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Nahant Library and Alvin York's Maxim Gun?

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CrossFrire

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I was searching for info on the Alvin York Memorial Shoot and stumbled on a story from back in 2007 about Nahant Library finding one of the Maxim guns captured by Sgt. York, Hillbilly Quaker and Patriot Hero, in France during WWI. Seems the clerk detailed to take notes that day was from Nahant and he scored himself a little trophy! Anyway, the folks at the library rediscover this prize in '07 and want to sell it to raise funds only it was forgotten in the attic since the '20s and no one ever registered the thing with the Gestapo. The BATFE, the Agent in charge of the Boston office in 2007 had NEVER HEARD of one Sgt Alvin C. York[crying], said "Nice story but it's an illegal machine gun and MUST BE DESTROYED!" Rep. Tierney made some calls about things but the rest of the Mass delegation including our illustrious Senators, Jean Claude Kerry and "Swimmer Ted", refused to even return the library's calls.
Like I would honestly expect anything else from the "Blunder Twins".[rolleyes]
I have searched everywhere and find no news about the out come. Was the gun destroyed?[sad2] I can just envision Barney Frank and Jim McGovern dancing around the crusher in joy as a piece of American history is trashed.[wink]
Please tell me someone stepped in and got this gun someplace like the 82nd AB Museum.
 
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Call the library, they may know. Also, museums are allowed to hold on to otherwise illegal NFA items I believe so likely that is one possible outcome. Post back here what you find.
 
Never heard of SGT. York????!!!! That clown must be an honors graduate of publick skools.

I hope this war prize is still safe. It would be a huge loss to history if the morons at BATFE destroyed it.
 
That is possibly one of the most horrible things I have read here. Please let us know the outcome.
 
Just another attmept to rewrite history..
Alvin York, Bloodthirsty psycopath.
Pershing, racist leader
WWI, US racist imperialistic aggression against oppressed and downtrodden,
Headline: "US declares war on the world's poor, Women and Minorities hardest hit!"
 
Sorry, I work nights and slept today.
I am off tomorrow and will be calling Nahant PD, who I understand last had the piece, and the BATFE (I'm applying for a SBR and I hate to piss them off right now but this is importent[halfmast]) to see what I can learn.
My great grandfather on my Dad's side fought in France in the trenches and my great uncle on my Mom's side flew as an observer attached to the RAF (we didn't even has an Air Corp at the time) and I remember their stories.
The WWI men are gone from us now and their service and the war itself are being forgotten.
This offends me.
 
Here is what happened:

http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2009/02/25/news/news09.txt



Nahant to donate rare machine gun


By Debra Glidden / The Daily Item

NAHANT - An old World War I artifact that was locked away in the attic of the library for decades and had most recently been stored in a police evidence locker has found a new home.

A Maxim machine gun originally captured and retrieved by the 17 survivors of Sergeant Alvin York's platoon is about to embark on what may be its final journey to the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tenn.

The gun was surrendered among other weapons in 1918 when 132 Germans were taken prisoner. The gun was sent to Nahant by Mayland Lewis, an Army clerk serving in France who took the first shorthand report of the battle from York.

The gun was exhibited as a trophy of war in the town's 1919 welcome home parade. It was placed in a red wagon that was pulled by Boy Scouts and, following the parade, Lewis presented the weapon to the Nahant Public Library. The gun was relinquished to the attic of the public library and it was rediscovered in 2003 when Library Director Daniel deStefano literally tripped over it.

The Board of Library Trustees looked into selling the weapon at auction but found itself in a Catch 22. The gun had never been registered so it is classified as an unregistered automatic weapon, which means the library could not sell it or keep it. After the gun was rediscovered, it was transferred to an evidence locker at the Nahant Police station where it has remained.

Compared to modern machine guns, the Maxim was heavy, bulky and awkward. Even though one person could fire the gun, it was usually operated by a team of men. The cooling mechanism of the weapon needed a constant supply of water in order to produce a continuous stream of fire and several men were needed to move or shift its position. Library Trustee John Welch said the library and Nahant Historical Society tried to find a way to keep the historic gun, which is fully functional, in town but that proved impossible. The only option open to the library was to destroy the gun or to transfer it to a museum that receives federal funding so the Board of Library Trustees entered into an agreement with the Museum of Appalachia, which is building an exhibit around the weapon.

"We can't give it to Nahant Historical Society," he said. "It has to be donated to a museum that gets federal funding. So we're donating it to the Museum of Appalachia and the museum is making a $10,000 donation to our building fund. We'd much rather see the gun at the Nahant Historical Society but the government won't let us do that."

Welch said the Maxim is believed to be the last surviving weapon captured by York so it is historically very significant.

"York was from Tennessee so he's a local hero down there," he said. "The museum has a whole exhibit dedicated to York."
But before the weapon is shipped off to Appalachia, area residents will have an opportunity to see the historic Maxim. On Sunday, March 22 from 2:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m., the weapon will be on display in the library. Welch said police officers would transport the gun to the library and for a $5 donation to the Friends of the Nahant Public Library, area residents can have their picture taken with the World War I artifact.

They can't keep it, but at least the bastards didn't make them destroy it!
 
Excellent result.
But before the weapon is shipped off to Appalachia, area residents will have an opportunity to see the historic Maxim. On Sunday, March 22 from 2:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m., the weapon will be on display in the library. Welch said police officers would transport the gun to the library and for a $5 donation to the Friends of the Nahant Public Library, area residents can have their picture taken with the World War I artifact.
Click to expand...

NES get together!!! [party][grin]
 
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Gonna try to make it there myself. But it kills me that Nahant can't keep such an important relic of American history.


There is a string of swear words running through my mind right now. Most of which begin with M and end with F.[angry]
 
bggsp said:
I will be there! I hope I can get my grandfather to go with me...he still lives in Nahant.
Click to expand...

bggsp, thanks for the update!
I'm buried with work and home projects - the house is on the market - and haven't had a chance to follow upwith Nahant PD.
The last person I spoke with there said they were expecting a possible solution soon and said "call us back later".
Great news and the museum in TN is a fitting home.
As far as I have heard, none of our elected officials in mA offered any helpin saving this treasure. Anyone know anything different?
Nahant is a ways from North Attleboro so I may not drive up but I will make a donation to the Library. They should be rewarded for doing the right thing!
 
I would have loved and preferred the Maxim to stay in Nahant, but I think between having it at SA museum and the Appalachia Museum I think it is VERY fitting it is going back to Sgt. York's home area.
 
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Skald said:
I think it is VERY fitting it is going back to Sgt. York's home area.
Click to expand...

I agree.
If the museum is already building a dedicated display area in honor of their local hero, then that's the most appropriate place for it. [grin]


Here's a photo of the Maxim:

York_MaximGun.jpg

=
Alvin_York.jpg
 
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At least it ended up in a good place instead of BATFE's "gun mausoleum" in W. Va, or melted down by the shitty government in this state.

-Mike
 
I had posted the subject on a black powder board and discussed it with some shooters who make the Alvin York shots down in PA.
I posted the good news there along with a suggestion that some support for the Nahant Public Library because, even at $50G, I think they got the short end of the deal.
What do you think that gun could have brought ay one of thye big auction houses?
But I agree it belongs in TN with York.
 
It's been said before, but I'll say it too, it's a damned shame we couldn't keep it locally but at least it's going someplace with such a strong connection to Sgt York. There could have been a much worse result here.

This just illustrates how abominably STUPID the gun laws are in this country/state.
 
Bob P said:
It's been said before, but I'll say it too, it's a damned shame we couldn't keep it locally but at least it's going someplace with such a strong connection to Sgt York. There could have been a much worse result here.

This just illustrates how abominably STUPID the gun laws are in this country/state.
Click to expand...

It is fitting that the machine gun be placed in a museum honoring Sgt. York. We here in Mass. are fortunate to have, among our treasures, the U.S.S. Constitution, tied up in Boston and made in Boston. Yeah, it's sad to see a piece of history leave town but it's probably going where it belongs.
 
Bob P said:
It's been said before, but I'll say it too, it's a damned shame we couldn't keep it locally but at least it's going someplace with such a strong connection to Sgt York. There could have been a much worse result here.

This just illustrates how abominably STUPID the gun laws are in this country/state.
Click to expand...

If Nahant PD wanted to keep it at the station, they could have easily pulled this off. If they said "no" to this idea, it was likely strictly a matter of policy or administrative crap. LE agencies can register virtually any NFA item they want to. (There's no 1986 MG registration cutoff for LE )

There are a lot of "PD Museums" in the US where they took in MGs, and just registered them and kept them at the station in a display case or whatever.

-Mike
 
another way they could have kept it

Since it wasn't absolutely necessary for the maxim to be 'live' the left sideplate (which is the part BATFE classifies as the machinegun) could have been easily removed (I've done it before) and a dummy sideplate attached. Voila! Legal non-gun. Thats what I would have done, but I bet the 10k was the REAL reason....I doubt they really cared if the gun stayed...because the first thing they tried to do after they found it was to try and SELL it![rolleyes]
Hers a pic of my live maxim 08/15:
0815qk3.jpg



Heres my wife killing pumpkins:
annemaximxw1.jpg


If you notice my Maxim has been converted to spade grips; there is one in the background set up like the Nahant maxim
 
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Once in France the semi-literate York earned lifetime fame for his part in an attack in the Argonne Forest against German machine gun positions on 8 October 1918. York, an acting Corporal, led 17 men in action against a German stronghold, the aim being to secure the position and return with German prisoners.

Initially successful without coming under fire, the small expedition took a number of prisoners before the Germans launched a heavy counterattack. With 11 of York's men guarding the captured prisoners (and with the other six killed) York resolved to proceed alone and tackle the German gunners ranged against them.

Having shot some 17 gunners via sniping, York was charged by seven German soldiers who realised that he was operating on his own. He killed them all with his pistol. With the aid of a German Major captured earlier York brought in a total of 132 German prisoners, a remarkable feat.
Click to expand...

The Maxim gun was captured in this battle.
[iwojima]
 

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