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Samuel Colt
Samuel Colt: From Yankee Peddler to American Tycoon
Hartford native Samuel Colt built a financial empire on his design and automated production of the revolver.
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Selling Connecticut Products Abroad
In the mid-1800s, manufacturers from Connecticut found new overseas markets for everything from clocks and firearms to lawn mowers and machetes.
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Colt’s Submarine Battery – Today in History: April 13
On April 13, 1844, Samuel Colt blew up a schooner on the Potomac River to demonstrate the effectiveness of his invention.
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Sam Colt’s Funeral: The Day Hartford Stopped
The funeral of America’s first great munitions maker was spectacular—certainly the most spectacular ever seen in the state’s capital city.
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Elizabeth Jarvis Colt Born – Today in History: October 5
On October 5, 1826, Elizabeth Jarvis was born in Hartford.
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The Revolving Gun – Today in History: February 25
On February 25, 1836, Samuel Colt received a patent for a “revolving gun” US patent number 138, later known as 9430X.
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Colt Armory Burns – Today in History: February 4
On February 4, 1864, most of Colt’s East Armory, located in Hartford, burned to the ground.
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Connecticut Arms the Union
By the Civil War’s end, Connecticut had supplied 43% of the total of all rifle muskets, breech loading rifles and carbines, and revolvers bought by the War Department.
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Samuel Colt…and Sewing Machines?
The National Museum of American History explains how a revolver, sewing machine, bicycle, and early-model electric automobile are connected.
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The Colt Memorial, Cedar Hill Cemetery
Commissioned by Samuel Colt’s wife, Elizabeth Jarvis Colt, and James G. Batterson designed the Colt memorial monument in Hartford’s Cedar Hill Cemetery.
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The Colt Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company
Samuel Colt, the man who revolutionized firearms manufacturing in the United States, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on July 19, 1814.
Read Samuel Colt and Elizabeth Jarvis Marry – Today in History: June 5
On June 5, 1856, Samuel Colt married Elizabeth Hart Jarvis, the daughter of Reverend William Jarvis and Elizabeth Hart of Middletown.
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Workers at the Colt Armory, Hartford 1867
Colt Firearms has been one of the most prominent industries in Hartford for over 150 years.
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