RARE SPECIAL ORDER DELUXE ENGRAVED & INSCRIBED MARLIN MODEL 1889 LEVER ACTION RIFLE.

RARE SPECIAL ORDER DELUXE ENGRAVED & INSCRIBED MARLIN MODEL 1889 LEVER ACTION RIFLE. SN 88987. Cal. 38 WCF (38-40). Rare ’89 Marlin with very rare 26″ oct bbl, full magazine, combination front sight, semi-buckhorn rear sight & Lyman combination tang sight. Mounted with very highly figured, burl & flame grain American walnut with “B” style checkered forearm and serpentine grip buttstock with crescent steel buttplate. Left side of upper tang is stamped with matching SN, which number is also found in top tang channel of buttstock and inside buttplate. Receiver is beautifully engraved, probably by John Ulrich, with large oval vignette on the left side, engraved in period script “W.W. Taylor / Sheriff / of La Salle County / Illinois / May 24th 1894”. This panel is surrounded by beautiful foliate arabesque patterns with very fine punch dot background and wavelet borders. Right side is engraved to match with the tiny vignette of a whitetail buck’s head on side of bolt. Lever boss, top & bottom of receiver & top tang are engraved to match. According to Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms only 3,729 of the 55,072 Models ’89 produced during the period 1889-99 were made with 26″ bbls. Very few of these were deluxe and extremely few were engraved. This rifle was the property of William W. Taylor (1853-1911)of La Salle, Illinois. Mr. Taylor was born in Chicago on Michigan Ave., the son of descendants of the American Revolution. His father, Edmund Dick Taylor, was a pioneer in the Illinois coal industry and in 1856 came to La Salle County and sank a coal shaft which became the La Salle County Carbon Coal Company, at the time the largest in the U.S. He was also involved in lead mining in Galena, IL. His son William, the owner of this rifle, grew up in the coal industry, was educated in and around Chicago and attended Notre Dame University. In the 1870s he was active in La Salle County politics serving as City Clerk, Alderman, Circuit Clerk and Supervisor of Ottawa, IL. In 1890 he was elected Sheriff of La Salle County, which position he retained until 1894, indicating that this rifle was probably a retirement gift from the Sheriff’s Dept. It was in that year that coal miners in La Salle staged a very violent strike in which Sheriff Taylor was severely beaten and shot four times. In 1883 Mr. Taylor purchased the Clifton Hotel in Ottawa, IL, and owned it until 1905, personally running it until 1901. In 1903 he became the General Superintendent of The Spring Valley Coal Company after which he became the General Manager & Superintendent of Mines for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company. In Dec. 1911 Mr. Taylor & his wife had traveled to Roundup, Montana, to check on railroad company mining property in that area where he died on Dec. 29, 1911 from blood poisoning. A copy of Mr. Taylor’s obituary and his will, executed in Montana, along with a large volume of other court records, accompanies this rifle. Given the information, as noted above, that Sheriff Taylor was involved in, and was severely injured during the miners’ strike & riot in 1894, and either resigned from or was out of office shortly thereafter, it seems likely that this rifle was either a retirement present or a present of gratitude from the citizens or management of the coal company. PROVENANCE: Ray Saign; Wes Adams Estate Collection. CONDITION: Very fine. Bbl retains 95-96% strong orig blue with light muzzle & sharp edge wear with a couple of minor dings on the sharp edges; receiver retains about all of its orig case colors, bright in sheltered areas, stronger on left side; bottom of receiver has smoky case colors; hammer retains strong case colors, faded on left side & top edge; lever retains faded case colors on the sides, turned silver on outer faces; buttplate is a silver/gray patina; wood is sound with a few minor nicks & dings and overall retains about all of its bright, orig, factory piano varnish finish. Mechanics are crisp, brilliant shiny bore; may be unfired. 4-44656 JR456 (15,000-25,000)

Auction: Firearms - Spring 2012

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	2127	$29,500.00	RARE SPECIAL ORDER DELUXE ENGRAVED & INSCRIBED MARLIN MODEL 1889 LEVER ACTION RIFLE. SN 88987. Cal. 38 WCF (38-40). Rare ’89 Marlin with very rare 26″ oct bbl, full magazine, combination front sight, semi-buckhorn rear sight & Lyman combination tang sight. Mounted with very highly figured, burl & flame grain American walnut with “B” style checkered forearm and serpentine grip buttstock with crescent steel buttplate. Left side of upper tang is stamped with matching SN, which number is also found in top tang channel of buttstock and inside buttplate. Receiver is beautifully engraved, probably by John Ulrich, with large oval vignette on the left side, engraved in period script “W.W. Taylor / Sheriff / of La Salle County / Illinois / May 24th 1894”. This panel is surrounded by beautiful foliate arabesque patterns with very fine punch dot background and wavelet borders. Right side is engraved to match with the tiny vignette of a whitetail buck’s head on side of bolt. Lever boss, top & bottom of receiver & top tang are engraved to match. According to Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms only 3,729 of the 55,072 Models ’89 produced during the period 1889-99 were made with 26″ bbls. Very few of these were deluxe and extremely few were engraved. This rifle was the property of William W. Taylor (1853-1911)of La Salle, Illinois. Mr. Taylor was born in Chicago on Michigan Ave., the son of descendants of the American Revolution. His father, Edmund Dick Taylor, was a pioneer in the Illinois coal industry and in 1856 came to La Salle County and sank a coal shaft which became the La Salle County Carbon Coal Company, at the time the largest in the U.S. He was also involved in lead mining in Galena, IL. His son William, the owner of this rifle, grew up in the coal industry, was educated in and around Chicago and attended Notre Dame University. In the 1870s he was active in La Salle County politics serving as City Clerk, Alderman, Circuit Clerk and Supervisor of Ottawa, IL. In 1890 he was elected Sheriff of La Salle County, which position he retained until 1894, indicating that this rifle was probably a retirement gift from the Sheriff’s Dept. It was in that year that coal miners in La Salle staged a very violent strike in which Sheriff Taylor was severely beaten and shot four times. In 1883 Mr. Taylor purchased the Clifton Hotel in Ottawa, IL, and owned it until 1905, personally running it until 1901. In 1903 he became the General Superintendent of The Spring Valley Coal Company after which he became the General Manager & Superintendent of Mines for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company. In Dec. 1911 Mr. Taylor & his wife had traveled to Roundup, Montana, to check on railroad company mining property in that area where he died on Dec. 29, 1911 from blood poisoning. A copy of Mr. Taylor’s obituary and his will, executed in Montana, along with a large volume of other court records, accompanies this rifle. Given the information, as noted above, that Sheriff Taylor was involved in, and was severely injured during the miners’ strike & riot in 1894, and either resigned from or was out of office shortly thereafter, it seems likely that this rifle was either a retirement present or a present of gratitude from the citizens or management of the coal company. PROVENANCE: Ray Saign; Wes Adams Estate Collection. CONDITION: Very fine. Bbl retains 95-96% strong orig blue with light muzzle & sharp edge wear with a couple of minor dings on the sharp edges; receiver retains about all of its orig case colors, bright in sheltered areas, stronger on left side; bottom of receiver has smoky case colors; hammer retains strong case colors, faded on left side & top edge; lever retains faded case colors on the sides, turned silver on outer faces; buttplate is a silver/gray patina; wood is sound with a few minor nicks & dings and overall retains about all of its bright, orig, factory piano varnish finish. Mechanics are crisp, brilliant shiny bore; may be unfired. 4-44656 JR456 (15,000-25,000) Auction: Firearms - Spring 2012 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

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