Credit: Museum of the American Revolution
A flintlock boarding pistol that once belonged to a Lower Bucks County brigadier general who fought in the Revolutionary War has been returned its rightful owner after disappearing years ago.
The Mercer Museum, which is operated by the Bucks County Historical Society, recently received the gun back from the FBI’s Philadelphia Division.
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The late-18th century English flintlock boarding pistol was stolen from the Bucks County Historical Society nearly 50 years ago. At the time of its theft, the pistol was in an exhibit case on the third floor of the Mercer Museum in Doylestown Borough.
The pistol was returned to the local historical society at a ceremony at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia earlier this month. In addition to the Bucks County Historical Society and Museum of the American Revolution, stolen historical items that were recovered were also returned to the American Swedish Historical Museum, Hershey Story Museum, Landis Valley Museum, and York County History Center.
“To recover an object stolen from a museum is a tremendous thing. But to recognize that the object, once returned, can also help to tell an important and compelling story about a dramatic time period in Bucks County history makes its recovery that much more valuable,” said Cory Amsler, Bucks County Historical Society’s vice president of collections and interpretation.
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Willett, of Bensalem Township, fought the Revolutionary War at numerous key battles. He also was sent to the American offensive in Canada. In 1906, Mrs. Allburger, his great-granddaughter, turned over the pistol and some of his other belongings to the Bucks County Historical Society.
The pistol was listed as “missing” in the museum’s records in the 1990s.
Credit: Museum of the American Revolution
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The artifacts were discovered as part of an investigation conducted by the FBI and Upper Merion Township (Montgomery County) Police Department. The investigation started at looking into the 1971 theft and 2018 sale of a rare 1775 rifle made by Pennsylvania master gunsmith Christian Oerter.
Thomas Gavin, 78, of Pottstown, was sentenced this year in connection with the investigation. Due to the time that passed, he was charged with only one offense, disposal of an object of cultural heritage stolen from a museum. He was sentenced to one day in prison, three years of supervised release with the first year to be served on home confinement, a $25,000 fine, and was ordered to pay $23,385, according to federal prosecutors.
“[The] event at the Museum of the American Revolution was incredibly exciting and inspirational to me, as an American history enthusiast, a prosecutor working in historic Philadelphia for most of my career, and a proud member of a military family,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Jennifer Arbittier Williams. “This collection of artifacts being repatriated to museums across our District is worthy of celebration, something we rarely get to do in my line of work. And I want to acknowledge and thank the purchasers of these items who waived ownership so that they could be returned: you are true patriots.”
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Now returned to Bucks County, the Mercer Museum plans to include the pistol in its displays in the future.
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