Samuel Colt (1814 - 1862)

Born 19 Jul 1814 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth Hart (Jarvis) Colt — married 5 Jun 1856 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut, United States

Died 10 Jan 1862 at age 47 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

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If God didn't make men equal, Samuel Colt did" - Samuel Colt.

Biography

Samuel Colt is Notable.

Samuel Colt was an American industrialist and inventor. He designed, created, and patented the first revolving firearm.

Throughout history, Samuel Colt has played a crucial role in providing weapons to the United States Armed Forces. His weapons were not only used in the American West, but around the world. He designed a variety of firearms for exclusive military use. These guns included revolvers, automatic pistols, machine guns, and longarms. [5]

Samuel Colt was born in 1814 in Hartford, Connecticut. His father Christopher Colt was a textile manufacturer. His mother Sarah Caldwell Colt passed away from tuberculosis when Samuel was only six years old. [2] [3]

Colt Co. Logo - Rampant Colt
He was fascinated at a young age with all things mechanical, including his fathers firearms; often disassembling them to discover how they functioned. Samuel also had an interest in navigation, and in 1830, he set out for a year long voyage. [3]

While aboard the Corvo, Colt became intrigued with the ships wheel, especially the way it could spin either way; or be locked in with the use of a clutch in a fixed position. This gave him an idea for a pistol that could fire several rounds in rapid succession, instead of the standard single shot. While at sea, he carved a prototype six-barrel cylinder, hammer, and locking pin out of wood. 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. [3]

In 1836, Colt received his first U.S. patent for his revolver mechanism design, which allowed a gun to be fired multiple times without reloading. [3] His company, Colt Manufacturing Company; formerly Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company was founded in 1855. [4]

1847 Colt Walker

In 1845, the Texas Rangers hired Colt to produce 1,000 pistols, of "The Walker" model. He designed this special revolver at the start of the Mexican-American War, which spanned from 1846-1848; with Army Captain Samuel Walker. His "Walker" pistols carried 6 bullets, and didn't require constant reloading. His weapons were instrumental in defeating the Indians in Texas and Florida.[1] [6]

The Colt Single Action Army Model Revolver is most recognized as "The Handgun That Won The West". Many proponents said that "Colt won the West". [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. This is because of it's ability to fire six successive shots without having to reload. [5]

During the American Civil War, Colt's pistols were the weapons of choice from 1861-1865. 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. [1]

The Peacemaker became the most popular gun in the West when it was introduced in 1873. His firearms were also popular with many famous outlaws, such as Jesse James, who used the 1851 Navy Colt revolver, then later the Peacemaker. [7] Fellow outlaws Wild Bill Hickock and John Wesley Hardin also used Colt's guns. [6]

Butch Cassidy's famous Colt Army revolver

The notorious leader of "The Wild Bunch" ,Butch Cassidy's "Amnesty Colt", a Army revolver, was expected to fetch upwards of $250,000 at auction. [8]

Bonnie Parker's Colt .38 revolver

Outlaws and robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker used Colt's guns as well. Barrow had a Colt .45 tucked inside his waistband, discovered after he was dead, and Parker had a Colt .38 revolver taped to her inner thigh, underneath the red dress she was wearing when she died. [9]

The Colt revolver revolutionized the firearms industry. and it was also truly the first global manufacturing export in American history. The Colt revolver had a astronomical impact around the world. [5] In it's first 25 years of manufacturing, Colt's company produced over 400,000 revolvers.

Ironically, at the time of Samuel Colt's death from gout, Colt had never once fired one of his guns at another human being. Samuel Colt passed away at age 47, in Hartford, Connecticut, on January 10th, 1862. ^[1] and his estate was worth around $15 million dollars, which is $350 million by 2009 comparison standards. At the time of his death, Samuel Colt was one of the wealthiest men in America. The company founded by Samuel Colt in Hartford, Connecticut is still operating today, and has produced more than 30 million pistols, revolvers, and rifles. [3]

Samuel Colt was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006.

"If I can't be first, i wont be second in anything" - Samuel Colt, 1844 [6]

Samual Colt Memorial, Colt Park, Hartford, CT, USA. Fountain and Sculpture was dedicated in 1905

Sources

1. ↑ "Connecticut, Charles R. Hale Collection, Vital Records, 1640-1955", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7NV-3YB : 16 September 2020), Samuel Colt, 1862.

[1]Biography.com, Samuel Colt

[2] Wikipedia contributors, "Samuel Colt," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Samuel Colt(accessed January 26, 2021).

[3]Samuel Colt, History.com

[4]Colt Manufacturing, Wikipedia

[5]non working link

[6]Historical Society, Samuel Colt

[7]non working link

[8]Butch Cassidy's gun for sale

[9]History for sale

See Also:

• Find a Grave, database and images  : accessed 26 January 2021), memorial page for Samuel Colt (19 Jul 1814–10 Jan 1862), Find A Grave: Memorial #217, citing Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave .