William Isaac Settle (1770 - 1808)

Born 23 Feb 1770 in Fauquier, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Huffman) Settle — married 1790 in Culpeper, Virginia, United States

Descendants

Died 28 Feb 1808 at age 38 in Rocky Hill, Barren, Kentucky, United States

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Biography

William Isaac Settle was born on 23 Feb 1770 in Fauquier, Virginia to George Isaac Settle and Mary Jane Morgan. He married Elizabeth Huffman in 1790 in Culpeper, Virginia. Children: Nancy, Elizabeth, Mary (Polly) Duncan, Sally, Franklin, French, Felix, Frances, Eveline, William Isaac. He died of smallpox on 28 Mar 1808 in Rocky Hill, Barren, Kentucky.

"William Settle and family moved from Virginia to Barren Co., Kentucky in 1798, the same year that Barren Co., was formed from Warren and Green counties. By deed dated 24 Aug 1802, he bought from Henry Vowles 398 acres of land on Skeggs Creek. Here he built a brick house on a hill overlooking Skeggs Creek valley. By vocation William Settle was a planter and gunsmith. He made Kentucky flintlock rifles which he sold to early settlers of this section. Some of these rifles are in existence today and are highly prized by collectors and antique-firearm fanciers. William Settle also made Kentucky flintlock pistols. There is a Kentucky highway marker #687 on Kentucky Hwy 252 in Barren Co., some five miles SW of Glasgow, Kentucky dedicated to Settle Rifles. It has a crossbar made of two rifles, and the following inscription:

Settle Rifles, prized by frontiermen now are collectors items. They were made by three generations Barren Co., KY starting in 1800. William Settle made flintlocks at Rocky Hill. A son, Felix had shops in Glasgow and Roseville. Felix's sons Simon and Willis, made rifles in Glasgow and Hiseville and in Green and Logan Counties. Name of maker and place are on all; some are dated." Pages 323-325 The Settle-Suttle Book

Barren County, Kentucky Cemetery Records compiled by Brice Leach and Kenneth Beard, page 454: The following inscription on the back of William Settle stone:

"William Settle, son of William Settle (the original Settle Rifle Maker) & Elizabeth Huffman of Old Rocky Hill (Game), Ky.; Lucy P. Settle, dau of Dr. Simon Settle & Sallie Dodd of Old Rocky Hill (Game).; William & Dr. Simon Settle, son of George Settle and Mary Morgan of Fauquier Co., Va. & Barren & Warren Co's. Ky. George Settle, son of Isaac Settle & Charity Brown. Isaac Settle, son of John Settle & Mary Strother; John Settle. Son of Francis Settle & Elizabeth Flauntleroy; Francis Settle, born in "Town" of Settle County of York, England, and settled in Richmond Co., Va. in 1656." The stone is located in the Settles Cemetery on Earl Peden farm on 685 (County Road??) near Bon Ayr community, Barren County, KY.

"William Isaac Settle (1770-1808) and family moved from Fauquier County, Virginia to Barren County, Kentucky in 1797 where he bought 394 acres of land and settled on Skaggs Creek. He was a planter and gunsmith. William was the original Settle rifle maker. There were three generations of Settle gunsmiths, William; his third son Felix (1801-1871); and his sons Simon and Willis. William made flintlocks at Rocky Hill. Felix, had shops in Glasgow and Roseville. Simon and Willis, made guns in Glasgow and Hiseville and in Green and Logan Counties. When smallpox swept through Barren County, Kentucky in 1808, William was one of its victims. His wife, Elizabeth escaped the epidemic and remained on the farm to raise their ten children. Because he was only seven when his father died, it is unlikely that Felix learned much about gun making from his father. The great-great granddaughter of William Settle believes that Felix learned metal working from his mother’s side of the family. William’s wife Elizabeth was a Huffman, and many in the Huffman family were accomplished metalworkers in Virginia. In fact, she believes that William originally learned metalworking from the Huffman family while in Virginia. Members of the Huffman family also moved to Barren County, and Felix probably learned to make guns from them. The exact origin of the Settle rifles and pistols is still largely a mystery. While the first rifles were purely utilitarian, gunsmiths like William Settle began creating highly decorative rifles with fines woods. Settles rifles and pistols are today some of the most coveted items to gun collectors. In one account, Vivian Rousseau explains how her great-great grandfather William Settle made his guns. She begins her narrative saying, “In the rough country shop, in Barren County with forge, hammer, and handmade tools, from a piece of bar iron and sugar maple, were made the straightest shooting and most deadly firearms known to man, the Kentucky Rifle.” The barrel was made by welding bar iron around a small iron rod. Then the small rod was removed. The barrel was further bored with a reaming tool and then checked for accuracy running a piece of silk thread and inspecting the shadow. Further work was done on a homemade lathe, and the outside of the barrel was ground on a grindstone. The locks, triggers, and springs were forged on an anvil. The stock was made from a piece of curly maple. She describes the tasking as taking up to a month to complete.

Felix built full-stock flintlock Kentucky rifles until 1832 and then started making percussion rifles. This change in his rifle making was due to the invention of the percussion cap; an improvement in the ignition and firing of rifles. In the 1850s, he was often assisted by his two sons.

For many years the Settles rifles were in great demand, but by 1853, south central Kentucky was flooded with rifles and business became slow. Felix and his two sons assembled approximately one-hundred rifles, hired a man to drive an ox-drawn wagon, and rode on horseback in the spring of 1853 to Arkansas to sell their guns. They made the trip safely, reportedly making a good profit, and returned in the fall of 1853. Felix made rifles of small, medium, and large bores. He also made double-barreled rifles and over and under guns. Later, he made sharpshooters for the Confederate Army. He used maple, walnut, and cherry woods for the stocks, and they ranged in style from plain to ornate. He marked his name using all capital letters on the top of the barrel. When Federal troops occupied the area, they burned his shop and destroyed his tools. He reportedly fled to the South, but at some point returned to Barren County where he died in 1870. About 1860 Willis sold out and moved away. He ultimately returned to Arkansas (which he vowed never to do) and died there in 1892."

Sources

• Kentucky Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index

• Kentucky County Marriages

• Kentucky Tax Lists

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/100479461