Colt. Colt soon reworked his design to leave the firing hammer exposed, but problems continued and in late 1843, after numerous setbacks including loss of payment for the Florida pistols, the Paterson, New Jersey plant closed. [5], Samuel Colt was born in 1814 in Hartford, Connecticut. [75], In 2006, Samuel Colt was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.[76]. Two of his three brothers turned out fine, but one killed himself while awaiting execution for murder. [15] This is shown by an 1836 letter that Colt wrote to his father in which he said, .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, The first workman would receive two or three of the most important parts and would affix these and pass them on to the next who would add a part and pass the growing article on to another who would do the same, and so on until the complete arm is put together. Beginning 1848, more contracts followed for what is known now as the Colt Dragoon Revolvers. IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. Source citations are included at the bottom of the page. A British patent for Colt's prototype was attained in 1835, and in February 1836 he attained a U.S. patent for his revolving cylinder pistol design. This resulted in breakage of parts, stripped screw heads, and jammed actions". Zenas had 4 siblings: James D. Colt and 3 other siblings. [33] Colt used this general design for the Colt 1851 Navy Revolver which was larger than the Baby Dragoon, but not quite as large as the full-sized version. The standard at the time was to have powder and ball contained in a paper or skin envelope or "cartridge" for ease of loading. They became friends and they both lobbied the U.S. government for funds. He began promoting the telegraph companies so he could create a greater market for his cable, for which he was to be paid $50 per mile. [46] The wedding was lavish and featured the ceremony on a steamship overlooking the factory as well as fireworks and rifle salutes. [8] He designed this special revolver at the start of the Mexican-American War, which spanned from 1846-1848; with Army Captain Samuel Walker. [67] After John's death, Samuel Colt cared financially for the child, named Samuel Caldwell Colt, with a large allowance, and paid for his tuition in what were described as "the finest private schools." Later, his firearms were used widely during the settling of the western frontier. [citation needed], Having saved some money and still wanting to be an inventor as opposed to a "medicine man", Colt made arrangements to begin building guns using proper gunsmiths from Baltimore, Maryland. [9] His public speaking skills were so prized that he was thought to be a doctor and was obligated to cure an apparent cholera epidemic aboard a riverboat by giving his patients a dose of nitrous oxide. [citation needed], One of his slogans, God created men, Col. Colt made them equal, (claiming that any person could, regardless of physical strength, defend themselves with a Colt gun) became a popular adage in American culture. He discovered that other inventors in the Compendium had accomplished feats that were once deemed impossible, and he wanted to do the same. [7] Colt hired a gunsmith by the name of John Pearson to build his revolver. He organized a large display of his firearms at the Great Exhibition of 1851 at Hyde Park, London and ingratiated himself by presenting cased engraved Colt revolvers to such appropriate officials as Britain's Master General of the Ordnance. Skip Ancestry main menu Main . This gave him an idea for a pistol that could fire several rounds in rapid succession, instead of the standard single shot. [7] Fellow outlaws Wild Bill Hickock and John Wesley Hardin also used Colt's guns. We encourage you to research and examine these records to . Skip Ancestry navigation Main . County: Hartford, 1666-1785; Middlesex, 1785-(Current). 19th-century American industrialist and inventor (18141862), Colt's Patent Manufacturing Company (18471860), Massachusetts's 8th congressional district, Church of the Good Shepherd and Parish House, "Improvement in fire-arms and in the apparatus used therewith", "Who Made America? However the unit never took the field and Colt was discharged on June 20, 1861. Despite the reluctance of English officials to issue the patent, no fault could be found with the gun and he was issued his first patent (Number 6909). Throughout history, Samuel Colt has played a crucial role in providing weapons to the United States Armed Forces. The guns turned out to be of poor quality because Christopher Colt believed the idea to be folly and would hire only inexpensive mechanics. Lastly, he hired authors to write stories about his guns for magazines and travel guides. Colt's great contribution was the use of interchangeable parts. In an attempt to attract skilled European-immigrant workers to his plant, Colt built a village near the factory away from the tenements which he named Coltsville and modeled the homes after a village in Potsdam. [50] With help from ICE secretary Charles Manby[51] Colt established his London operation near Vauxhall Bridge on the River Thames and began production on January 1, 1853. 1852 He was born in Paterson, New Jersey on January 10, 1852, the youngest of six children born to Christopher Colt (brother to arms maker Samuel Colt) and Theodora Goujand DeWolf Colt of Bristol, Rhode Island. Christopher Colt 3. [19], Colt imperiled his own company by his reckless spending. [14], Colt never claimed to have invented revolvers; his design was a more practical adaption of Collier's earlier revolving flintlock incorporating a locking bolt to keep the cylinder aligned with the barrel. [6] He had learned about nitrous oxide (laughing gas) from the factory chemist of his father's textile plant, so he took a portable laboratory on tour and earned a living performing laughing gas demonstrations across the United States and Canada, calling himself as "the Celebrated Dr.Coult of New-York, London and Calcutta". [23], With the money made from the cartridges, Colt resumed business with Morse for ideas other than detonating mines. Sarah Caldwell 3rd Generation. This instrument and patent No. Lt. Bedley McDonald, who was a subordinate of Walker when Walker was killed in Mexico, stated that 30 Rangers used Colt's revolvers to keep 500 Mexicans in check. This resulted in breakage of parts, stripped screw heads and inoperable guns. 2008 - 2023 INTERESTING.COM, INC. [5], During the American Civil War, Colt's pistols were the weapons of choice from 1861-1865. and is less than pleased to learn that Arthur knew that Castiel was in Syria seeking out the Tree of Life. His weapons were not only used in the American West, but around the world. Enraged by Arthur's recent actions . Home; . His use of interchangeable parts helped him become one of the first to use the assembly line efficiently. Colt's innovative contributions to the weapons industry have been described by arms historian James E. Serven as "events which shaped the destiny of American Firearms." [5] In it's first 25 years of manufacturing, Colt's company produced over 400,000 revolvers. Records may include photos, original documents, family history, relatives, specific dates, locations and full names. Skip Ancestry navigation . Christopher Colt was remarried two years later to Olivia Sargeant. Research genealogy for Samuel Colt of Lyme, New London Co., CT, as well as other members of the Colt family, on Ancestry. [10] The invention of the percussion cap made ignition more reliable, faster, and safer than the older flintlock design. His mother's father had been an officer in the Continental Army and one of Samuel's earliest possessions was his maternal grandfather's flintlock pistol. Shortly after his return to the United States, Colt applied for a patent for a "revolving gun", and he was granted the patent on 25 February 1836 (later numbered 9430X). We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. Selden often chastised him for using corporate funds to buy an expensive wardrobe or give lavish gifts to potential clients. Colt's manufacturing methods were sophisticated. This encyclopedia contained articles on Robert Fulton and gunpowder, both of which provided motivation and ideas that would influence Colt throughout his life. Father of Caldwell Hart Colt; Elizabeth Jarvis Colt and Samuel Caldwell Colt Powers made detailed wax sculptures and paintings based on demons, centaurs, and mummies from Dante's work. [2] [3] Colt's waterproof cable, made from tar-coated copper, proved valuable when Morse ran telegraph lines under lakes, rivers, and bays and made attempts to lay a telegraph line under the Atlantic Ocean. His preoccupation with patent infringement suits slowed his own company's transition to the cartridge system and prevented other firms from pursuing revolver designs. Family tree of Samuel COLT Inventor Born Samuel COLT American inventor and industrialist Born on July 19, 1814 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA , United States Died on January 10, 1862 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA Born on July 19 34 Deceased on January 10 38 Family tree Report an error Colt Benjamin 1698 - 1754 Harris Miriam 1699 - 1765 Caldwell John In 1966, June married Tim Colt (not a family member) and the two moved to Australia. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. [6] The Colt Revolver was the most popular handgun used on the Western frontier by gunslingers, Western pioneers, peace officers, outlaws, cowboys, and the military. Colt sued the companies and the court ordered that Warner and Massachusetts Arms cease revolver production. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. With this rank, he toured Europe again to promote his revolvers. The family moved often, possibly to keep their disturbing family activities hidden from society. He abandoned the idea of a multiple-barreled revolver and opted for a single fixed-barrel design with a rotating cylinder. When someone infringed on the patent, Colt sued and the court ordered that Colt receive royalties on each gun that had been sold by the rival company. His oldest sister, Margaret, died of tuberculosis at 19 and the other, Sarah Ann, committed suicide later in life. This caused the rival to go out of business. They defiantly and successfully carried on the Slave Trade after it was outlawed by the State of Rhode Island. We encourage you to research and examine these records to . The California gold rush and western expansion made the firearm business boom so much that Colt had to expand the Hartford factory repeatedly. Eventually the British government forced him to remove this sign. Samuel Colt's parents: Samuel Colt's mother was Ethel Barrymore Samuel Colt's father is Russell Colt Samuel Colt's siblings: Samuel Colt's sister is Ethel Colt Samuel Colt's brother is John Colt Samuel Colt's grandparents: Samuel Colt's grandfather was Maurice Barrymore Samuel Colt's grandmother was Georgina Barrymore Later versions contained his entire signature which was used in many of his advertisements as a centerpiece, using his celebrity as a seeming guarantee of the performance of his weapons. [29] The shorter chambers were loaded to 50 grains of powder, instead of 60 grains in the earlier Walkers, to prevent the occurrence of ruptured cylinders. [3] His company, Colt Manufacturing Company; formerly Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company was founded in 1855. [30], With the money he made from the sales of the Walkers and a loan from his cousin, banker Elisha Colt, Colt bought the machinery and tooling from Blake to build his own factory: Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company factory at Hartford. [59], Before the American Civil War, Colt supplied both the North and the South with firearms. On June 5, 1856, Colt married Elizabeth Jarvis, the daughter of the Reverend William Jarvis, who lived just downriver from Hartford. Root's machinery changed that for Colt, since the machines completed as much as 80% of the work and less than 20% of the parts required hand fitting and filing. The Blackest Bird. "If I can't be first, i wont be second in anything" - Samuel Colt, 1844 [6], Samual Colt Memorial, Colt Park, Hartford, CT, USA. [27] Colt tried to use this revenue to resurrect the Patent Arms Manufacturing Company, but could not secure funds from other investors or even his own family. During 1843 the army gave Colt an order for 200,000 of the tinfoil cartridges packed 10 to a box for use in muskets. Upon his return, however, he learned that England had mediated the conflict and that there would be no fighting, so he set up a factory for the manufacture of his firearms in Paterson, New Jersey. Home; Trees; . [44], Thus, Colt's factory was the first to make use of the concept known as the assembly line. Home; Trees; . [44] Colt's revolvers were made by machine, but he insisted on final hand finishing and polishing of his revolvers to impart a handmade feel. Samuel Colt is in the 1st generation of the family tree for Samuel Colt (Ahnentafel #1). [26], After this setback, Colt turned his attention to perfecting tinfoil cartridges he had originally designed for use in his revolvers. Logo - Rampant Colt [69], Apart from gifts and bribes, Colt employed an effective marketing program which comprised sales promotion, publicity, product sampling, and public relations. [18] This act prevented state militias from allocating funds towards the purchase of experimental weapons or foreign weapons. During this period Colt received an extension on his patent because he did not collect on it in the early years. [36] During 1854 Colt struggled for his patent extension with the U.S. Congress, which initiated a special committee to investigate charges that Colt had bribed government officials in securing this extension. in Hartford, Connecticut, USA, This form allows you to report an error or to submit additional information about this family tree: Samuel COLT (1814), Copyright Wikipdia authors - This article is under licence CC BY-SA 3.0. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. Research genealogy for Samuel Colt of Canada, as well as other members of the Colt family, on Ancestry. After the Peacemaker was produced in 1873, Samuel Colt designed a different model of the revolver for use in World War I and World War II. Free Samuel Colt genealogy charts and reports.