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 Houston, TX).  He left the knife to his son William Lucas Crump (born 23 Apr 1915 in Brenham, TX; died 26 July 1981 in Houston, TX).  After his death, his widow, Jean Ray, gave the knife to their son, William Lucas (Luke) Crump, Jr. (the current (2006) possessor of the knife, and the author of this document).

 

Luke Crump lives with his wife Pamela Pittman in Corpus Christi, TX.  Phone = (361) 991-0619  Email = PamCrump@PamCrump.com

 

The maker of the knife was Webster Marble in Gladstone, MI.

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 Upper Peninsula offered innumerable opportunities to hunt, fish, camp and explore the environment. An inventor by nature he was continually seeking to create useful tools and equipment that would be both practical and durable in the outdoors.
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 Gladstone, MI.

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 Upper Peninsula offered innumerable opportunities to hunt, fish, camp and explore the environment. An inventor by nature he was continually seeking to create useful tools and equipment that would be both practical and durable in the outdoors.
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.