1840: The 1953 edition of Gluckman's "American Gun Makers" puts George Fry in Hopewell Township of Bedford County in 1840. According to Kauffman's 1960 book "The Pennsylvania - Kentucky Rifle", George Fry is identified as a gunsmith in the 1840 tax roll of Hopewell Township, Bedford County. It seems likely to me that Kauffman's information is based on Gluckman's "American Gun Makers" book.
1840: I saw a typed transcript of the 1840 federal census of Hopewell Township that lists the household of George FRY with one male in the 30 to 40 age group, one male and one female in the 20 to 30 age group, one male and one female in the 15 to 20 age group, one female in the 5-10 age group, and one male and two females in the under 5 age group. That transcript may be wrong. When you look at a copy of the manuscript census record, the entry with those ages of individuals can more easily be interpreted to be the household of a George FAY who may have been the gunsmith George Fay. (For example, examine the shape of the "r" in the name "George" in the manuscript record, and compare it to the second letter in the alleged name "Fry".) I cannot find an entry that is clearly for a George Fry in the Hopewell Township section of the 1840 manuscript census records of Bedford County. I can only find that one entry that might be interpreted as either being for a George Fay or a George Fry.
1841: The 1983 booklet "Gunsmiths and Gunmakers of Bedford and Somerset Counties Pennsylvania 1770-1900" indicates that George Fry appears in an 1841 Bedford County tax entry as a gunsmith with a value of $130.00.
1841-1844: The 1983 booklet puts George FRY in Hopewell Township in the 1841 to 1844 timeframe and also puts George FAY in Hopewell Township in the 1835 to 1844 timeframe.
1850-1854: The 2001 book "Gunsmiths of Bedford, Fulton, Huntingdon, & Somerset Counties" puts George Fry in Southampton Township (Bedford County) in the 1850 to 1854 timeframe.
1850: Although I don't know if it is relevant, the 1850 federal census records of Southampton Township, Bedford County list a George Frier (farmer) and Rachel Frier as being 50 years old and Pennsylvania born.
1854: The 2001 book "Gunsmiths of Bedford, Fulton, Huntingdon, & Somerset Counties" reports that the estate of George Fry was appraised on June 3, 1854. The only appraisal items that were potentially related to gunsmithing were brass castings valued at $2.75 and iron valued at $3.00.
The question: I have not seen the tax records that purport to identify George Fry as a gunsmith, and I wonder if they may actually reference George Fay instead of George Fry.
