James SIMS (1754-1845), Gunsmith of Nicholas County

Happy 4th of July!

Although my 5th great-grandfather James SIMS’ service during the Revolutionary War was not accepted as proof for a pension, the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) accepted his “providing supplies” and approved him as a Revolutionary War patriot.

Early in 2002 I wrote the biography of James SIMS (1754-1845) with the help of several cousins. On 25 March 2013 I posted an updated version of the biography on my blog. In May Mark Smith of Hampshire County Long Rifles requested permission to run the biography on his blog.

I was thrilled at the request to share my work. But I had a different idea. I suggested my writing, as a guest blogger, a shorter piece on James Sims and his sons discussing gun-making with a link back to my blog with the full biography.

This was a great opportunity to focus on an aspect of my ancestor’s life that I did not know very much about. Please take a moment to read James Sims (1754-1845), Gunsmith of Nicholas County and visit Mark’s blog.

Many thanks to Mark Smith for letting me be a guest blogger and to Jeff Prechtel, a wonderful artist, for the drawings used to illustrate my post.

© 2015 Cathy Meder-Dempsey