The Whisnant Gun Makers of North Carolina

I am a collector and researcher of early North Carolina things and I recently purchased two circa 1850 - 1860 Whisnant rifles.One was made by noted maker John Oliver Whisnant and the other was made by an unidentified M. A. Whisnant.Both guns are pictured in a new book by noted collector & historian Bill Ivey.The gun signed M. A. Whisnant is very rare and is possibly one of only two known.It is identified in the book as being made by W. A. Whisnant and it was believed that the M. was possibly a W. stamped upside down.M. A. Whisnant guns are identified this way in several books, but both known guns are stamped M. A. Whisnant, so I feel pretty certain that M. A. was the maker.I think it is very important to get the record right and any information ya'll can provide would be much appreciated.M. A. Whisnant deserves to be rightly identified to secure his place in the history of early American Gunsmiths.If anyone is interested in knowing more about these guns and Mr. Ivey's book please feel free to contact me for Mr. Ivey's info.Thanks for reading this and HAPPY New Year !!!!!!!!!!