This is the board to ask about the identity, or for an appraisal, of a rod. Please use the outline as explained on the board. If there is a makers name, list that in the subject line. Make sure you include the length, number of sections, any identifying markings and the general condition. Adding photographs is always helpful!
An email last week from Hoagy Carmichael brought an intriguing lot of photos to my attention. An early unmarked rod with some familiar looking visual cues made me begin an email exchange with the owner and this is how it went from there. To begin with, these are the original photos that Hoagy sent me.
Both Jerry Girard and I felt that the rings on the butt cap signified a Charles Wheeler rod and I asked the owner if Wheeler's name was marked anywhere on the rod, and I was told no. I requested closer views of the hardware and asked how the current owner, Dave, came by the rod.
Last edited by jeffkn1 on 02/01/12 10:16, edited 1 time in total.
The butt is ash, the mid is either ash or hickory, and tips are lancewood. I just found out the ferrules are 28/15. Tips are the twisted wire style, held in place with fine wire wrapping.
The reel seat in pics 3 and 4 looks like one giant ferrule. Is the grip perhaps detachable? Whenever I see English-style tip tops, I start looking at the Eastern PA makers if the rod is from this side of the pond. I'll see if I can find anything similar. Best, Joel
Dave's family was from Mass, but his father moved the family to South Dakota. His grandfather "never forgave my dad for dragging her away from them to such a "barren Indian infested despicable place" such as South Dakota. But after his first trip out here and all the huge fish they caught he then thought this place was okay. I will always remember riding beside him in the pickup as a little boy going fishing and watching him looking up for Indian tribes on top of every bluff." The grandfather was Julius, and somewhere along the way he picked up a few rods back in Massachusetts, one of them being the rare Philbrook & Paine-stamped rod with HA Merrill stamped on the butt cap, subject of a nice discussion thread here, early last year. This wood rod was another of the rods that Dave inherited from his late grandfather.
Fortunately, all the photos Dave has sent me are good-sized files giving me the option of zooming in on every little scratch and spot. I focused on the butt cap and my effort finally paid off. Sort of. I found some faintly stamped characters adjacent to the pin that was driven through the side of the cap. I adjusted and readjusted the photo and I strained my eyes no end, but I couldn't quite make out what it said.
I thought I could make out EON and some other obscure letters (Leonard?) but I needed a better shot, so I asked Dave to concentrate on the area around that pin and here's what came back in the next email.
Not Leonard, and not even a familiar name: I.W. GOODHUE. Well, ifthe P&P rod and this rod came from the same place & time then maybe I could find something on Mr. Goodhue by looking at Bangor records. Sure enough, I found him in Bangor in this ad, and I found someone by the same name much further north. Note the business address.
Last edited by jeffkn1 on 02/01/12 12:57, edited 1 time in total.
How cool is that. Another possible P&P if the rod dates to that time. I am guessing the address is a stone's throw away from 18 Broad Street. Is it possibly a rod directly from P&P, or are you thinking more along the lines of Wheeler? It may even pre-date both P&P and Wheeler, since that ad pre-dates both P&P and Wheeler. That would open up the possibility that it is from the earliest of American makers?
From an 1891 book entitled "Northern Maine, its points of interest and its representative business men..." a little more info on Mr. Goodhue follows. He appears to have been a well-liked businessman who started in Bangor in the 1850s and moved to Fort Fairfield in [1859?]. Still in business in 1891, Goodhue would have had access to both P&P and Wheeler in sourcing rods.
"GOODHUE THE JEWELER, Holiday,
Novelties, Watches, Clocks, Jewelry, Silverware, Room
Paper, Curtains, Spotting and Fancy Goods, Fort Fair-
field. Me. — The name of " Goodhue the Jeweler," might
be fittingly changed to " Good value the Jeweler, " it a
name characteristic of the business' policy of its owner
were needed, for there is no jeweler in the State who gives
better value in all lines of goods, but the residents ot this
section will bear that fact in mind without being reminded
of it by any change in name, and it would ceitainly be
poor policy to alter a name so widely and favorably known
as the one in question. The business carried on under
it was founded in 1859 by Mr. I. W. Goodhue, who settled
at Fort Fairfield after being a number of years in the-
jewelry business in Bangor. He began in a small way
and it was not until after the building of the railroad in
1874 that conditions were such as to give opportunity for
pronounced growth. In 1879 Mr. Goodhue moved from
the lower to what is now the main village, but in less than
a year was burned out and then took a small store in the
Dresser Block. In 1883 Mr. A. F. Goodhue took an inter-
est in the business, which was at once removed to the
Collins House block, and within two years the growth of
trade made it necessary to occupy the adjoining store also.
The present premises have four large show windows and
two entrances, and are almost as attractive without as
within but not quite, for Mr. Goodhue carries the largest
stock in Aroostook, and it is skillfully chosen and taste-
fully displayed, and so varied that all tastes and purses
can be suited. We cannot describe it, but will simply say-
that Mr. Goodhue's specialties are watches, clocks, jew-
elry, silver ware, stationery, room paper, curtains, sport-
ing and fancy goods, and an exceptionally full line of
holiday novelties at the proper season. Very low prices
are quoted on all the articles dealt in, but most important
of all is the fact — well known of course to many of our
readers— that every article, large or small, costly or cheap
bought here will prove just as represented in every respect.
The above firm do more repairing on watches, clocks,
jewelry, musical instruments, etc., etc., than any other-
place in Aroostook, and the proof of this statement is that
three first-class workmen are at the bench the most of the
time, some of whom have the experience of over forty
years. All work intrusted to their care receive their best
attention and is fully guaranteed to give perfect satisfaction
in every respect or money refunded. They also have the
only regular jewelry safe in the county, weighing 5430
pounds, where all articles left for repairs are deposited
each night, guaranteeing perfect safety to their customers."
The significance of the address is that for a brief period the business next door (at 2 1/2 Kenduskeag) was Hiram Leonard's. I almost jumped out of my chair when I read that. All I needed to do was put them both there at the same time. And wasn't it Bangor where Loman Hawes (Hiram?) was said to have taken note of the use of bamboo for umbrella ribs? Close, but no cigar. Actually not that close, either.
Not long after the ad was run in 1856 the business became Goodhue and White. Then, sometime in 1859 came the move to Ft. Fairfield, quite a ways above Bangor. The 1860 census listed him as a farmer but he finally established himself as a jeweler and, according to the Maine Register, also a gunsmith.
Books on early American gunmakers list "J.W. Goodhue" in Ft. Fairfield, apparently mistaking the I in Isaac for a J. So far I haven't located any photos of either Isaac or his guns but I'm leaning toward Goodhue being another example of a craftsman's talents with making guns being translated into a craftsman making fishing rods. I like to think that it was during the Ft. Fairfield years that the rod was produced but that's pure speculation on my part, as is the idea that he produced more of these to sell. Was he simply a fisherman who made his own because he could, or a maker who produced them to sell?
The theory that these rods, the Goodhue and the previously discussed Philbrook & Paine, both left Maine at about the same time was certainly intriguing but I guess the most important thing was that Julius Yankee, a Massachusetts engineer, had the good sense to save them and pass them on.
So far, there are no others marked with these names.
Last edited by jeffkn1 on 02/01/12 09:07, edited 1 time in total.
Making utility muzzleloaders, the lion's share of the gun market in those days, was easier with the use of trade parts available from Boston. Locks, stocks, and barrels all could be sourced from outfitters like William Read, as I've found with some of the other gun makers. What remained to be done was largely fitting and finishing. That didn't preclude fashioning parts for precision features but entry into the gunsmithing business was easier than I realized. I don't know if Goodhue made anything like Neal or the Ramsdell Brothers of Bangor.
I have updated the original post at the top to include:
1)Detail of the hood on the reel seat. Each corner has three decorative slashes arranged like a crows foot.
2)Tiptops of twisted wire, with fine wire wrapping. The tip was pointed.
3)Guides, including an interesting stripping guide. I don't think the snakes are original. It may have had strap & ring.
Dave also sent me a photo of an old plate wind brass fly reel with the feet filed down to fit the reel seat on the old rod.
One detail that strikes me is the soldered and free-standing hood on the reel seat. I just looked at what I think is an old Chubb and what I know is a sole agents Leonard and the hood is part of a solid band near the butt. This one is more "modern" looking although I do not think it is, in fact, more modern in time. More thinking is required on this lovely old rod.
This one definitely has the wheels spinning. I have nothing so far. What is the material just above the butt cap? Is it the same wood but japanned?
From a different angle, are there any rods out there with similar markings from Goodhue's 1850's contemporary, G.L. Bailey? Could this be an early Gilbert Bailey?
Bailey, to the best of my knowledge, made no rods. He imported tackle from the UK. He did make a landing net, one of an impressively long list of designs he was issued a patent for. From all the ads, and from what was written of him in Maine Made Guns and Their Makers(which I highly recommend), Bailey seems to have done a bigger business in guns than in tackle. Coincidentally, Isaac Cutler, who bought Charles Wheelers first split bamboo rod, was also an avid shooter and he worked three blocks away from Bailey's shop during the Civil War, so the probability is high that he and Bailey were well acquainted.
Joel
My first inclination is to say that it's stained but I can't be certain. In umbrella and cane making a variety of woods are used and Goodhue did do some work with ebony.
I know little of metalwork, but are the small hashmarks seen perpendicular to the seams that run parallel to the rod indicative of a solder bridge used to hold the seams together?
I would not describe them as crude, but they give the appearance of something that an accomplished metalsmith might find incomplete. They cause me to wonder if the entire seam where they appear was not completely soldered but was tacked together after the metal was formed over the rod. I simply do not recall in my limited experience seeing seams with similar marks.
Pity perhaps that there aren’t more thoughts on this rod since it has some interesting details and came from such a seminal place in the history of American rods.
I will toss out my few wanderings which are incomplete and lead to no conclusions. Make no mistake, this is not scholarship – it is just some travels about Bangor and “D” the early name for Fort Fairfield.
Isaac W. Goodhue in 1848 was said to make musical instruments. I’ll guess wood and not saxophones. In 1850 he is said to be an umbrella manufacturer. His later ads said he worked with all sorts of wood, bamboo and whalebone. After he moved up to Fort Fairfield, he was a jeweler, etc. and his sons ran other businesses.
So who else was hanging out in Bangor or traveled near Fort Fairfield for that matter who might have known something about machining parts for a rod.
There is whole lot I haven’t read so this is not exhaustive or authoritative.
I think one would find that Bangor had some pretty good gunsmiths when Goodhue was there and shortly after he was there and then in Fort Fairfield. William Neal is one. Neal’s son, John (who lived at age 18 in the Charles Ramsdell household with his 13 year old sister Martha) is another. Philbrook, IIRC worked for Ramsdell as did Hiram Leonard.
About the same time Goodhue was moving to Fort Fairfield, Leonard went off to the Tobique region of New Brunswick with Manly Hardy and I think Sparse wrote that Leonard may have made a rod back then. I mention Tobique since in the late 1830’s, not far removed from when Goodhue went to Fort Fairfield (named for the Maine Governor who sent troops to the Fort) the United States and Great Britain were involved in the Aroostock War, a dispute, in part, over the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick. Tobique is less than 10 miles from Fort Fairfield, a border town, so essentially, when Leonard and Hardy were in Tobique, circa. Late 1850’s, they likely traveled through Fort Fairfield. Not enough to pick a candidate, but there are some. The only one I can find from the group to be possibly connected to both Bangor and Fort Fairfield is Leonard.
Charlie
My thanks to you and Joel for your input.
We see it pretty much the same way and a key word in your post was seminal. Despite predating the Maine makers by some 8 years, Charles Murphy didn't move the development of split bamboo rod making forward the way Mainers did, with Bangor serving as the melting pot in the 1870's. Leonard's legacy in that period is secure but we have a ways to go before we know all the local influences on Leonard, and all the local craftsmen he may have influenced. Bangor was the gateway to Maine's north woods just as St. Louis was to the American West, so the market for guns and tackle was pretty substantial, substantial enough for Martin Bradford to maintain an advertising presence there dating back at least to the 1840's.
Allied crafts like cane, whip, and umbrella making have been largely overlooked in our research, but in an age when conveyance by horse-drawn vehicles was a common daily occurrence, the market for decent quality whips never abated. Thomas Tout was another maker of rods who also made whips, and I bet the whips came first. How about a Leonard whip? He made bows for archery, so why not whips? It could happen.
And today there's still a Goodhue Jewelers in Fort Fairfield, though I bet we know more about its origins than most of the Ft. Fairfielders do.
More wanderings...but, typical for me in these matters, I answer questions with questions. I'll try to add a little history with the questions. This has probably been considered, but have you been able to find and compare the metalwork, stamps, and other markings from guns, whips, jewelry, watches, etc. to those on this rod? I have very limited gun references, but I have been searching for a similar stamp as the "I.W. Goodhue", those "crow's feet" markings on the reel seat, and similar metalwork.
I haven't found much, but I can offer a little additional history on the relationship between the Ramsdell's and the Neal's. When William Neal died in 1853, his two sons, William A. and John H. were adopted by Charles V. Ramsdell. John H. worked with Ramsdell from 1871 until approximately 1880. I have not been able to find photos of a gun made by Neal, but there is apparently one pictured in "Flayderman's Guide" (if anyone has a copy). Below is a photo of the stamping on a Ramsdell rifle.
To add a little to the Bailey reference earlier, here is one of his gun stamps. Looking at the Bailey reel seat in Campbell's book (p. 44), there appears to be a very slight resemblence in the sliding band. The font in both of these stamps, however, is different than that on the rod, so the search continues.
