6/8/2022 – Frontier Firearms from the Lifetime Collection of Larry Ness

.44 caliber. 8″ barrel length. SN: 60045. Heavily oxidized brown metal, brass triggerguard and grip frame, smooth one-piece walnut grip. Standard one-line New York barrel address. Visible numbers match except for cylinder which is #3134 and wedge which is an old replacement held in place with tape. Grip with weak shadows of cartouches on each side. Includes an old Slim Jim holster with moderate wear. A large format period image of the General is included as well.

Revolver is identified to James S Hutton with an accompanying file of paperwork documenting that the gun was purchased at auction from the Redfield, SD Masonic Lodge #34 where the gun had been in the possession of the lodge since its donation to the lodge by the original owner, prior to his death in 1908. Various correspondence confirms this and further notes that the local Knights Templar Commandery #33 is named the Huston Commandery after him. 

James Stanley Huston was born on 22 May 1829 in Indiana County, PA. According to the records available in civilwardata.com, there are 41 James Hustons that saw Civil War service, but only one is listed with the middle initial “S”. None of the soldiers who lived in Pennsylvania in the records with his name appear to be the correct one. The one with the middle initial “S” joined the 30th Wisconsin Infantry on 15 August 1862 as a sergeant and was mustered out in Louisville, KY on 20 September 1865. As James S Huston would have been about 32 years old at the time of enlistment, entering as a sergeant would seem appropriate. During that period he rose to the rank of 1st Sergeant of Company I. It is not completely clear if this is the same Huston or not. Documents in the accompanying file note that James S Huston served as a the Adjutant General of the South Dakota militia (National Guard) in 1889 with the rank of Brigadier General. He died on 15 April 1908 and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in Redfield, SD.