Hunting Knife made by Webster Marble before 1911
This knife belonged to Fielding Lucas Crump (born 7 Dec 1875
in Austin Co, TX; died 28 May 1943 in
Luke Crump lives with his wife Pamela Pittman in
The maker of the knife was Webster Marble in
Webster L. Marble came to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the
early 1890’s and quickly gained the reputation of being one of the regions
finest "timber cruisers". His uncanny ability to look at a specific
forested acreage and predict the board foot yield made him very popular with
the many logging companies in the area. Marble loved the outdoors and the vast
By 1898 Mr. Marble had designed and patented his now famous "Safety
Axe". A modest one room manufacturing facility located behind his home
became the "Marble Safety Axe Company" and the dedicated entrepreneur
was on his way. Over the next quarter century Marble designed and patented
axes, sporting knives, guns and numerous other hunting and outdoor related
products. In 1911 the company was renamed "Marble Arms and Manufacturing
Company", the first of several name changes over the years. [Source:
http://www.marblesoutdoors.com/marbles/webster.html]
Description of the Knife:
At the base
of the blade it is inscribed "M.S.A. CC Gladstone, Mich. U.S.A."
The maker of the knife was Webster Marble in
Webster L. Marble came to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the
early 1890’s and quickly gained the reputation of being one of the regions
finest "timber cruisers". His uncanny ability to look at a specific
forested acreage and predict the board foot yield made him very popular with
the many logging companies in the area. Marble loved the outdoors and the vast
By 1898 Mr. Marble had designed and patented his now famous "Safety
Axe". A modest one room manufacturing facility located behind his home
became the "Marble Safety Axe Company" and the dedicated entrepreneur
was on his way. Over the next quarter century Marble designed and patented
axes, sporting knives, guns and numerous other hunting and outdoor related
products. In 1911 the company was renamed "Marble Arms and Manufacturing
Company", the first of several name changes over the years. [Source:
http://www.marblesoutdoors.com/marbles/webster.html]
The knife (including handle) is 10½" long. The blade is 6" long, and the handle is 4½" long.
The blade
is in very good, relatively untarnished condition and has a sharp edge. The edge was likely sharpened in the past,
but not within the last 50 years. The
blade is 1/8” at its thickest part.
The handle is red wood (probably rosewood or mahogony). There a couple of old stress crack lines on the sides of knob of the handle. The handle is wrapped in leather. The handle is tightly secured to the blade with no looseness at all.
The leather scabbard may (or may not) be the original scabbard for this knife, but it is certainly nearly as old as the knife itself and is in remarkably good condition and a snug fit for the knife. The scabbard also has an intact leather belt loop attached at each end to the scabbard with a metal rivet. The leather is in good condition, but does have an almost unnoticeable slit near the tip.