This web page features a much-appreciated letter from Denny Donharl that I received by e-mail on June 9, 2025, the day after I announced my web page about William and Vester Stapleton.
L. Dietle
Mr. Dietle,
I saw your message ... regarding William B. Stapleton and perhaps I can give you more info about him. My name is Denny Donharl and my grandmother, Lilian Powel Stapleton Sweet, who lived in Everett, was my connection into the Stapleton family. My great great grandfather, Thomas G. Stapleton, was the brother of James Stapleton, the gunsmith in Todd and also the brother of Margaret Stapleton, the mother of William S. Chilcote, the gunsmith who apprenticed under his uncle James Stapleton. William Beaty Stapleton was the oldest child of James and Sarah Brode. James McClellan Stapleton was James Stapleton's youngest son.
Much of my family tree came from a couple in California, Jim and Debbie Stapleton and also from an extensive report done by Linnaria (Polly) Wheland for the Huntingdon County Historical Society. Personal information of the James Stapleton line came from Beecher Stapleton, the son of James McClellan, who lived on the property in which the 2 story log house stood near the gun shop/post office as James was named the postmaster of Todd in 1867.
Traveling in from Minnesota on family vacations in the latter 1990's, I would stop and visit with Beecher who gave me more information on the family. James Stapleton's sons, William B., Solomon, and James McClellan all worked in his shop for a period of time. William B. and James McClellan were the first to leave the shop and Solomon stayed with his father probably to the end of James' working career. I have been told Solomon did make rifles by himself for a period of time and used James Stapleton's stamp to mark them. His work is quite noticeable as his engraving work is rather crude when compared to his father. I might also add Beecher loaned the James Stapleton stamp to a fellow in Huntingdon who used it to mark some unmarked rifles. I have seen 2 definite frauds that were owned by a Stapleton who purchased them at the forger's auction. The stamp was recovered by Beecher's brother Ford and his family and remain in that family today.
My understanding from Beecher was that William B. went to Saxton and opened a bicycle shop. My research found that the bicycle, as we know it today, was created in the 1880's and became an instant hit throughout the nation. Being listed as a machinist does make sense with this new mode of transportation but it would also indicate William B. still retained his gunsmithing skills as percussion cap rifles were still used in poorer rural areas of Huntingdon County well into the 1900's. I cannot confirm Vester's role in gunsmithing.
A further note of interest for you would be the many connections between gunsmiths in Huntingdon County. As an example, William S. Chilcote was the nephew of James Stapleton. He married Martha Fleck who was the niece of gunsmiths George and Valentine Fleck from the Mt. Union area. James Stapleton was also a close friend of gunsmith Jacob F. Gehrett of Orbisonia, whose father John lived near the Stapleton's.
... Your research records are impeccable and much appreciated by many collectors. Please feel free to use this info in any manner and it is not necessary to give me credit for it. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I not only collect Huntingdon's but I spend a lot of hours researching the gun smiths.
Regards,
Denny Donharl
[Contact information redacted]
Mr. Donharl's comment about percussion rifles being used in poorer rural areas well into the 1900s resonates with me because of the stories passed down about early 1900s gunsmithing activities on the former Adam Lepley farm that adjoins the remote Somerset County, Pennsylvania farm that belonged to my maternal grandfather Allen Lester Korns.
Mr. Donharl's comments about the adoption and popularity of bicycles resonate with me because a relative of mine wrote the 1892 book "The Bicycle, its Selection, Riding and Care" (6,284 KB pdf), and because I know that after the 1800s Bedford & Somerset County, Pennsylvania gunsmith Daniel Benjamin Troutman moved to Ottawa, Kansas and set up a gun shop there, his gunsmith son Noah Henry Troutman turned it into a "Gunsmith and Bicycle Shop".
Go to the William & Vester Stapleton page
Go to the gunsmithing project index
