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Harrington's firearms on display at Old Sturbridge Village
Gunsmith's tools made by
Henry Harrington
Confident in the potential effectiveness of his weaponry, Harrington
tried to convince the U.S. Army to purchase the guns for its troops.
However, the military decided that the excessive weight of the firearms
was impractical and the costs were too high, so they declined his offer.
is led to "an experimental dead end," as far as Harrington was
concerned. e guns that survived through the years have ended up in the hands of
private collectors, and several rare rifles and pistols, as well as the gunsmithing tools
Harrington used to build the weapons, are on display at Old Sturbridge Village.
Harrington's creative talents did not apply only to useful tools, but also extended
beyond the practical into the musical arena. In 1855, he fashioned a violin, or fiddle
as it would have been called then, out of some unusual materials. While most violins
are made of spruce, the top of Harrington's instrument was constructed of hemlock,
as were the pegs; tiger maple wood was used for the back of the violin. A note tucked
inside the fiddle case indicated that a hemlock tree that had been struck by lightning
formed the front of the instrument, while the wood on the back came from an old
chest of drawers. Although somewhat odd in shape – the instrument was rounded on
top – the violin is another example of Harrington's precision craftsmanship.
Harrington remained active and spry as he grew older. Rumor says he could jump up
and click his heels together until late into his 70s. He died on September 9, 1876,
one day shy of his 80th birthday.
