Pugh family carries on tradition

By Staff
Jonathan Willis
For years, a collection of four antique guns hung on the wall inside Bill and Jocklyn Pugh’s Cedar Creek subdivision home in Russellville.
Though the guns were removed some time ago, there was one that Bill Pugh always had a special plan for.
The Volunteer 12-gauge shotgun his grandfather bought from a carpenter in the late 1800s was always meant to stay in his family.
Pugh’s father later bought the gun from his dad for the same $6 selling price. Pugh purchased the gun from his father in 1950, when he was nine years old. It was four years before his father passed away.
He waited a little longer than he thought he would have to, but Pugh passed the gun to another family member last week.
His six year-old grandson, Xan Battle, of Huntsville, bought the antique weapon for the whopping price of — $6.
The gun can no longer be fired and has not been shot in more than two decades, but it still holds a great deal of sentimental value to both grandfather and grandson.
Battle’s mom, Stephanie, said the gun would be cleaned well and placed on a prominent spot on Xan’s bedroom wall.
Though the six year-old spends much of his time taking karate lessons and playing soccer, he has a growing interest in guns and the military.
The Volunteer was originally sold by Sears in the late 1800s and was used for hunting through the years.
The decision to sell the gun to his grandson was easy, Pugh said, because he always wanted to keep it in the family.
For Battle, it is much more than just a new wall decoration. It is something the Holy Spirit Catholic School kindergartener will always have from his grandfather.
For a shy six year-old busy playing video games and visiting his grandfather, there was only one way to sum it up.”
That may be the way his grandfather sees it as well.