GUEST: This is a powder horn that has been in our family. It was owned by my fourth great-grandfather Stephen Eastman, and he in 1775 went to Bunker Hill and was a drummer for Moses McFarland's regiment, and was in the Revolutionary War.
APPRAISER: So he was in Captain Moses McFarland's company...
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: ...of Colonel John Nixon's regiment.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Now, Colonel John Nixon's regiment was a Massachusetts regiment. A lot of guys from that area right over the border into New Hampshire...
GUEST: Yes!
APPRAISER: ...joined Massachusetts regiments. He enlisted on April 30, 1775, and yes, he was at the siege of Boston, he was at Bunker Hill. Now, he was out of service in Nixon's regiment by the end of October 1775. And you said he was a drummer.
GUEST: Mm.
APPRAISER: Well, a drummer had a specific task in the company and that was to play the drum, which gave orders to the troops-- it wasn't just for music.
GUEST: Oh, okay, yeah.
APPRAISER: Um, so he would not have had this. He would not have had a powder horn at that time.
GUEST: Mm-hmm, yeah, yeah.
APPRAISER: But after October, he goes back to New Hampshire and he joins Captain Benjamin Sias's company...
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: ...of David Gilman's regiment. They were New Hampshire troops-- a lot of guys did that.
GUEST: Oh, yeah, okay.
APPRAISER: That's when he got the horn.
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRAISER: So he was listed as a private at that time. So he would have been carrying a musket, not playing a drum.
GUEST: Hm.
APPRAISER: The carving would have been done only a couple of months after he re-enlisted in Gilman's regiment.
GUEST: Hm.
APPRAISER: So he ended up in service for quite some time, not just the siege of Boston, which is great.
GUEST: Oh, okay, yeah. (chuckles)
APPRAISER: Um, now, the horn is a little bit different than normal. A lot of times, you see those carved horns, and they're carved through the entire horn. This one, you've got kind of this lower third where you've got all the carvings.
GUEST: Yeah, yeah.
APPRAISER: I've not seen a lot of siege-of-Boston-type horns with dotted patterns like this.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: A lot of times, they're straight carvings.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: So you've got pinwheels, which are typical...
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: ...and, and show up in a lot of furniture...
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: ...and other things in the 18th century.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And if we look here...
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: ...we can see his name.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Starting over here, Stephen.
GUEST: With the backwards N.
APPRAISER: With a backwards N, right here.
GUEST: (laughs): Yeah.
APPRAISER: And then we have Eastmen.
GUEST: Yeah. With an E instead of an A.
APPRAISER: Yeah, and another backwards N.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: And then what looks like December...
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: ...1775. See this lobe right here with the two holes in it?
GUEST: Yes, yes.
APPRAISER: A lot of times, that lobe is broken off, because it's the weak point of the horn.
GUEST: Sure, yeah, exactly.
APPRAISER: It's a great horn, typical New England form, plain New England form, except with the added carving. Great pine plug, it's in wonderful condition. I would say, given the amount of carving on it, an auction estimate would probably be in the $5,000 to $7,000 range. (gasping)
GUEST: Excu...
APPRAISER: Now, if it had more carving on it, it might be worth more. But like I said to you a little while ago, I've not seen one that has this dotted style pattern before.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: And he has such a great service record.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: So he probably carried this horn a lot longer than 1775.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: And it's great to have it in your family.
GUEST: Love it, yeah.
APPRAISER: And thank you so much for bringing it in today.
GUEST: Well, thank you for all that information.
APPRAISER: Oh, it's great.
