We have two guns pictured here, the most important of which is a single-shot percussion pistol (the larger of the two pistols in the photos) made by J. J. Mackey of Columbia, South Carolina. This gun was the property of Colonel James Henry Rion, the "adopted son" of John C. Calhoun. According to family descendants from whom these pistols came, Rion shot and killed a man named John Player with this very pistol. Rion eventually served in the Confederacy and rose to the rank of Colonel. There are a few good links on the net about Rion, his career and his relationship to Calhoun. Both guns were handed down in the Rion family and are accompanied with a very large biography of Rion written by one descendant and a notarized letter from the legal owner, another descendant. The gun is sharp and crisp with no problem other than a repair to the hammer spur which is described in the letter of provenance from the family. The second pistol is a bar-hammer single-shot pistol of unknown manufacture with a broken grip. These item are priced only as to the value of the guns as collectibles and are well worth the price of admission, regardless of a very interesting history of an accomplished figure in South Carolina history.