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robertchambers · 09-21-2010, 10:38 AM

Jim,
I couldn't get the private message system to work so I am responding here...your message and my response are shown below...

I read some information you posted about the Burgess Gun Company and found it very interesting! I have always had an interest in old guns and recently found that the Burgess company was located in my old neighborhood in Buffalo NY. Do you have any idea what their street address was and if the building is still standing?

Thanks

Jim Foley
Spokane WA

Jim,
I am sorry to say that the building no longer stands. You are asking a question that I had to dig out of the Erie County tax records 30 years ago as no one seems to know the answer. I'll do my best to answer but it will hinge on how familiar you are to the neighborhood.
The answer is "Military road at the beltline" ...since the beltline no longer exixts I will try to explain...on Militay just south of Hertel ave the is a railroad overpass...that was the beltline...Burgess Gun Company was on the north side of the tracks but I can't figure out whether it was on the east or west side of Military...if I had to guess, I would say where the parking lot of West Hertel acadamy is currently...The old timers in the neighborhood said that the company failure is attributed to Andrew being distracted by the federal governments bankrolling him into researching increased cyclical rates of fire at another site`1/4 mile west on the Niagara River near Hertel...Hertel was called Byrd Ave back then...
Dr Gatlin was aslo nearby trying to expand his horizons...in fact he purchased (?) a large tract of land on the north side of 18 Mile Creek at the mouth. He planned to use the water power to build large naval guns from pigs produced at the Bethlehem Steel plant in Lackawanna about 10 miles up the shore of Lake Erie. According to Western New York Heritage magazine, Dr. Gatlin planned to build a small town for human resources called "Gatlin City" in what is now part of Lakeview NY. but when his personal windfall began to dwindle his investors lost faith as well. It is not known to me whether or not Andrew Burgess and Gatlin knew each other but I can't imagine how both firearm inventors working temporarily in Buffalo NY, both working on increased cyclical rates, both worked closely with the federal government, both are associated with Colt Firearms, could not be at least aware of each other. Maybe it's just my mind trying to connect the dots...but 20years later Charles Newton, Emil Flues, Rudolph Kornbrath, Harry Pope, and Fred Adolph put thier heads together on more than a few matters (here in Buffalo).

09-21-2010, 10:38 AM	#11
robertchambers Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 41	Re: Burgess shotguns Jim, I couldn't get the private message system to work so I am responding here...your message and my response are shown below... I read some information you posted about the Burgess Gun Company and found it very interesting! I have always had an interest in old guns and recently found that the Burgess company was located in my old neighborhood in Buffalo NY. Do you have any idea what their street address was and if the building is still standing? Thanks Jim Foley Spokane WA Jim, I am sorry to say that the building no longer stands. You are asking a question that I had to dig out of the Erie County tax records 30 years ago as no one seems to know the answer. I'll do my best to answer but it will hinge on how familiar you are to the neighborhood. The answer is "Military road at the beltline" ...since the beltline no longer exixts I will try to explain...on Militay just south of Hertel ave the is a railroad overpass...that was the beltline...Burgess Gun Company was on the north side of the tracks but I can't figure out whether it was on the east or west side of Military...if I had to guess, I would say where the parking lot of West Hertel acadamy is currently...The old timers in the neighborhood said that the company failure is attributed to Andrew being distracted by the federal governments bankrolling him into researching increased cyclical rates of fire at another site`1/4 mile west on the Niagara River near Hertel...Hertel was called Byrd Ave back then... Dr Gatlin was aslo nearby trying to expand his horizons...in fact he purchased (?) a large tract of land on the north side of 18 Mile Creek at the mouth. He planned to use the water power to build large naval guns from pigs produced at the Bethlehem Steel plant in Lackawanna about 10 miles up the shore of Lake Erie. According to Western New York Heritage magazine, Dr. Gatlin planned to build a small town for human resources called "Gatlin City" in what is now part of Lakeview NY. but when his personal windfall began to dwindle his investors lost faith as well. It is not known to me whether or not Andrew Burgess and Gatlin knew each other but I can't imagine how both firearm inventors working temporarily in Buffalo NY, both working on increased cyclical rates, both worked closely with the federal government, both are associated with Colt Firearms, could not be at least aware of each other. Maybe it's just my mind trying to connect the dots...but 20years later Charles Newton, Emil Flues, Rudolph Kornbrath, Harry Pope, and Fred Adolph put thier heads together on more than a few matters (here in Buffalo).