Professor Charles E. Dwight

The Star and VI targets at Creedmoor.

But wait… there is more to the story of Prof. Charles E. Dwight!

The selection of days was most unfortunate. The 24th and 25th were the first chosen, but a picnic, to which several of the team wished to go, induced a postponement to the 25th and 26th, and thereby gave them a pair of difficult days, and a finish in the grandest sort of a wind and rain squall. The team was made up of five Bostonians, a Virginia man, one man from Poughkeepsie and but one ancient Creedmoor marksman. It had never fired over the ranges as a team, and, the squadding was a matter of chance. Under these circumstances the score it made was remarkable.

Two targets on the extreme right of the range had been provided, and upon these the men were arranged. To the extreme right, on target “VI”, were H.F. Clark, R. Rathbone, C.E. Dwight and H.T. Rockwell, shooting in the order named, while upon the target “Star” the order of firing was W.H. Jackson, J.S. Sumner, J.S. Brown and Wm. Gerrish. The rain of the preceding night had left a damp sod, and the sun raised a shimmer, which gave the target a dancing, uncertain look.

B.G. Doughty coached upon target “VI”, while A.G. Davison did the same on the “Star” target, Mr. J.P. Waters also assisting there as spotter. Judge Stanton, the President of the Association, acted as executive officer, and before the shooting began made a brief speech to the assembled team, welcoming them to the grounds, and saying that, while the crowds of a great international match were wanting, such a spur was not needed to secure the best possible effort from the men and to enable them to sustain America’s high prestige at the target. He felt proud, as the President of the National Rifle Association, that the riflemen would not allow the sport to languish, even though no teams came from abroad to urge the men to their best effort. 

In reference to the troubles and misunderstandings which had arisen between the National Rifle Association Directors and the team of 1877 the following amendment to the original conditions of the match had been passed by the Directors, who were the donors of the prize, and he would read them for the information of the team men before they proceeded to shoot:

“Resolved, that for the purpose of carrying out the instructions of the Association in establishing the competitions for the American Centennial Trophy, the following be substituted for the 9th paragraph of such conditions entitled:

“Prize, the American Centennial Trophy Palma. Such trophy to be shot for in each subsequent year on the same terms as the country of the team holding it at such time and place as such team, or a majority thereof, may prescribe; except that when the trophy shall have been won by the American team, the time and place for the succeeding contest shall be fixed by the N.R.A. of A. At least six months notice of such time and place must be given to the National Rifle Association of America and Great Britain, notices being sent at the same time to the rifle associations of all other countries that have been represented in previous competitions. Such notice may specify a date not less than ninety days prior to the time fixed for the match, within which time entries must be made; and such notice may further prescribe that in case no entries shall be received within such time the match shall be declared off for that year. In case no opposing team shall enter a shoot in any competition the then holders of the trophy may, in their discretion, dispense with any competition or organize a team to shoot the match. In case a team shall shoot under such circumstances, there shell be inscribed on the trophy, in the place allotted for the record of that year, the name of the country of the team shooting, and the words, “No other competitor,” and such team shall be entitled to its custody for the year. In case no team shall shoot in any year the trophy shall remain in the hands of those holding it, and the space left for that year shall be filled with the name of that country, and the words, “No competition.” 

Capt. Jackson made no response, but proceeded at once to take advantage of the fair weather conditions, for at the moment the flags hung flat and still against the poles, with now and then a slight movement as a puff came from the 8 o’clock quarter. The sun shone down hot and strong, and the wind was tricky and shifty; but the opening was a good one, and from Sumner’s 75 to Dwight and Rockwell’s 67 the scores were well grouped. Dwight, with his Maynard, was unfortunate in having loaded a lot of cartridges before he started from his Virginia home, and a thousand miles by rail and water had, he thought, caked the powder and rendered the fire uncertain; in some shots he declared he could distinctly feel the explosion of the fulminate and then the explosion of the powder. The “unaccountables” which he put in at each range on his first day are disagreeable facts, the reasons for which have not been clearly determined. Mr. Dwight insists that the fault was not in the weapon, and that his feat of 218 and 219 on two successive days will be repeated by him. The men and their style of shooting are worth noting. Of course, none of them fired in the old prone position.

Jackson, who led off on target “Star,” is a large, finely built man, and had on the dark red team uniform of last year, and used the old Yale position, with his gun resting across his left leg and the butt-plate tucked close into his right armpit. Sumner, the champion of the match, is a slight, long bearded man, below the medium height. He crosses his legs at the ankles, and with the heel of his gun in his right armpit, rests the barrel on his left thigh. He is a stove-dealer at Newton, Mass., and a marksman of barely a year’s standing. Brown is a powerfully built man shooting like Jackson, with his left hand across his breast. Gerrish is a young man, lacking the judgment of the older shots, but a good holder. He rests his left upon his right knee and puts the rifle barrel on top of it. These four men have shot together for months upon the Walnut Hill range, near Boston. On target “VI” Rathbone, a gaunt old man in his shirtsleeves, fired in the Yale position, his left hand grasping the rifle barrel near the breech. Colonel Clark, of Poughkeepsie, a mere boy in frame, but an old rifleman, crossed his legs like Fulton, but keeping his gun to his armpit. C.E. Dwight, the West Virginian, used the old Fulton position pure and simple, with his left hand grasping the heel plate of his gun. Rockwell, the handsome man of the party, with his moustache and goatee, had an easy position, like Col. Clark’s. All of the men, with one exception, used the Borchardt Sharps rifle from the Bridgeport Armory.

The story of the day’s work: The 800-yard range was finished before luncheon, and here they were five points behind the corresponding score of last year’s winning team. During the 900 yards score the wind on the dial was from the 7 o’clock quarter, but to varying in force that the men found difficulty in keeping within the bull’s-eye, but as the finish they were ahead of the score of last year, and this encouraged them for the 1,000 yards’ work, where again they were ahead of the record of 1877, and the day closed with a majority of 5 points. The actual shooting merit had been far ahead, for compared with the first day of 1877 this had been a perfect puzzler. In the one it was merely set and hold, in the other there was a continuous strain on the judgment and attention of the men. Had it not fired another shot the team of 1878 had shown itself the superior of any team yet organized either in this country or abroad. Besides the weather they had a score of obstacles to contend with which would have thrown any ordinary squad into utter confusion and ruin. The men had been chosen in a hurry, had assembled and proceeded to work without anything like an organization. To the majority of them Creedmoor was a terra incognita, and its tricky winds were a sore botheration. The men approached nearer to a fortuitous concourse of atoms than a homogenous working organization able to give a long, strong pull altogether. With various weapons never brought to a standard in windage or elevations, the men, except as an association of coaches, could afford each other but little assistance, and a point or two of carelessness put the finishing items to the long list of misfortunes under which they suffered. Rathbone put in a bull’s-eye on the wrong target. It was a mistake more damaging probably to himself than to the team as a body, and it would not be out of the way to ask whether in firing matches of this character it would not be well to use screens to keep the men on their own targets. It may lead to greater care to keep the present open line, but losses will happen and defeat on the record with a virtual victory on the field is provoking. Besides, such cross firing is dangerous to the men in the butts, and the screens suggested would be fair all round and allow each team to put all its work on record and avoid the present unexplained failures and “goose-eggs.”

The gem of the day’s work was Sumner’s 221 in the possible 225. It was simply magnificent, and carried out, too, almost entirely upon his own judgment. Forty-one bull’s-eyes in forty-five shots is almost good enough to suit anybody, but there is perfection yet ahead, and while neither of the quartet of centres made by Sumner were over six inches from the bull’s-eye, they were out of the black and therefore altogether despicable. A little flickering of the wind at the finish, and perhaps a slight unsteadiness at the prospect of something well nigh infallible seemed to trouble Mr. Sumner toward the finish, and his four entries at the finish have a very inartistic and unprofessional look. If they are to have any place at all in the record it is surely not at the end of so brilliant an effort.

There was no disguising the fact that the second day was not to give the marksmen even such a chance as they had experienced with on the first day, and as for comparison with last year, when, on that memorable Friday in the middle of September, the Americans rolled up 1,679 points. There were dozens of points difference in the weather, but, as this does not go upon the report, the men set to work to beat the 1,679 down in plain black and white.

There was no change in the arrangement of the men, and through the 800 yard score the light was dull and heavy, the clouds threatening rain in the strongest manner, and the wind, too, was blowing at a stiff rate from 7 o’clock quarter, not very changeable as to direction, but much so as to force. Jackson led off with some hope and much trepidation, but he caught a bull, and here was plainly evident the want of team organization; for, with such a lead, every member of the team should have followed suit, whereas but four of the team opened with bulls. The men were evidently striving, for such a score on such a day was simply superb; 584 in the possible 600 showed the finest sort of work, and two perfect scores at the same distance is enough to stamp the team as of first-class material. At 900 yards the sun came out hot, while the wind began to freshen up into a gale, and as much as seven points were allowed on a 7 o’clock wind, while elevations ran very low indeed. There was some irregular firing, but a score of 544 in such a wind was fully ten points better than the score of last year, while it stood ten points behind.

It was evident when 1,000 yards range firing opened that it was to be a nip-and-tuck race to see whether the end of the match or the coming storm would arrive first. But luck was against the men, and with his first shot at 1,000 yards Rockwell discovered that his rifle was disabled, and then came the exhibition of bad management somewhere in the team; for, with no extra gun to take, Rockwell sat helpless during the hour and a half while the other men fired their scores expecting to borrow Jackson’s rifle when that gentleman was through with it, both of them forgetful of the well known rule which prohibits the use of the same rifle by two competitors in the same match. Dwight using a single cartridge shell, which he loaded after each discharge, was detained behind his squad, and finally at 4 o’clock, when the storm of rain and wind burst over the range, carrying away tents and stools, washing the target faces into grey backs and forcing all to make short cuts for the semi-shelter of the club house. The squall was over in less than an hour, but left the range dark, and an attempt to finish the scores of Messrs. Dwight and Rockwell only succeeded in giving the latter gentleman a miss. It was evident that there was nothing but an indefinite postponement, and Judge Stanton, as executive officer, at last so ordered it, when it was evident that the elements were to give no mercy.

It was an unfortunate ending to so brilliant a promise, for had the weather been even reasonably fair it was evident that the big scores of 1877 would have been left behind; as it was, with 18 shots to go, a total of 1,576 was reached, better than the entire effort of the victorious American team on the second day in 1876, when the weather was infinitely better in a shooting sense. The match is in nowise to be styled a fizzle. Considered in all its phases of weather and men, it shows that in rifles, in shooting ability, there has been no retrogression, nor even fixedness, but a positive gain. The mistake was in supposing that as it was a walk-over match it could be disposed of in a slouchy, perfunctory manner. If it was worth attempting, it was worth while doing well. No doubt the storm was responsible for the summary finish of the contest, but under the prompt, ready management which should attend a match of such consequence a corner of that kind should not have been possible. When riflemen learn that nothing is gained by dilatoriness in firing, competition can be carried through; and a victory promptly won, is a double victory. On the second day the match could have been finished ere the squall broke had extra diligence been exercised, but enough was done to show the team as an extra strong one, and if, as some feared, the foreign competitors were to be scared off by an exhibition of our strength, then should the team of 1878 put them in a proper awe.

To permit ready comparison with previous efforts for the Centennial trophy are given:

With the International Long-Range Match behind him, Prof. Charles E. Dwight continued to compete in rifle matches. According to the July 17th, 1879 issue of Forest and Stream, Dwight entered into the Independence Day celebration at the Tingle Range in West Virginia, where he won three out of the five matches he entered. The distance was 100 yards, position was off-hand, and the target was the Massachusetts target with a four-inch bull’s-eye, with an inner circle two inches in diameter, which counted 12. The remainder of the bull’s-eye decreased in count one point for every inch.

One of the five matches was the Sharps Rifle Match, in which the prize was a fine Sharps Short-Range rifle and appendages. There were seven shots at the above- described Massachusetts target and re-entry was allowed. Dwight won with a score of 74. His string being 12, 11, 11, 10, 12, 8, and his final shot a 10.¹⁰

Interest in Long-Range shooting had entered into a slump by March of 1880. Prof. Charles E. Dwight wrote to Forest and Stream with his opinion on this matter:

Prof. Chas. E. Dwight writes from Wheeling, West Virginia

The proposed plan of future competitions for the international rifle matches for the trophy Palma as proposed in the last issue of the Forest and Stream, meets with my hearty approval, and seems to me to be fair and just. The adoption of such a plan could do nothing to make an international contest more remote or improper than at the present time. Whether long-range shooting owes it lethargy to the want of stimulus of these international contests, or to the fact of the sport being so largely participated in by professional shooters, maintained by our enterprising manufacturers, is a question which if debated might elicit a variety of opinions.

No one would be more pleased than myself to see an international contest. I have thought the best way to secure them would be for the teams to visit the opposing country alternately regardless of the result of the match. The entrance fees of the contest would, if given to the team, go far toward paying the expenses of their visit the following year. It seems to me that this plan would tend more toward keeping the interest up in both countries than the former manner of deciding the place for the contest to be held. It would also, I think, have a tendency to introduce American arms into the country visited by the American team.

Yours truly,

Chas. E. Dwight.¹¹

With the decline in interest of long-range matches, The Maynard Rifle Club continued competing in telegraph matches with other clubs. Typically, each team shot their match, under the mutually agreed upon conditions, on their home range. The scores were certified and then transmitted and the match winners determined. In some cases, dispute arose over the scores. One such case was a telegraph match between the Maynard Rifle Club and the Rifle Club of Washington, Pennsylvania. On the 8th of May, 1880, the match was shot under the following conditions: Three picked riflemen of each club to shoot 20 shots at 500 yards under the rules of the N.R.A. Prof. Charles E. Dwight shot a possible and the rest of the team shot unusually high scores as well. To prove their ability and sincerity, the three men of the Maynard Rifle Club traveled to Washington, Pennsylvania and shot a second match. The match is described in Forest and Stream as follows:

On the 27th inst. the long-range team went to Washington, Pa., to shoot a return match with the club of that place. The first match was shot between teams of three men each, on the 8th inst., by telegraph, and resulted in a victory for the Wheeling club by 22 points. The Washington riflemen not feeling satisfied over the result, the Wheeling club decided to go to their range and have another round. The team was received by Mr. James Woods, and conveyed to the range, and the match commenced about 11 o’clock. A young hurricane came along about an hour later, which made everyone on the range seek the shelter of a neighboring covered bridge. After the storm had passed the teams resumed firing at their seventh round, and continued until about 4 o’clock, when on counting totals the Wheeling team was found to be 11 points to the front – no so many as in the first match by another eleven, but considering that a very new man was being substituted for Mr. Stewart, who shot before, it was satisfactory. Mr. Dwight did not make another clean score, but came within two points of it; while Mr. Babcock passed his first score by one point. The Wheeling team and those who accompanied them had a pleasant trip, and were “glad they went.”

The following are the complete scores: 

The shooting was at 500 yards, under rules of N.R.A. The Washington club use Remington rifles, and the Wheeling team Sharps long range, except Jaeger, who shot a Maynard.¹²

On June 5th, 1880, the members of the Wheeling Rifle Club conducted a contest for a Sharp’s Long-Range rifle, valued at $100. The prize was sponsored by the club, and only five members of the club competed for it. The match conditions were 15 shots per man, 200 yards, off-hand, on the Massachusetts target, possible score: 180. Prof. Charles E. Dwight won with a score of 152.¹³

On June 15th, 1882, the following ad appeared in Forest and Stream:

For Sale. – Sharps Long-Range Rifle and complete outfit, comprising ammunition case, Wilkinson loader, three wiping sticks, fifty shells nickel plated, and capper. Original cost $133.75. Also, three thousand patched bullets, 550 grain, cost $45. The rifle is the Borchardt pattern, Italian walnut stock, fine vernier and wind-gauge sights, has been used but part of a season, fired three or four hundred times, and is in perfect condition. Not having further use for above, will sell for $100. Address C.E. Dwight, Wheeling W. Va.”¹⁴

In the October 4th, 1883 issue of Forest and Stream it was mentioned:

Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling Rifle Club shot their usual Saturday afternoon practice matches at their clubhouse and range on Sept 15. The shooting for the past two years has been confined to off-hand, 200 yards and the Massachusetts target is usually used, though lately the German ring and Man targets have been tried.

Some two years ago Messrs. Jaeger and Dwight used to do some long-range shooting, but there seems little interest in it lately. In the 200 yards shooting Mr. Richard Stewart uses a Sharps rifle, .40 cal., 26 in. barrel, with 50 grs. powder and 330 bullet; Mr. Jaeger a Ballard .38 cal., 28 in., with 50 grs. powder and 330 bullet; Mr. Cox a Sharps mid-range .40-cal., 30 in., 60 grs. powder and 330 lead. Mr. C.E. Dwight has lately used his Sharps long-range, .45-cal., with 80 grs. powder and 420 lead, and has been trying the open bead for 200 yd. work, with varying results, and he would like to hear the result of other’s trials at that distance. The club here is not numerous, but can count on five men who shoot about even with Mr. Stewart generally in the lead. The present shooters are the remaining five, weeding out all of those who had not enough true love of the recreation to continue during the past four years.

There is enough material in the part of the country to get up a good association, and embrace all of the various kinds of shooting, from the old squirrel rifle at 25 yards, to the German table rest, and modern long-range practice. Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio could spare good material for such a universal shooting association as would embrace all varieties, and make a yearly meeting interesting and well attended.¹⁵

W. Milton Farrow in the offhand postion.

On April 5th, 1884, W. Milton Farrow visited the Wheeling Rifle Club and shot in a 200-yard match, after which he was entertained at a banquet where all the talk was on rifles and bullets. The Forest and Stream magazine described a new method of keeping score that was being used at the Wheeling Rifle Club:

Wheeling, W. Va., April 5th. – The attendance at the 200 yd. range to-day (on the appearance of W. Milton Farrow) was small. The club has not yet recovered from the effects of the flood. A permanent target, with butts for the marker, will soon be in position, when the scoring will be arranged for the Massachusetts target by the favorite watch-dial plan. At present the scoring is very primitive; the marker takes a 7x9, slate and a piece of chalk, and after the shot is pasted up makes his figures on the slate, which is then held up to be read through a telescope at the firing point. Occasional mistakes are made by the shooters in deciphering the figures, but generally in the right direction; a check on such mistakes, however, is made by keeping the previous shot on the other side of the slate. Thirty shots each were fired, which are divided into strings of 15 shots for convenience. A combination target was used, but the score, to be intelligible to your readers, must be by Massachusetts or Creedmoor count, the former is appended. Mr. Farrow used a Bullard, Mr. Jaeger a Ballard and Mr. Cox a Sharps rifle…”¹⁶

The above is somewhat in error. The account presents them as in two strings of 15 shots each, but they were not shot in that way. They were three scores of ten shots each, and Mr. Jaeger won first match and Farrow second one, and Cox the third.¹⁷

The May 15th, 1884 issue of Forest and Stream mentions:

Messrs. Stewart and Dwight have lately begun using Sharps mid-range, .40 cal., 30 in., 2 ½ in. shell, and like them very much for off-hand work. The Sharps short-range has heretofore used among our riflemen, and some good work has been done with them. With a crescent butt plate on the mid-range it holds very nicely, and the 70 grains of powder behind a 285-grain oval-point bullet give a very flat trajectory and true flight.

Mr. Dwight has been using the open bead for off-hand practice, and his finally mastered it, although few riflemen seem to use it, either from not having given it a trial or not being able to hold it. We would like to hear the experience of others with this sight for off-hand practice.

We have been using a new target lately, which is the design of Mr. Dwight. It is the Massachusetts target with each of the rings outside of the bulls-eye divided into two rings by a line drawn around between each line on the Massachusetts target; then the bulls-eye is divided into rings with one-half inch space between each line, and leaving the center space one inch in diameter. This latter space is numbered 25, and each ring out from that is numbered one point less. Thus the four-inch circle, which is the 12 line on the Massachusetts target, is the 22 line, and the edge of the eight-inch bulls-eye is 18, and the Massachusetts 10 ring is numbered 17 and 16 and so on outward. The target thus arranged give a closer count than any one used, and as the object of a target is to record the closeness of the shooting, this certainly is more correct than to have such wide spaces, even as the Massachusetts target has. The latter target has become a favorite by the fact of its spaces being divided up more than the old Creedmoor target, and this new target has the same advantages over the Massachusetts as the latter has over the Creedmoor. We have tried the German ring target, but the twelve-inch bulls-eye is too large for us. These targets are easily made at home, and the rings on the black bulls-eye may be made by a drawing pin on dividers, with thin mucilage in place of ink, and then rub over some bronze powder, which adheres to the gum and brings out the lines on the black very plain, and does not dim it for aiming.

The following scores were made on our new target last Saturday 3d inst. As the lines of all the rings of the Massachusetts target are retained, the scores can be kept on both counts if desired, and also Creedmoor count as well. Our ring target we call the ‘West Va. Target.’¹⁸

On August 17th, 1884, the Wheeling Rifle Club shot a team match with the Pittsburgh Rifle Club at Washington, Pennsylvania. The match conditions were off-hand, 200 yards, each man firing 20 shots. The day was unusually bad for high scores, it being intensely hot, and in an open field, from which the hot air raised and caused mirage, like looking over a hot stove. The targets were in a shadow and hard to see. The wind changeable, but not very strong. The heat had a perceptible effect on both men and rifles, and nearly overcame Prof. Dwight, of the Wheeling team, but they pulled through with a score to satisfy them fully, although their scores are far below their average.

R.G.W. Rothwell, the photographer, of Washington, arranged the details for the shooting, fixing targets and firing points, and having a target at the tent to show to the spectators the exact location of each shot as it was fired, gave all an opportunity to see the progress of the match, which was watched with great interest by all present. The shooting began at 2 p.m. and was finished about 5 p.m. that evening. Both clubs spent a pleasant day and enjoyed themselves as well as possible in the great heat.¹⁹

The first Schuetzenfest was held in Wheeling, West Virginia, with the first days shooting beginning on August 25th, and terminating with the second days shooting on September 1st, 1884. The shooting was done at Siebert’s Garden, a pleasant picnic ground some two or three miles from the city, within easy reach by trains every hour. Music and dancing also occupied one part of the grounds and all could amuse themselves as they felt inclined. The targets were eight in number and nicely arranged on sliding frames for quick marking. The distance was said to be 130 yards, and a 100 yard target used with a four-inch bullseye. There were two kinds of targets used, viz., one on which the Massachusetts rings were used with 11 and 12 count in bullseye, and another which only had a pasteboard four-inch bullseye hung in center of white field. On the first of these targets (Massachusetts) the score of five shots were counted; on the bullseye targets nothing counted in the score of five shots but those that struck the bullseye. Of these bullseyes thus made, the first prize was given the shot nearest the exact center, and second prize to next nearest, and so on down to 10th, there being 10 prizes on each target of the same value. The first prize on each target being a large silver cup with rifleman and targets finely engraved and two deer’s heads standing out on the sides. Second prize was $10 cash, and each lower prize graded down to $1 for the 10th prize, aggregating $70 on each target except No. 1, which was a practice target with no prizes, and No. 8 target, which was for members of society only to shoot for title of Schuetzen King.

One feature of the meeting was the shooting at a large wooden eagle, a facsimile of the Prussian coat of arms. This eagle was about six feet high and on a pole 50 feet high, and 50 yards from the firing point. Members took turns in firing, and prizes to the amount of $100 were awarded to the shooters who brought down various pieces, such as $10 for the crown, another sum for wing, etc. The last piece shot down was also awarded a prize.

Target No. 2: Open to breechloaders with open sights only, off-hand, 130 yards, five shots. Dwight won with a score of 50.

Bullseye Target – No. 3: Open to open sight rifle only, any construction of rifle to be used, off-hand, five shots, only bullseyes count, string measure: F. Nininger first and C.E. Dwight second.

Target No. 4: Any rifle, any sight, off-hand, 100 yards, Massachusetts target used at 130 yards, five shots. Winning score was 51 shot by J.F. Shirk. C.E. Dwight was in 7th place with a score of 50.

Target No. 5: Bullseye Target – Same as No. 3 only for any sights, any rifle, five shots, only bullseyes count. C.E. Dwight took third place.

Target No. 6: Any rifle, any sights, rest, only bullseyes count, 130 yards nearest shot to center first prize. C.E. Dwight placed in eighth place.

Target No. 7: Bullseye Target – Same as No. 5, only four shot allowed. C.E. Dwight took third place.

No mention was made who won the Schuetzen King or the Eagle target match.²⁰

Prof. Charles E. Dwight continued shooting in the weekly practice shoots and like any rifle club, participation would rise and fall. On October 30th, 1884, the Forest and Stream reported a case of the decline: “At the practice last Saturday only three members of the club could be seared from their retreat, which is becoming so chronic with most of them, and out of the three scores of thirty shots each, one was made by Mr. Jaeger which we think quite good – viz., 327 out of a possible 360, Mass. Target, 200 yds., off-hand, with only one shot out of the ten ring, and twenty-one bulls.”²¹

On May 28th, 1885 issue of Forest and Stream mentioned the Wheeling Rifle club participation on the rise: “The Wheeling Rifle club had their first practice shoot yesterday on the new range just finished on the old Fair Ground on the Island. This is the first good range the club ever had, the ground in this section being so very hilly that a level range is hard to find. The present range, however, is as level and pleasant as the famous Creedmoor, and sliding targets and a good solid back wall to stop the lead have been erected during the past week, and shooting bids fair to be more popular than ever here this year. 

    A new club has been organized during the past winter, under the name of the Wheeling Schuetzen, and gallery practice has been kept up, so the members are now about to make their first trial at the 200-yard range on the Island, which will be used by both clubs.

    Tomorrow, the 25th, the Germania Singing Society give a grand picnic on the new State fair ground, and three elegant badges are offered as prizes for rifle shooting. The distance is 30 yds., with .22 caliber rifles, off hand, at a decimal target, one-inch bullseye, with 9 and 10 counts in it. 

    On Saturday, the 30th, the Wheeling club go to Pittsburg to shoot a return match with the Pittsburgh Rifle Club. This will be the third meeting of these clubs, the other two being won by the Wheeling team. The rifles used by the club here are Sharp’s mid-range, .40 caliber, 70 gr., 330-gr. bullet respectively. Some of us expect to try the Farrow .22 caliber soon.²²

Our final reference to Professor Charles E. Dwight appears in Shooting and Fishing, Volume 7, Number 21, dated March 20th, 1890: 

Death of Prof. Charles E. Dwight

Editor, Shooting and Fishing:

Recently I learned of the death of an old valued friend, the late Prof. Charles E. Dwight of Wheeling, West Virginia. He was a noted chemist, and a devoted rifleman. It was my intention to send a record of his work upon the ranges, and his services rendered to all interested in rifle practice, but the loss of a book and memoranda, touching upon his work, and connection with the international team at Creedmoor in 1878, and still later his fine records with the Maynard rifle, at mid and long ranges, prevents mention.

Prof. Dwight was a conscientious, careful and thoughtful rifleman, honorable and gentlemanly throughout; and those who may have met him, either in the laboratory or upon the range can testify to his many estimable qualities and kindly courtesies; ever ready to tender a point of information, or assist a friend or brother rifleman.

He was called away from life on November 27 last, in the 40th year of his age. Death resulted from brain paralysis, super induced by over taxation in the laboratory. He leaves a wife and two children, to whom we tender our kindest sympathies, and join with them in their loss and bereavement.

Washington, Pa.

J.W.R.²³

Sources:

¹ History of the Pan-Handle, being Historical Collections of the counties of Ohio, Brooke, Marshall and Hancock, West Virginia, Compiled and written by J.H. Newton, G.G. Nichols, and A.G. Sprankle, published by J.A. Caldwell, Wheeling West, Virginia, 1879.

² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Dolbear

³ Long Range Rifle Club of Wheeling, Va., Forest and Stream, Vol. 9, No. 10, No. 111 Fulton St. New York, January 10, 1878, page 441.

⁴ Maynard Rifle Club and the Maynard Rifle, Forest and Stream, Vol. 10, No. 8, No. 111 Fulton St., New York, March 28, 1878, page 144.

⁵ Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, October 13, 1877 – clip provided by Joe Dobrzynski for use in this article.

⁶ The American Rifle Team, Final Competition For Places, New York Times, August 14, 1878.

⁷ The Most Remarkable of All Scores, Forest and Stream, Vol. 11, No. 3, No. 111 Fulton St., New York, August 22, 1877, page 57.

⁸ Our International Team Men, Forest and Stream, Vol. 11, No. 5, No. 111 Fulton St., New York, September 5, 1878, page 6.

⁹ The Rifle – The Palma Match of 1878, Forest and Stream, Vol. 11, No. 9, No. 111 Fulton St., New York, October 3, 1878, pp. 191-192. 

¹⁰ West Virginia – Wheeling, Forest and Stream, Vol. 12, No. 24, Nol 111 Fulton St., New York, July 17, 1879, page 471.

¹¹ Prof. Chas. E. Dwight Writes From Wheeling, West Va., Forest and Stream, Vol. 1, No. 7, No. 111 Fulton Street, New York, March 18, 1880, page 134.

¹² West Virginia – Wheeling, Forest and Stream, Vol. 14, No. 18, Nos. 39 and 40 Park Row, New York, June 3, 1880, page 359.

¹³ Wheeling, W. Va., Forest and Stream, Vol. 14, No. 23, Nos. 39 and 40 Park Row, New York, July 8, 1880, page 458.

¹⁴ For Sale-Sharps Long-Range Rifle, Forest and Stream, Vol. 18, No. 20, Nos. 39 and 40 Park Row, New York, June 15, 1882, page 397.

¹⁵ Wheeling, W. Va., Forest and Stream, Vol. 21, No. 10, Nos. 39 and 40 Park Row, New York, October 4, 1883, page 193.

¹⁶ Wheeling, W. Va., Forest and Stream, Vol. 22, No. 13, Nos. 39 and 40 Park Row, New York, April 24, 1884, page 253.

^{17 }Wheeling, W. Va., Forest and Stream, Vol. 22, No. 16, Nos. 39 and 40 Park Row, New York, May 15, 1884, page 314.

¹⁸ The Wheeling Club, Forest and Stream, Vol. 22, No. 16, Nos. 39 and 40 Park Row, New York, May 15, 1884, page 314.

¹⁹ Wheeling vs. Pittsburgh, Forest and Stream, Vol. 23, No. 4, Nos. 39 and 40 Park Row, New York, August 21, 1884, page 72.

²⁰ Bellaire Schuetzen Society, Forest and Stream, Vol. 23, No. 7, Nos. 39 and 40 Park Row, New York, September 11, 1884, page 131.

²¹ Wheeling, W. Va., Forest and Stream, Vol. 23, No. 14, Nos. 39 and 40 Park Row, New York, October 30, 1884, page 273.

²² Wheeling, W. Va., Forest and Stream, Vol. 24, No. 18, Nos. 39 and 40 Park Row, New York, May 28, 1885, page 355.

²³ Death of Professor Charles E. Dwight, Shooting and Fishing, Vol. 7, No. 21, Boston, Massachusetts, March 20, 1890, page 12.