…and an interesting story.
Through Steve Turay’s Howard Hill grave site project, and the resulting
article I was lucky enough to help write for Traditional Bowhunter Magazine (TBM),
I struck up a correspondence with another Howard Hill fan who lives in Maryland. It turns out he lives
in the small town where my family was from.
Well, this gentleman knew my great uncle George and we
traded some letters and a bit of family history. The gentleman, named Ellis, was an
interesting character himself. He is a
wildlife artist and had another close friend that knew Howard well, and visited
his home in Alabama taking thee photos:
Our host also hunted twice with Bob Swinehart, and Bob was a
guest at his home. Another interesting story for another time.
Ellis invited Steve Turay and I to have
dinner with his wife, and close friend, at his home to show us some memorabilia
he had. Steve and I would both be nearby
when we attended the Baltimore Bowman
shoot, so we made or plans for that weekend.
He had lots of cool stuff for us Hill fans to discuss. Signed copies of Hill’s books, a signed
arrow, almost every single vintage publication and magazine with a Hill
article, and this vintage longbow. The
longbow looked like it was right out of Bob Burton’s book, complete with
matching sale sticker on the handle leather of the bow on the cover. The named longbow with visible nodes through
the green back, and yellow lineal glass on the belly, was probably made by Wayne Stotler and was named “To G. Howard”. I’m guessing it was probably made in the late
50’s. I believe the current owner said
he acquired the bow at a yard sale or antiques sale in Maryland.
To handle a bow like this was cool enough, then the owner
showed me a book entitled, “Complete Book of the Bow and Arrow” by a G. Howard
Gillelan. Could it be who the bow was
made for? I was intrigued.
A brief internet search revealed the following Obituary for
Mr. Gillelan:
G. Howard Gillelan,
81, outdoor writer, worked to preserve Assateague Island.
Fred Rasmussen. THE
BALTIMORE SUN
G. Howard Gillelan,
outdoor writer, sportsman and conservationist who was instrumental in the
creation of Assateague Island National Seashore, died of an infection Feb. 20
at his Annapolis residence. He was 81.
As a
journalist-photographer, Mr. Gillelan wrote hundreds of magazine and newspaper
articles and 11 books, many illustrated with photographs he took, including his
most recently published book, "Gunning for Sea Ducks."
He also co-founded
Eastern Bowhunter magazine, which later became Bowhunting, the leading national
publication devoted to the subject. From 1959 until 1978, he was the archery
department editor for Outdoor Life magazine.
As a member of the
original Committee for the Preservation of Assateague Island, he was
instrumental in the passage of the bill that created Assateague Island National
Seashore.
He was invited to the
White House bill signing by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 and given one
of the pens used to sign the legislation.
The Baltimore native
was a 1935 graduate of Boys' Latin School and studied at the Johns Hopkins and
Cornell universities.
During World War II,
he served briefly with the Army's 29th Division before he was medically
discharged because of a childhood injury to his eardrum.
The former Roland Park
resident moved to the Eastern Shore's Talbot County in 1972 and later to
Caroline County. He was managing editor of the Dorchester News from 1972 to
1973.
He also was the
Eastern Shore correspondent for the Baltimore News American. He later edited a
weekly outdoor page for the Denton Times Record and was a regular contributor
to the Delmarva Farmer.
Because of failing
health, he retired in 1991 and moved to Annapolis.
"He was a big,
hard-nosed, soft-hearted, hard-drinking Hemingway-like character -- he looked
like Hemingway -- who knew his way in and out of journalism, literature,
photography and archery," said Patrick Smithwick, director of publications
at Gilman School, who was a reporter for the Dorchester News.
Mr. Gillelan enjoyed
fly-fishing for trout in streams in Maryland, Pennsylvania and in the Colorado
Rockies.
A successful
bowhunter, he was a founding member and official measurer of the Pope and Young
Club, which records all bTC specimens of North American big-game animals taken
by bow and arrow.
He was a member of the
Izaak Walton League of America, National Wildlife Federation, Ducks Unlimited,
Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Free State Fly Fishers and Outdoor Writers
Association of America.
Of Scots-American
ancestry, he was a founder and past president of the St. Andrew's Society of the
Eastern Shore and a member of the Robert Burns Society of Annapolis, St.
Andrew's Society of Baltimore and the societies of Clan MacDougall and Clan
MacLellan.
His marriage to Anne
Stinson ended in divorce. Services are private.
He is survived by two sons,
Joshua T. Gillelan II of Mitchellville and Ian MacDowell Gillelan of York, Pa.;
three daughters, Ann Eden Gillelan of Cambridge, Mary Elizabeth Gillelan of
Annapolis and Harriet G. Mills of Bethlehem; and four grandchildren.
Pub Date: 3/02/98
I am indeed now convinced the bow was made for this gentleman. The bow having stayed in Maryland, and the
author’s interest in archery is just too much to discount as coincidence.
I thought I would post pictures of this bow and document the
interesting connection to Howard Hill and Maryland.
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