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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.
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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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 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.
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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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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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