Was this rifle made by Jacob Sackett?

Kelly Harriger of Brookville, PA, writes asking for help in identifying a late-percussion period target rifle.


A collector of western Pennsylvania longrifles has suggested that it bears the style of Jacob Sackett of Sagerstown, in Crawford County, PA. It will be recalled that we ran an article in the January 2005 TSFA Newsletter, "Jacob T. Sackett, Blacksmith, Gunsmith and Violin Maker" by William B. Moore, reprinted from the Newsletter of the Crawford County Historical Society.
Kelly's further information on this rifle is on the website.

Nathaniel Sackett, Washington's spymaster

One of the more colorful characters in Sackett history is Nathaniel Sackett who was one of George Washington's spymasters during the American Revolutionary War. Weygant's Sacketts of America includes much detail on Nathaniel, including the text of the letter from Washington appointing Nathaniel to the service of his country.
More material is now available on the Internet at the Library of Congress and at the
University of Virginia. Transcripts of a number of letters to and from Nathaniel have been added to The Sackett Family Association website. These give a fascinating insight into conditions during the war. The new material is included in a biographical sketch of Nathaniel which is included in the Notables section.
There is very likely more material to be had on this subject and others may wish to join in the hunt.

Jeffery Sackett, Mayor of Sandwich

By an extraordinary coincidence, the gravestones of Jeffery Sackett and his family at St Mary's Church, Sandwich, were "discovered" twice in one afternoon by Sackett Family Association members attending the reunion in Thanet, Kent, last September.
Jean Carpenter and her brother Mike Trickey can claim the first sighting, and this was followed an hour or so later by Steve and Debbie Barbee, accompanied by Chris Sackett.
Jeffery Sackett, 1617-1695, was three times Mayor of Sandwich. His biographical sketch includes details of his father's will—he was effectively disinherited by his father—and of a lengthy case in the Chancery Court which Marion Sackett had researched some years ago.
The court case, a sorry tale of greed and marital disharmony from which our man does not emerge well, is a sad reminder that human nature is not much changed down the ages.

Mike Sackett visits Sackets Harbor

Mike Sackett and Mary Volberding recently visited Sackets Harbor where they toured the Sacket Mansion and met local historian, Bob Brennan. Their visit attracted the attention of the local press and an article appears on NewsWatch.

Checking up in the Sackett database reveals that Augustus Sacket, who founded Sackets Harbor, was Mike's sixth cousin, five times removed—a detail that evidently did not come readily to mind during the interview!

Thurmon King's database is added to TSFA website

This month's update to The Sackett Family Association website includes the addition of Thurmon King's database. This is presented in a "raw data" format using Thurmon's data from his Legacy files processed through The Master Genealogist and Second Site. The database is also still available online in The Next Generation format.

The database has records of 33,487 people, of which 24,655 are online on TSFA website. Records of people born after about 1920 are not published for privacy reasons.

Obituary — Jimmy Marr

Jimmy Marr, who died on 29 March, aged 90, was born in Guernsey and was a great-grandson of Jabez Sackett (1840–1925) who had moved to the island from Kent and then Yorkshire in about 1890.

Jimmy was a highly regarded schoolmaster in London but his passion remained his island home, in particular its rich history, of which he was an acknowledged expert. He wrote extensively on island topics. Foremost amongst his publications was his History of Guernsey, regarded as the definitive work on the subject.

His biographical sketch includes a detailed obituary.

Tom Smith is new TSFA president

Tom Smith has been chosen by the new TSFA committee to serve as president for the year 2009/10. Tom was a founder member of the Association and was active on Sackett-L for some years before that. He regularly attends reunions and is also administrator of the Sackett DNA project. He was vice president last year.

Other officers for this year are Michelle Marolis, vice president; Chris Sackett, secretary; and Sandy Berry, registrar.