Bannerman Americas Mogul of Militaria

Born in Scotland in 1851 and raised in Brooklyn Francis Bannerman VI helped out in his familys junk and produce business After the Civil War enormous quantities of military equipment were put up for public auction at federal arsenals across the nation and young Francis along with more established dealers saw an opportunity Attending dozens of such auctions he won large lots of cannons riffles flags swords uniforms and accouterments often at pennies on the dollar By 1910 he had a famed arms emporium on Broadway NYYC and a spectacular castle on an island in the Hudson Godfather of the ArmyNavy surplus business Bannerman is credited with saving the vast numbers of antique arms for collectors everywhere