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Herman Henry Schulte (1842-1913) immigrated from Germany in the early 1850s, trained as a gunsmith, and served in the American Civil War. He worked for talented gunmaker William Craig (c. 1820- 1877) in Pittsburgh following the war. Craig is known to have made very fine target rifles, including examples used by Union sharpshooters, and Schulte eventually took over Craig’s Iron City Gun Works. His ads in 1876 listed “Rifles, shot guns, pistols and ammunition for Black Hills parties and others. Fishing tackle, sporting apparatus, etc.; a full assortment at lowest prices at H.H. Schulte’s Iron City Gun Works, No. 320 Liberty street. Send for
price list.” J.H. Johnston’s Great Western Gun Works was located
just down the street at 285 Liberty Street. Schulte remained in the gun trade in Pennsylvania through the 1870s before moving to St. Louis, Missouri, for several years and then returned to Pennsylvania in the late 1880s. The overall style of the work of this rifle is very similar to the Schulte rifle sold in our April 2018 Premier Auction
in lot 1217.
Joel Fink (1827-1907) was active in the oil business in Pennsylvania in the 1870s and became a wealthy man and was also involved
in several other business ventures including the Clymer Water Company which was founded after one of his wells struck
an underground water supply. As a prominent businessman,
he was also involved in local affairs, including as one of the
first councilmen of St. Petersburg, Pennsylvania, which was incorporated in 1872. He purchased a large farm east of Pittsburgh and in his latter years moved to a home in nearby Livermore. The significance of the date on the rifle is not clear. It may simply be when the rifle was completed for him.