Seth Bryant Pistol, c. 1849. Brick Store Museum Collection, 2004.089.001

This Colt Model 1849 percussion "Pocket Model", a .31 caliber 6 shot revolver, belonged to Captain Seth Bryant, a Kennebunk man who fought in the Civil War. This pistol was given to Bryant by the people of Kennebunk; the inscription along the brass backstrap reads: “Presented to Capt. S. E. Bryant by his Friends in Kennebunk, ME.” On the cylinder of the pistol is a faint engraving of a horse-and-buggy scene.

The inscription on the handle of the pistol matches that appearing on Bryant’s presentation sword, which has been in the collection of the Museum for many years. However, the revolver came into the possession of the Museum fairly recently. It was owned by a local antiques dealer in 1950; in 1956, the dealer’s shop was broken into and the revolver was stolen, along with several others. The Bryant revolver was later recovered through a gun shop in Eliot, Maine. A private collector in Kennebunkport purchased the revolver in 1998. The Museum acquired the piece in 2004, reuniting Bryant’s sword and revolver for the first time.

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