Introduction
The Shillito gunsmith subject is complicated by the fact that the 1826 McConnellsburg gunsmith Samuel Shillito had a gunsmith son named Samuel who was born in 1824.
Although this web project focuses on old-time gunsmiths who worked within the present-day bounds of Somerset and Bedford counties, it also includes a limited amount of information about individuals who could be misconstrued to fit that residency criterion.
According to the Whisker's 1991 book "Gunsmiths of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties" the elder gunsmith was Samuel L. Shillito and the younger gunsmith was Samuel Miller Shillito. There is ample documentary evidence that substantiates the "Miller" middle name of the younger gunsmith, but I haven't been able to find any evidence concerning the middle name (or middle initial) of the elder gunsmith.
Several gun collecting books provide conflicting and confusing timeline information for the Shillito gunsmiths. This web page largely ignores the information in those books, and provides a timeline based on contemporaneous 1800s and early 1900s documents.
Gardner's 1963 book
The entry doesn't mention McConnellsburg, and doesn't mention that McConnellsburg became a part of Fulton County in 1850. It also doesn't mention that there were two gunsmiths named Samuel Shillito. It would be easy for a reader of the 1963 book to (incorrectly, I believe) assume that a gunsmith named Samuel M. Shillito worked within the present-day bounds of Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
Contemporaneous biographical information
Chronology
1800: According to the tombstone she shares with her husband Samuel at the Cedar Grove Cemetery in Chambersburg, Elizabeth (Grubb) Shillito was born on July 27, 1800.
1814: According to the aforementioned 1887 book, Samuel Shillito "was at the battle of North Point." That battle took place on September 12, 1814. Click here for a concise account of the battle of North Point from the 1907 book "History of York County, Pennsylvania".
1814: In the 1878 book "Historical Sketch of Franklin County, Pennsylvania", a person named Samuel Shillito is listed as a Private in transcripts of the September, 1814 "rolls of the companies of Captains John Findlay and Samuel D. Culbertson, of Chambersburg..." I'm not sure why the same name appears on the roll of two companies. The transcripts can also be found in the "Pennsylvania Archives".
1819: According to the Whiskers' 1991 book, Samuel Shillito was identified as a gunsmith and a single freeman who was living in Peters Township of Franklin County, Pennsylvania in 1819.
1820: I couldn't find a Samuel Shillito listing in the manuscript 1820 census records of Franklin County, Pennsylvania or Air Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania. There is a Mary Shelito household listed in the 1820 Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania census records.
1823: James B. Whisker's 1990 book "Arms Makers of Pennsylvania" indicates that the gunsmith George Seibert was working with the gunsmith Samuel Shillito in 1823.
1824: Samuel Miller Shillito is buried in the Cedar Grove Cemetery of Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, where his badly eroded tombstone indicates he was born on November 8, 1824. This agrees with the birth date given in the aforementioned 1887 book, which indicates he was born in Loudon, Pennsylvania, and was the eldest son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Grubb) Shillito. Fort Loudon is a community in Peters Township of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and is about 13.4 miles west of Chambersburg on Route 30.
1826: The McConnellsburg chapter of the 1884 book "History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania" includes a transcript of an assessment list of the "the taxpayers of McConnellsburg borough in 1826" that includes "Samuel Shillito (gunsmith)". McConnellsburg is about 20.6 miles west of Chambersburg on Route 30, and is now in Fulton County, Pennsylvania.
1830: The following image shows the entry for Samuel Shillito in the 1830 census records of McConnellsburg in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
Circa 1836: According to the aforementioned 1887 book, S. M. Shillito "commenced working with his father at the trade of gunsmith" at the age of 12, and after learning the business, continued working with his father until his father died.
1840: I didn't find Samuel Shillito in the 1840 manuscript census records of McConnellsburg or Air Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania or the borough of Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Not all of the Bedford County records were legible.
1848: The following excerpt from a section titled "Arnold Brooks, a Typical Negro — Hostler, Stage Driver, Philosopher and Friend" in the 1923 book "Paper Read Before the Kittochtinny Historical Society December 28th, 1922" references an August 17, 1848 receipt from S. Shillito & Son regarding a partial payment for a new rifle. The receipt indicates that father and son were in business together.
1850: Fulton County, Pennsylvania was created from a portion of Bedford County on April 19, 1850, as shown by the following extract from the 1884 book "History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania".
1850: Although I couldn't find Samuel Miller Shillito in the 1850 manuscript census records of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania I did find a listing for the family of his 55-year-old gunsmith father:
1850: I couldn't find Samuel Miller Shillito in the 1850 manuscript census records of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania.
1852: The elder gunsmith Samuel Shillito, who died in 1852, is buried at the Cedar Grove Cemetery at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where he shares a tombstone with his wife Elizabeth Grubb. James B. Whisker's 1990 book "Arms Makers of Pennsylvania" indicates that William S. Bowers' 1979 book "Gunsmiths of Pen-Mar-Va" reports that Samuel Shillito died of Cholera on September 18, 1852.
1852-1864: According to the aforementioned 1887 book, S. M. Miller assumed control of his father's gunsmithing business after his father died in 1852, and remained in that business until Chambersburg was destroyed (by the Rebels) in 1864.
1857: In the 1857 freeholder tax assessment list of Chambersburg, Miller Shillito is listed as a Gun Smith with a $150 Value thereof who had 1/8 of a Seated Town Lot with a Gross Actual Value of $600.
1860: The following composite image shows the listing for the gunsmith Samuel Miller Shillito in the 1860 census records of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and indicates he was going by the name Miller Shillito.
1864: Chambersburg was burned by Rebel forces in July of 1864.
The "Buildings Burned" section of the 1864 book "The Burning of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania" indicates that S. M. Shillito lost a two-story brick building located on the north side of Market Street that was valued at $1,500.00. The following description of the burning of Chambersburg is from the aforementioned 1887 book.
Circa 1864 to circa 1870: According to the aforementioned 1887 book, after the destruction of Chambersburg S. M. Miller worked as a clerk at the Chambersburg Post Office for six years.
1869: In the 1869 freeholder tax assessment list of Chambersburg, Miller Shillito is listed as a Clerk with a $300 Value thereof and a Seated Lands Gross Actual Value of $550.
1870: In the 1870 census, Miller Shillito is listed as a member of his mother Elizabeth Shillito's household. His listed occupation is Assistant P. Master (i.e.; Assistant Postmaster).
1874 to circa 1887: According to the aforementioned 1887 book, S. M. Shillito returned to the business of gunsmithing in 1874, and was still in that business.
1876: The following excerpt is from an 1876 court case called "Rolland v. Commonwealth" that is published in the 1877 book "Pennsylvania State Reports. Vol. LXXXI. Comprising Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania." The excerpt appears to indicate that a locksmith named John L. Black shared a shop room with the gunsmith Miller Shillito.
1877-1878: In a list titled "Directors and Teachers, 1877-78" in the second edition (1878) of the book "Historical Sketch of Franklin County, Pennsylvania", S. M. Shillito is identified as a Director in the Second Ward of the Borough of Chambersburg.
1877: In the Franklin County portion of the State Treasurer's list of "Expenditures for the Month of September, 1877" in the 1878 book "Governor's Message and Reports of the Heads of Departments of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 1877-8" S. M. Shillito of Chambersburg is listed as spending $1,571.36.
1877: S. M. Shillito is listed as a witness on the Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Inventor W. H. Bricker's US Patent 187,701, which is titled "Improvement in Chair-Commodes."
1878: In the Franklin County portion of the list of "Expenditures for the Month of September, 1878" in the 1879 book "Report of the State Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the Fiscal Year Ending November 30, 1878" S. M. Shillito of Chambersburg is listed as spending $1,613.05.
1880: According to the aforementioned 1887 book, Poor House Treasurer Hugh B. Davidson died in office, "and on April 6, 1880, S. Miller Shillito was elected to fill remainder of year."
1880: The following composite image shows the listing for the gunsmith (Samuel) Miller Shillito in the 1880 census records of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
1881-1887: According to page 212 of the aforementioned 1887 book, S. Miller Shillito served as the Treasurer of the Poor House during 1881-87.
1884: According to the tombstone she shares with her husband Samuel at the Cedar Grove Cemetery in Chambersburg, Elizabeth (Grubb) Shillito died on October 15, 1884.
1886: Click here to see an excerpt from an article titled "Pauper Relief in Pennsylvania" in the May, 1886 issue of "The International Record of Charities and Correction" that contains a statement by Mr. Shillito concerning how relief payments were being handled in Franklin County.
1887: According to page 604 of the aforementioned 1887 book, S. Miller Shillito was a Burgess for the Borough of Chambersburg for the 1886-87 term.
The following composite image shows the listing for the household of S. Miller Shillito in the 1900 census records from the second ward of the borough of Chambersburg.
1904: The following obituary of S. Miller Shillito was published in the March 16, 1904 issue of the "Valley Spirit" newspaper:
1904: The following death notice was published in the March 24, 1904 issue of the "Shepherdstown Register" newspaper.
1904: The following excerpt is from an editorial titled "Pillars in the Local Church" that was published in the August 18, 1904 issue of "The Christian Advocate".
Misc.
James B. Whisker's 1990 book "Arms Makers of Pennsylvania" indicates that the home of Samuel Miller Shillito at the time of his death was at 171 Queen Street, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
Work product
Page 172 of James B. Whisker's 1990 book "Arms Makers of Pennsylvania" has a picture of a rifle that was reportedly made by Samuel Shillito, Sr.
L. Dietle
An 1884 book indicates that a gunsmith named Samuel Shillito is included on an "assessment list on file in the commissioners' office of Bedford county" that represents "the taxpayers of McConnellsburg borough in 1826". Although McConnellsburg was in Bedford County in 1826, it became a part of Fulton County in 1850.
A brief entry in Robert E. Gardner's 1963 book "Small arms makers; a directory of fabricators of firearms, edged weapons, crossbows, and polearms" identifies Samuel M. Shillito as a gunmaker in Bedford County, Pennsylvania in the 1826 to 1850 timeframe, and in Fulton County, Pennsylvania in the 1850 to 1858 timeframe.
The following excerpt about the Shillito gunsmiths is from the 1887 book "History of Franklin County, Pennsylvania". The excerpt was written during the lifetime of the younger Samuel Shillito, and was probaby written based on his input.
1793: According to the aforementioned 1887 book, the elder Samuel Shillito was born at Chambersburg in 1793.
The "West Queen — North Side" section of the 1900 book "Recollections of Chambersburg, Pa. Chiefly Between the Years 1830=1850." Includes the statement, "Next was a one and a-half story frame shop and a two-story frame dwelling, occupied by Samuel Shillito, gunsmith." To me, this appears to be a reference to the residence and shop of the elder Samuel Shillito.
I have seen references to an auction of at least one rifle marked in a manner that indicated it was made by Samuel Shillito & son, which establishes that the father and son were both involved in gun making.
