William Hawken (1798-1885) was the fifth son of Christian Hawken. Unlike his famous brothers Jacob and Samuel, he did not move west and operated a shop in Hagerstown, Maryland, until 1840 when it was taken over by his son John and then worked as a gunsmith in Williamsport, Maryland. His rifles remained the more traditional American long rifle style of the East rather than the half-stock rifles that his brother famously made in St. Louis. This rifle is pictured on page 52 of "Arms Makers of Maryland" by Daniel D. Hartzler and noted as from the author's collection. It is fairly similar to the William Hawken rifle in the NRA museum. The carving in particularly is the same basic pattern, and it has attributes of the rifles by him in "Maryland Longrifles" by Hartzler and Whisker. The barrel has seven-groove rifling, a dot pattern on the muzzle, traditional brass blade front and iron notch rear sights, and "W. HAWKEN." stamped on top of the breech section. The lock is marked "J. GOLCHER" in a ribbon and has scroll, border, and dog and bird engraving. The rifle has adjustable double set triggers. The furniture is brass aside from the nickel-silver rear wedge plate and the eagle and shield inlay on the cheekrest. The four-piece patch box has some lined engraving and opens by a button on the toe plate which also has some simple engraving. The stock has a plain forend, an interesting sheet brass wrist repair secured by a series of screws, incised line along the bottom of the butt, and some incised scroll carving on the left behind the cheekpiece.

Good with mottled brown and gray patina on the barrel along with moderate oxidation and pitting, mix of brown patina and applied brown on the replacement lock, dark aged patina on the furniture throughout, legible maker's mark and distinct engraving. The stock is good as extensively restored and has attractive flame figure along the forend, some thin cracks and repairs, gaps around the lock and some filler at the nose, crisp carving on the butt, and general mild dings and scratches. Mechanically fine.