The White River Museum has a new item to view, a double barrel shotgun! I know what you are thinking: Big deal, my husband has 17 in his gun safe/militia arsenal. The shotgun itself is not particularly rare or ancient, but its history is unique because of its owner. The signature of F.N. JoHantgen and “Meeker” are engraved on the barrel. The shotgun was imported from Belgium as part of a special order by the well-known Denver arms retailer, J.P. Lower. The shotgun has been estimated as made in 1894.
F. N. JoHantgen’s name appeared almost weekly in the Meeker Herald for decades. He advertised his main business as F.N. JoHantgen, blacksmith. He also sold wagons. He often appeared in the paper in one his other roles as a local elected official, member of the Highland Cemetery Board, 1892 Meeker Postmaster, as partner in a drugstore and member of our local militia, troop D.
Statewide he was known for his participation with Troop D and 1,200 other state troops in the 1903 Cripple Creek miner’s strike. Meeker contributed 31 men. Mine owners had appealed to Colorado Governor Peabody for protection against strikers. The soldiers guarded railroads, mine properties and kept the peace. Later, Frank was employed as personal body guard of Gov. Peabody in Denver.
Frank was very active in the Rio Blanco Democratic Party. Keep in mind, at that time in Colorado, Democrat meant something very different from today’s politics. The money and power came from large businesses, railroad, mine owners, timber, coke and steel. It came to everyone’s surprise that Frank chose not to support Gov. Peabody. Since he was personally acquainted with Peabody, people assumed he knew something ominous.
Frank N. JoHantgen was born in 1855, Dayton, Ohio, to Nicholas and Mary JoHantgen, immigrants from Prussia. Nicholas passed on his skill as a blacksmith to his son, Francis (Frank). Frank struck out to seek fame and fortune in 1879 at Leadville. Frank wandered Colorado for a while, prospecting in Kokomo and Fairplay before returning to Leadville, where he heard about Meeker and the White River Valley. He came to Meeker in 1886. On Jan. 24, 1890, he married Miss Fannie (Francis) Fairfield, daughter of Freeman and Sophia Fairfield. The JoHantgen’s owned a ranch in Powell Park. I could find no mention of children. F.N. JoHantgen was still advertising his blacksmith business up to 1926, just two years before he died in California.
The shotgun provenance is a little fuzzy after Frank’s death. Family tradition holds that Angelo JACK Nassau acquired the gun and passed it on to his son, Richard. The gun went later to his sister, Angela Nassau Sprod, who gave it to her son, Les Sprod. By that time, the shotgun had acquired an aged patina, so the engraving was hidden. Wiley Berthelson cleaned the gun and discovered the engraving and recognized the importance of the original owner. I am not sure if Frank engraved it himself. He was capable of doing so. It is more likely that he bought the gun at J.P. Lower in Denver and Lower had it engraved using a sample of Frank’s signature. Either way, I have a copy of his signature from another source and it matches the engraving on the gun.
Sources: Les Sprod; Book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado pub 1905; Rio Blanco County records; Coloradohistoricnewspapers.org; and Wiley Berthelson; The Meeker Herald; White River Museum.
