Written by Katie Cynkar

“Si quaeratis monumenta circumspicite. If you seek memorials, look around you.”¹ These words, written by nineteenth-century historian Thomas W. Bicknell, speak to the way that objects hold powerful connections to the past. Not only can they provide a tangible example of an important event in history, they can also provide emotional connections to the people who came before us. I was fortunate enough to encounter one such object during my first weeks working at Raynham Hall Museum: an engraved powder horn from the mid-eighteenth century.

Powder horns were common firearm accessories in the eighteenth century. Worn close to the body, soldiers, farmers, and trappers alike used these objects for protection and hunting. The traditional materials of cow horn, wood, and pitch provided a light, durable, waterproof seal that kept gun powder and musket balls dry and ready for use.² Following American artistic convention, Raynham Hall’s example provides a kaleidoscopic view of various engraved decorations, including the Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom, a compass flanked by an indigenous person and other figures, and even a shoe from that bygone era. 

Two designs in particular stand out. The first is a map of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers extending from New York City to Albany and on to Montreal, Canada. The tradition of engraving maps on powder horns was common amongst those used during military conflicts as a practical means of aiding navigation. This stylistic convention began with King George’s War from 1744 to 1748 but really hit its stride during the French and Indian War and the American Revolution.³ Showcasing forts and cities of important battles like Fort Ticonderoga, the map on Raynham Hall’s powder horn is associated with the French and Indian War. While some of these horns were carved by the soldiers who owned them, professional engravers or gunsmiths made and sold the more intricately designed powder horns. Due to the complexity of the designs and the replication of this map on other horns, this powder horn was most likely carved by a professional engraver from somewhere along Lake George in New York rather than by the soldier who carried it.⁴ All together, this information helps us determine that this horn was made in New York sometime between 1754 and 1763. 

The second design that stands out is the name “Revd Solomon Townsend” surrounded by a frame. Who was Reverend Solomon Townsend? Did he fight in New York during the French and Indian War? Was he a relative of the Townsends of Oyster Bay? After doing a little digging, it turns out he was not related to the Townsends of Raynham Hall. Rather, he was a minister of the First Congregational Church of Barrington, Rhode Island. After receiving his M.A. degree from Harvard, Townsend settled in the town of Barrington in 1742 and began what would be 55 years of his ministerial life.⁵ Most of the Church and town records of his pastorate are lost to time. Most surviving records come from accounts in A History of Barrington Rhode Island written by Thomas W. Bicknell, the great-great-grandson of Rev. Solomon Townsend. Of the limited records available, there are no indications that Rev. Townsend fought during the French and Indian War. So, how did his name end up on the powder horn? I believe the answer lies in the memories of those closest to him. Rev. Thomas Noyes, a pastor of the second Church of Needham, described him as “faithful, pious, and evangelical… an ornament to his profession and a glory to human nature.”⁶ To the friends and parishioners who knew him best, he was remembered as being “pure, placid and patient, and having a character unexceptionably good and estimable.”⁷ The reverence that Rev. Townsend’s community held for him leads me to believe that perhaps one of his parishioners gave him this powder horn as a way of showing appreciation and affection.

The story of this powder horn does not end here. In an account by another Rev. Townsend descendant, Robert. W. Townsend, he recalled, “when [he] was a boy (1930s-1940s), we had in the family a powder horn inscribed with the name ‘The Rev. Solomon Townsend’… It had apparently come down in the Townsend family via the eldest son in each generation.”⁸ Passed down generation after generation, this object not only commemorates a fantastic American artistic tradition from the events of the French and Indian War, it also acts as a memorial for a man of good character who was beloved by those he met. It is a great reflection of the multifaceted stories of objects in museums, bridging the gap between general and personal histories. As we begin our nation’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the story of this powder horn acts as a reminder that when we see objects in museums, we are not just looking at an object associated with historic events, we are looking at a memory of the real people who were a part of these events. In much the same way, Samuel Townsend’s road to revolution is about one person’s experience in the pre-Revolutionary War period, but it also reflects broader themes of shifting identities and loyalties in the time and place in which he lived. If you are interested in seeing the powder horn in person, come by Raynham Hall and see it in our current exhibition, Road to Revolution.  

References

¹ Thomas Williams Bicknell, A History of Barrington Rhode Island (Published by the Author, 1898), 228.

² William H. Guthman, “Engraving (Powder Horns),” Shrewsbury Historical Society, 1989, effective December 12, 2025, https://www.shrewsburyhistoricalsociety.org/engraving. 

³ Phil Zea, “Revealing the Culture of Conflict: Engraved Powder Horns from the French & Indian War.” Historic Deerfield Magazine 12, no. 13 (2008).

⁴ The same map design can be found on another powder horn at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/29501. 

⁵ Bicknell, A History of Barrington Rhode Island, 225.

⁶ Bicknell, A History of Barrington Rhode Island, 228.

⁷ Ibid.

⁸ Robert W. Townsend, Rev. Solomon Townsend of Barrington, Rhode Island: His Ancestors and Descendants (Family History Publishers, 1997), 43.