The spirits of two old gunsmiths were brought together recently in Mt. Union Cemetery in Botetourt County.
John Painter and John Sites were both mid- to late-19th century craftsmen living in the county. Both were gun makers.
Painter was born in 1810 and died in 1900. It is reported that he was active up until a few years prior to his death. Painter opened his shop in 1830. The shop is reported to have been in or around Haymakertown. He is also known as “The Gun Maker of Tinker Mountain.”
John Sites left Botetourt County in 1835, heading west. He settled in Missouri and his life as a gun maker is better documented there than in Virginia. Reportedly, his shop in Botetourt was located at the edge of Fincastle along Springwood Road. Both artisans were working at the same time (1830-1835), in the same trade, and in the same community. It is most certain that Painter and Sites were acquaintances.
The rifles they made (American Long Rifles) were an essential tool of life in the time. They provided protection and food. Guns were always near and always ready as life in that day was wrought with many uncertainties.
In many situations, the rifle, loaded with a charge of black powder and a patched round ball, became a key to survival. It is often said, “If only these rifles could talk, the stories they could tell.”
In the image provided, the top rifle has a barrel, trigger guard, and patch box that are in the style of John Sites’s craftsmanship. The quarterfoil finial of the patch box is a common Virginia feature and is frequently found on Sites rifles and is not typical of Painter rifles. The barrel of the Sites top rifle is signed in script, “John Sites.” If one looks closely and at the lines of that rifle, one will find similarities to the lower rifle made by and signed by John Painter.
The conclusion is unmistakable. The top rifle was originally made by Sites but somehow, on some day, and under unknown circumstances, the rifle stock was damaged or broken beyond repair but yet the components were still functional so the owner took the broken rifle to John Painter with a request to repair, restore, or re-stock it.
What might have happened is unknown but it was most likely after Sites had left for Missouri and Painter’s shop was perhaps the only place such repairs could be made. Painter was probably the last of the “old time” gun makers still working in the county at that time.
The cause of the Sites gun’s damage can only be left to speculation, but imaginations have run wild for well over a century. The gun may have been used as a club to defend the owner after his only shot missed its intended target. The owner may have fallen off his horse and rolled down an embankment while in pursuit of game or maybe while fleeting unsavory characters that were set upon doing him harm. Or, it simply may have been burned in a campfire by accident.
It will likely remain a mystery.
However the gun might have been damaged, John Painter became the one to put it back in usable condition. Fortunately, both of these rifles found their way into the hands of residents who would wish to preserve them so they may stand as a tribute to Botetourt County’s past.
John Painter and John Sites, together again in 2024.
~ Fincastle Herald staff report
