science

Jacob and Samuel Hawken

Jacob and Samuel Hawken is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Jacob and Samuel Hawken rather than just read about it. In short: Jacob and Samuel Hawken were American gunsmiths and traders who operated from their shop in St. Louis, Missouri from 1825 to 1855.

Key takeaways

Jacob and Samuel Hawken belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Jacob and Samuel Hawken to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Jacob and Samuel Hawken from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Jacob and Samuel Hawken were American gunsmiths and traders who operated from their shop in St. Louis, Missouri from 1825 to 1855. They are famous for designing the "plains rifle" named after them (the Hawken rifle).

History Born in Hagerstown, Maryland, Jacob (born 1786) and Samuel (born October 26, 1792) were brought up by their father, Christian Hawken, to become gunsmiths. Despite the fact that local folklore sets the establishment of their shop in 1807 the evidence suggests that Jacob worked for the Harpers Ferry Armory from 1808 until at least 1818, when he moved to Missouri and bought 160 acres (0.65 km2) of land in New Madrid. His brothers, John, Joseph and George Hawken also were listed as employed by Harper's Ferry up until the early months of 1818. Jacob also entered into a partnership with a St. Louis, Missouri gunsmith named James Lakenan which lasted until the latter's death on August 25, 1825. Samuel Hawken served in the Maryland militia during the War of 1812. After the war he moved to Ohio and established his own enterprise in Xenia, Ohio. After the death of his wife and father, he relocated to St. Louis, where he formed a fresh business, separate to that of Lakenan and his older brother. James worked supplying guns to the American Fur Company. The Hawkens became partners, however, after Lakenan's death in 1825. Their shop, though it excelled in gun-smithing, was also a bastion of old-fashioned craftsmanship; for up until 1848, they repaired and restocked tools as well as firearms and produced brass axes, tomahawks, gun worms and even basket-style hilts for swords. As well as Lakenan, the Hawken brothers also devoted to acquiring and developing land. Jacob Hawken died in 1849 (his burial location is unknown) and Samuel continued with the business on his own. In 1855, he retired and passed the shop to his son William, and William's business partner Tristram Campbell. Samuel Hawken died on May 8, 1884, at the age of 91, in St. Louis. He was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery.

References

Further reading Museum of the Mountain Man The Hawken Rifle: Its Place in History, by Charles E Hanson Jr.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jacob and Samuel Hawken

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jacob and Samuel Hawken claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Jacob and Samuel Hawken before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Jacob and Samuel Hawken ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Jacob and Samuel Hawken

In research: Jacob and Samuel Hawken appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Jacob and Samuel Hawken in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Jacob and Samuel Hawken is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Firearm designers, People from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, People from St. Louis, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jacob and Samuel Hawken outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Jacob and Samuel Hawken in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Jacob and Samuel Hawken means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Jacob and Samuel Hawken out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jacob and Samuel Hawken in simple terms?

Jacob and Samuel Hawken were American gunsmiths and traders who operated from their shop in St. Louis, Missouri from 1825 to 1855.

Why does Jacob and Samuel Hawken matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Jacob and Samuel Hawken?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Jacob and Samuel Hawken.