About The Authors

Co-authors Jack W. Melton, Jr., and Lawrence E. Pawl at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.  Photo by Andrew Pawl.

Jack W. Melton, Jr.

Jack W. Melton, Jr., a life-long resident of Georgia, was born in Columbus on May 10, 1960.  Both geography and heredity destined him to be a student of the Civil War:   he grew up adjacent to the Kennesaw Mountain National Military Park near Kolb Farm, and several of his ancestors fought for the South during the war.  His mother's grandfather, Jefferson Love, was an artillery driver for Milton's Light Artillery, and his father's great-grandfather, Samuel Troup Carter, was in the 14th Alabama Infantry.   Both of his parents are collectors of Civil War artifacts.
His interest in the history-rich area surrounding him spurred him to respond to the National Park Service's need for a historical trail through their Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.  This work became his Eagle Scout project, and he became a Bicentennial Eagle Scout on Independence Day 1976.  Since that time, hundreds of thousands of people have walked the trail he cut at Kennesaw Mountain.
He began relic hunting at age 14, and found his first 12-pounder solid shot that same year while hunting with his dad.  Thus began his interest in the field artillery projectiles of the War Between the States.  In the ensuing years, his interest in excavated artillery projectiles has taken him from Port Hudson to Gettysburg, and he has recovered over 419 projectiles.
Deeply affected by the death of renowned artillery collector and author Thomas S. Dickey, Sr., in 1987, Jack was moved to continue the work of the man he so admired, researching, photographing, and studying the wide variety of projectiles and their patents.
He entered the realm of professional Civil War dealers when he purchased a collection in 1988.  He discovered that he had an affinity for buying and selling artifacts, and he opened his shop in 1989.  He also began to pursue professional photography, and his work has appeared on a number of book covers, magazines, and other national publications.   He is a featured front cover photographer for North South Trader's Civil War magazine and has had more than 75 front covers published in the magazine's 34 year history.
He also completed the Professional Photography Program at the Southeastern Center for the Arts in Atlanta and graduated with honors.

Lawrence E. Pawl

Lawrence E. Pawl was born December 6, 1948, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He completed his undergraduate work at Michigan's Grand Valley State University and graduated with a degree in Health Sciences.  He went on to obtain his medical degree at Wayne State Medical School in Detroit.
His interest in the Civil War dates back to age 14, when he attended a Civil War show in Detroit.  He purchased his first artillery shell at age 25 -- a 3.67-inch Hotchkiss shell fired at Shiloh -- and his fascination with the projectiles of the Civil War was born.
In the late 1970s, he encountered two books that were to have a profound effect on him.   In an it's-a-small-word coincidence, Grand Rapids medical colleague Jack O'Donnell introduced him to The Illustrated History of American Civil War Relics, written by O'Donnell's brother Mike and Stephen W. Sylvia.  He then encountered a copy of Dickey and Kerksis's Field Artillery Projectiles of the Civil War 1861-1865 and began to correspond with and purchase projectiles from Tom Dickey.  He recalls that Tom often shipped the weighty shells cross-country to him via Greyhound bus.
A mutual interest in artillery projectiles brought together co-authors Pawl and Melton in the late 1980s.  This work is the result of their shared love of research on the surviving projectiles and their patents.
Dr. Pawl has been in private practice in Grand Rapids since 1981, specializing in medical oncology.  In his leisure hours, of which there aren't enough, he also collects excavated Civil War weaponry, including swords, long arms, and handguns.  His collecting interests also go as far a field as astronaut memorabilia, particularly items relating to Apollo 11 and Buzz Aldrin.
He has two children:  son Andy (who, much to his father's delight, is showing some interest in the War Between the States) and daughter Sarah.