Hi Roz, welcome to the forum
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The hunt you have started sounds interesting, although the chance of finding the sword is very small – but I guess you know that already.
I am sitting in Europe, so I will not be of much help, but there may be others in the US who can/will try to help you. Do you have the link to the Harper’s Magazine you are mentioning?
Do you have any idea of what the sword looked like, if yes, can you find a picture of a similar sword and show it?
Have you tried to trace the family through the registration office?
Could a fire in a house destroy a sword? Yes, I believe it could. Not that it would have been destroyed completely, but it would have been damaged, and things could have fallen on it, bending it or maybe even breaking it. Also when clearing the remains of the house, it could have been thrown out – not recognised as an old sword. It could however have been removed before the house was burned, or, like you say, have been looted. If this is the case, the chance of finding it is even smaller, but no reason to give up the hunt, as you can sometimes be extremely lucky like I was once.
I have an Indian katar, and in the scabbard is a small knife with an ivory hilt. I once showed a friend a picture, and after some time he wrote to me: ‘John Jencks (1576-1625), got his cutlers mark, a dagger and a thistle, in London 1606-07, and died in the Tower of London in 1625. Later his son moved to America’.
I looked for John Jencks on the net, found his descendants in Ohio, and sent the information to them for their genealogical table, so you see, sometimes information can come from someone whom you have never heard about.
Jens