Burr-Hamilton-Church Duelling Pistols

The BURR-HAMILTON-CHURCH PISTOLS

A Part of Allegany County History

by Ron Taylor

photo from NYSHA

The pistols used in the Aaron Burr/Alexander Hamilton duel fought July 11, 1804.

They were reproduced in a limited edition by an Italian gun maker as presentation pieces for the American Bicentennial Celebration in 1976. The reproductions depicted here were presented to Jack Phillips, an officer of Chase Manhattan Bank and are shown courtesy of John Phillips, Fly Creek, New York.

(http://www.nysha.org/Library/exhibits/burrhamilton/burrhamiltonsite/DuellingPistols.htm)

Debate over the Pistols continues.......but, things you should know:

The pistols were property of John Barker Church brought with him when he moved to America from his English home.
The pistols were used in duels which killed both Alexander Hamilton and his son, Philip Hamilton.
John Barker Church, himself, used the pistols previous to the Burr/Hamilton duel in a duel with Aaron Burr which was bloodless.
The pistols were fitted with a hair trigger, although debate continues on the use of that feature at this duel.
John Barker Church left his home in New York, giving up politics and business, to retire to Allegany County shortly after the Burr/Hamilton duel and brought the pistols with him.
The late Richard Church, a major of the old militia days and last of the Church Family to own the estate, lost Belvidere to foreclosure in 1892. At the time of his death in 1911 he owned the pistols.
In 1930 they were sold to Bank of the Manhattan Company of New York City by Mrs. H. E. Gilpin of Cleveland, Ohio, daughter of Richard Church and great-granddaughter of John B. Church.
In 1976, The Chase Manhatten Bank was reportedly the owner of the pistols. They had an Italian gunmaker reproduce a limited quantity of replicas for presentation during the bicentennial celebration of the United States.
Explaining to Mary Nash, reporter for The Buffalo News in 1946, O.G.Alexander, AVP of the bank, said the pistols were purchased because "Aaron Burr was among the founders of the Manhattan Company, and we thought the pistols would have a historic value and should be in our museum. Since purchasing them, we have just kept them under cover and have not publicized them in any way."
Alexander Hamilton and John Barker Church were brother-in-laws having married sisters, the daughters of Gen. Philip Schuyler, Revolutionary hero, statesman and Washington's trusted adviser. John married Angelica and Alexander married Elizabeth.