a corporal in Captain William Courson's Company, 4th Regiment of Detached New Hampshire Militia, on September 11, 1814, serving for three months in defense of Portsmouth against an expected British attack on Portsmouth. He went on to serve as an officer in the 5th Company, 39th Regiment, New Hampshire Militia in 1830. He also served as justice of the peace and was elected to represent Farmington in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, 1835-1836, 1836-37, 1848, and 1857. Dorothy A. Bean (1937-2021) who lived at the Demeritt Homestead and preserved family collections, was the daughter of Joseph Demeritt Bean (1904-1990) and Donna Otey. Joseph D. Bean had inherited the 340-acre farm from his parents, Ivory U. Bean (1868-1960) and Ida M. Wyatt (1871-1941), who had inherited the property from Joseph L. Demeritt (1831-1915), a son of Mark and Abigail (Leighton) Demeritt.

Credit Line:

Bequest of the Dorothy A. Bean Revocable Trust

People:

Demeritt, Mark (1792-1875)

Subjects:

Bayonets, War of 1812, Militias