Gershom Prince's Powderhorn, Battle of Wyoming, 1778

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "The World Turned Upside Down: Revisiting the Archaeology of the American Revolution" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

My presentation will discuss a rare, if not unique, Revolutionary War artifact, the Gershom Prince Powderhorn. Gershom Prince was an African American soldier who served in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution under Capt. Robert Durkee of the Connecticut Line. Prince was killed in the Battle of Wyoming (PA), aka, the Wyoming Massacre, the only Revolutionary War battle in Northeast Pennsylvania. His powderhorn survived, though, and was passed down through the family of his nephew, Prince Perkins. Gershom Prince carved his name, his race, and scenes from daily life on the powderhorn when he was at Crown Point in 1763. In the 20th century, Prince Perkins descendant, Edith A. Dennis, donated the powderhorn to the Wyoming Historical Society in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, now called the Luzerne County Historical Society. Since 2019, the powderhorn has been on loan to the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The World Turned Upside Down: Revisiting the Archaeology of the American Revolution   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology