TABLE OF CONTENTS
Administrative File circa 1836-1980
RG 103, Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company
Inventory of Records
Finding aid prepared by Connecticut State Library staff.
Copyright © 2007 by the Connecticut State Library
Overview of the Collection |
|
| Repository: | Connecticut State Library |
| Creator: | Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company |
| Title: | Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company records |
| Dates: | 1810-1980 |
| Quantity: | 98.25 cubic feet |
| Abstract: | The records of Colt’s Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company document gun manufacturing at the armory and the company’s subsidiaries, together with outside contracting activities. |
| Identification: | RG103 |
| Accession: | Multiple |
| Language: | The records are in English. |
Historical Note
Samuel Colt (1814-1862) received U.S. Patent No. 138 in 1836 for the first revolving cylinder pistol and along with other investors founded the Patent Arms Manufacturing Company of Paterson, New Jersey. Due to small sales that business closed in September of 1842. Still, Colt guns proved popular during the Mexican War and with the Texas Rangers. General Zachary Taylor, who was commanding troops in Texas in 1846, wanted 1000 Colt revolvers. Samuel Colt made an agreement with Eli Whitney, Jr., the Connecticut contractor for Army muskets, to manufacture the guns. In 1847 Colt borrowed money from his banker cousin Elisha Colt and other Hartford businessmen to lease a factory on Pearl Street in Hartford, where he adapted the system of interchangeable parts to the mass production of guns. In 1851 Colt's exhibited guns at London's Crystal Palace Exposition and two years later opened a branch there that operated until 1857. The Colt's factory in Hartford manufactured 3,000 Dragoon pistols by the end of 1850, first at the Pearl Street location and then on Grove Lane.
In 1851 Samuel Colt bought property in Hartford's South Meadows where he built the Colt's Armory that was completed in August of 1855. The Armory was topped with an onion-shaped blue dome on which stood a rampant colt cast from bronze. Samuel Colt died unexpectedly in January of 1862. A fire in February of 1864 destroyed one half of the Armory and the office. Some suspected that Confederates started the fire. The armory had been running at full capacity to supply the Union army with guns, its total wartime production totaling 378,000 revolvers and 114,000 muskets. Samuel Colt's widow Elizabeth ordered the Armory rebuilt exactly as it was. Construction was completed in 1867. In 1901 Mrs. Colt sold the company to Armstrong & Schirmer, a New York financial house. A holding company was formed in New York State although the Armory was still known as Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company.
Colt's produced the first machine gun, the Gatling, in 1867. Dr. R.J. Gatling invented the gun first fired at Confederate troops in 1862. Gatling later moved to Hartford after improving the desgin. Colt's entered into association with John Moses and Matt Browning in 1891 to manufacture their machine gun. In 1895 John Browning test fired his first automatic pistol for Colt's. The Brownings reached a settlement with Colt in 1903 that gave the company all the benefits of the automatic pistol and automatic machine gun patents. The company also obtained rights to the English Vickers-Maxim automatic machine gun, giving it control over all machine gun production in the world. In 1911 Colt's gave Fabrique Nationale of Liege an exclusive license to sell Browning's automatic pistol in Europe, outside of England. Soon after the United States entered World War I, John Moses Browning returned to Colt's and developed more powerful machine guns than his earlier inventions. In addition to machine guns, pistols were also in demand. The Army had adopted the Colt .45 as its standard sidearm in 1911. During the war Colt's produced 425,000 automatic pistols, 151,700 revolvers, 13,000 Maxim-Vickers machine guns and 10,000 new Brownings.
After the war Colt's diversified into manufacturing other products and established divisions for dishwashers, electrical, and plastics. Colt's production dropped during the early years of the Depression but improved starting in 1933. However, on March 13, 1935 over a thousand workers walked off the job to begin a strike that lasted thirteen weeks. The company experienced further catastrophe when the Flood of 1936 and Hurricane of 1938 damaged the armory. Despite increasing output at the start of World War II and winning the Army-Navy "E" award for outstanding production in 1942, Colt's began to experience financial losses starting in July of 1943 due in part to its failure to adopt modern manufacturing techniques, resulting in layoffs. Control of the company changed hands a few times and eventually became a subsidiary of Penn-Texas. That holding company collapsed in 1958 and what remained became the holding company Fairbanks Whitney. By 1960 manufacturing operations moved from Hartford to West Hartford.
Presidents of Colt's through 1969:
Samuel Colt, 1855-1862
Elisa K. Root, 1862-1865
Richard Jarvis, 1865-1901
John Hall, 1901-1902
Lewis C. Grover, 1902-1909
William C. Skinner, 1909-1911
Col. Charles L.F. Robinson, 1911-1916
William C. Skinner, 1916-1921
Samuel M. Stone, 1921-1944
Graham H. Anthony, 1944-1949
B. Franklin Conner, 1949-1955
Chester Bland, 1955-1958
Fred A. Roff, Jr., 1958-1962
David C. Scott, 1962-1963
Paul A. Benke, 1963-1969
Source: Ellsworth S. Grant, The Colt Armory: A History of Colt's Manufacturing Company, Inc., (Lincoln, R.I.: Mowbray Publishing, 1982).
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Scope and Content
The records of the Colt Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company, RG 103, cover the period 1810-1980, though most of the collection falls within the period 1840-1890. The records document gun manufacturing at the armory and the company's subsidiaries and outside contracted activities. The group contains records of the Gatling Gun Company, London Armory/Agency, and Union Ferry Company. Records on several of the related activities are limited to a single item.
Overall the collection documents the history of individual arms manufactured by the Colt Company but lacks minutes of the board of directors meetings, personnel records, internal office memoranda, annual reports, and printed financial statements.
The principle strengths of the Business File lie in the Incoming Correspondence (Series 3), and the Orders for Arms (Series 4). The routine nature of most of the incoming correspondence lessens its informational value. The Legal File contains documentation on patents. Generally, the Administrative File contains "public relations" materials, including drafts of unpublished company histories and biographies, scrapbooks, armory museum records and an index to correspondence compiled by museum staff. The Publications File contains several catalogs of arms manufactured.
The collection contains handwritten and printed materials, bound volumes, drawings and foreign language material.
Material in the separate manuscript catalog was transferred into the record group. All the material pertaining to the Colt Company in the State Library, except for published monographs and biographies and the gun collection in the Museum of Connecticut History, is in RG 103 or picture group PG460.
A later accession has been added as the Mahron Collection, as well as several smaller accessions collectively as Addenda.
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Arrangement
Business File, 1826-1979, Accession: T001481, 25.75 cubic feet
Legal File, circa 1831-1943, Accession: T001481, 6.50 cubic feet
Administrative File, circa 1836-1980, Accession: T001481, 9 cubic feet
Publications File, circa 1850-1980, Accession: T001481, 6.75 cubic feet
Mahron Collection, 1871-1934, Accession: T003190, 46 cubic feet
Addenda, 1810-1948, Accessions: 1992-018,1994-038, 2000-036, 4.25 cubic feet
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Restrictions
Restrictions on Access
See the Rules and Procedures for Researchers Using Archival Records and Secured Collections policy.
Restrictions on Use
See the Reproduction and Publications of State Library Collections policy.
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Related Material
PG400, Hartford collection. See "Hartford - Industries - Colt's".
PG440, Collins photograph collection. Album 3 consists entirely of views of the factory during and after the the 1936 and 1938 floods.
PG460, Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company collection.
Also see the Research Guide to Materials about Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company.
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Index Terms
Organizations:
Persons:
Subjects:
Subjects:
Document Types:
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Administrative Information
Provenance
Following the 1955 take-over of the Colt Company by the Penn-Texas Corporation, the new president/chairman made a gift to the people of Connecticut of the valuable collection of Colt guns then at the armory's museum. Having concluded that the museum at the State Library was the best repository, the Pratt & Whitney Company Foundation transferred the gun collection and the business records on March 7, 1957.
Processing Information
Most of the material that became RG 103 was cataloged separately at the point of transfer. It was not until 1971 that staff arranged and described the records as Record Group 103. Even then, many items were still among the cataloged manuscripts. Staff processed RG 103 again in 1976.
In 1982 Richard Mellon provided funds for a project designed to reorganize and microfilm the Colt Company records and personal papers of Samuel Colt at the Connecticut State Library, the Connecticut Historical Society, and the Wadsworth Atheneum. An outside consultant prepared a report on the condition of the collection in the State Library and advised staff on organizational strategies. The present organization represents efforts to clarify the original administrative and legal purposes of the records. The consultant recommended utilizing the four major file units of Business, Legal, Administrative, and Publication, to organize records whose provenance had been destroyed. A later accession has been added as the Mahron Collection, as well as several smaller accessions collectively as Addenda.
Independent researcher Cari Peretzman completed Phase I, reprocessing under the grant funds in September 1983. At that point, staff concluded that the records required further processing before microfilming could proceed. Arrangement and description continued until July 1984.
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Container List
| Business File, 1826-1979, Accession: T001481, 25.75 cubic feet | |||||||||||
| Series 1. Accounts, 1840-1890 | |||||||||||
| This series contains those financial and accounting records that have survived from the Colt Company. It contains the accounts of guns sold by the "Allies? a select group of Colt firearm distributors. These are arranged in numerical order by the distributor's account number. These Allies accounts cover the period 1883-1884. Samuel Colt's bank account book and two volumes of cash and rent books, 1863-1890, are also included in this series. The Colt Company had some thirty contractors working in the Armory, comprising most of the company's employees. Contractor's Accounts, 1868-1889, provide information on the materials produced by oontract for the company and the amount of money Colt paid for it. | |||||||||||
| The accounts are arranged in chronological order by month and year. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| Allies Rebate Account, 1883-1884 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Bank Account Book, S. Colt, 1857-1859 | |||||||||||
| Bills and Receipts | |||||||||||
| 1840-1841, 1849-1855, 17 folders | |||||||||||
| 1856-1857, 15 folders | 2 | ||||||||||
| 1858-1859, 1861-1864, 15 folders | 3 | ||||||||||
| 1865-1867, 1872-1874, 1878-1882, 1885-1889, 25 folders | 4 | ||||||||||
| Cash and Rent books, 1863-1890, 2 volumes | 5 | ||||||||||
| Contractor's accounts, | |||||||||||
| 1868, 1881-1886, 1889, 7 folders | |||||||||||
| Series 2. Outgoing Correspondence, 1826-1962, 38 folders | |||||||||||
| Partial index to correspondence in Administrative File. | |||||||||||
| F, 1826 | 6 | ||||||||||
| C, 1839 | |||||||||||
| F, 1844 | |||||||||||
| H-Z, 1847 | |||||||||||
| C-S, 1850 | |||||||||||
| C-E, 1852 | |||||||||||
| C-S, 1853 | |||||||||||
| C-T, 1854 | |||||||||||
| B-S, 1855 | |||||||||||
| C-H, 1856 | |||||||||||
| C-R, 1857 | |||||||||||
| A-W, 1858 | |||||||||||
| A-W, 1859 | |||||||||||
| C-H, 1860 | |||||||||||
| A-W, 1861 | |||||||||||
| G, 1868 | |||||||||||
| W, 1869 | |||||||||||
| B, 1870 | |||||||||||
| R, 1873 | |||||||||||
| U, 1875 | |||||||||||
| W, 1876 | |||||||||||
| C, 1878 | |||||||||||
| J, 1879 | |||||||||||
| E-H, 1880 | |||||||||||
| M, 1881 | |||||||||||
| G, 1882 | |||||||||||
| H, 1885 | |||||||||||
| Mc, 1886 | |||||||||||
| C-L, 1887 | |||||||||||
| R, 1888 | |||||||||||
| A-K, 1889 | |||||||||||
| G, 1899 | |||||||||||
| P, 1906 | |||||||||||
| The following are in the same folder | |||||||||||
| F, 1910 | |||||||||||
| F, 1911 | |||||||||||
| F, 1916 | |||||||||||
| The following are in the same folder | |||||||||||
| C, 1936 | |||||||||||
| F-T, 1937 | |||||||||||
| L-M, 1940 | |||||||||||
| S, 1941 | |||||||||||
| G-W, 1942 | |||||||||||
| New York, 1937-1948 | |||||||||||
| The following are in the same folder | |||||||||||
| B, 1947 | |||||||||||
| C, 1952 | |||||||||||
| B, 1954 | |||||||||||
| The following are in the same folder | |||||||||||
| E-W, 1960 | |||||||||||
| A-W, 1961 | |||||||||||
| A-W, 1962 | |||||||||||
| W.B. Franklin Copy Book, 1874-1881 | |||||||||||
| Franklin was a Colt Vice President and General Agent. | |||||||||||
| Most of the correspondence in his copy book is directed to the London Agency. | |||||||||||
| Letters in the book are arranged in chronological order. No index. | |||||||||||
| Form letters, 1889-1955 | 7 | ||||||||||
| Form letters were sent to Colt distributors with notification of price and supply changes and information on new weapons manufactured. | |||||||||||
| Form letters are arranged chronologically by month and year. | |||||||||||
| Typescript | |||||||||||
| Typescript is a record of both outgoing and incoming correspondence transcribed from a dictaphone. The bulk of the correspondence falls between 1853-1860 and deals with matters concerning shipment and manufacture in Europe, patents, routine incoming correspondence on manufacture and shipment in the U.S. and some occassional personal correspondence between Sam Colt and his brother James. | |||||||||||
| Arranged by cylinder and follows a very rough chronological order. | |||||||||||
| Series I, No. 1-79, 1847-1861 | |||||||||||
| The following are in the same folder | |||||||||||
| Series I, No. 79-99, 1847-1861 | |||||||||||
| Series II, No. 1-8, 1847-1861 | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, A-W, undated | |||||||||||
| Series 3. Incoming Correspondence, 1836-1970 | |||||||||||
| This series contains correspondence to Samuel Colt and to the Colt Company, 1836-1970, with the bulk of the letters covering up to 1890. The majority of the series is composed of orders and routine requests for catalogs, price lists, parts. The series also contains reports from agents in Europe and the United States. Requests for employment in Colt's new Armory are common in the early correspondence as are letters of a more personal nature from Samuel Colt's brother James. The series also contains a letter book of incoming correspondence from the Allies, 1873-1880. The Allies were a select group of arms dealers who, because of special araangements with the Colt Company, were insured of special prices and supplies. This letter book contains a copy of the Colt reply. | |||||||||||
| Arranged chronologically as created by correspondent. Partial index in Administrative File. | |||||||||||
| See also: Series 4, Orders for Arms, 1862-1933. Administrative File, Company history, for photostats on government orders of Walker rifles,ca. 1847. | |||||||||||
| 1836-1851, 14 folders | 8 | ||||||||||
| 1852-1853, 7 folders | 9 | ||||||||||
| 1854-1864, 12 folders | 10 | ||||||||||
| 1865-1873, 11 folders | 11 | ||||||||||
| Allies Letter Book, 1873-1880 | 11A | ||||||||||
| Allies Price Lists, 1875, 1 folder | |||||||||||
| 1874-1877, 6 folders | 12 | ||||||||||
| 1878-1879, 5 folders | 13 | ||||||||||
| 1880-1882, 6 folders | 14 | ||||||||||
| 1883-1885 June, 6 folders | 15 | ||||||||||
| 1885 July-1886 July, 4 folders | 16 | ||||||||||
| 1886 August-1887, 4 folders | 17 | ||||||||||
| 1888-1890, 7 folders | 18 | ||||||||||
| 1891, 1893-1894, 1899-1903, 1907-1911, 1914, 1916-1917, 1920, 1922-1923, 1925-1927, 1930-1944, 1946-1949, 1951-1956, 1958-1962, 1970, 53 folders | 19 | ||||||||||
| Series 4. Orders for Arms, circa 1860-1933 | |||||||||||
| See also: Series 3, Correspondence, Incoming, 1836-1970. Administrative File, History files contain photostats of correspondence pertaining to government order of Walker rifles, circa 1847. | |||||||||||
| General Orders (post cards), 1873-1897 | 20 | ||||||||||
| The General Orders were placed by various dealers using post cards supplied by the Colt Company. | |||||||||||
| These are arranged in chronological order by year, and within that are mixed. | |||||||||||
| Bureau of Ordnance | 21 | ||||||||||
| Composed of orders placed by the U.S. Board of Ordnance to arm the military. Over the years, these orders were placed by the various divisions- U.S. Army, Navy, and War Departments. The Army and Navy Department orders cover the Civil War period. War Department orders cover World War I. | |||||||||||
| The Army and Navy Department orders are arranged chronologically by the date the order was submitted. War Department orders are listed by contract number and are not in chronological order. A list in the first folder details what each order was for. | |||||||||||
| Army Department | |||||||||||
| 1863-1864, 1872-1874, 1878, 1880-1889, 6 folders | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous orders and payments, 1862-1889 | |||||||||||
| Navy Department | |||||||||||
| 1862-1890 | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1872-1890 | |||||||||||
| War Department | |||||||||||
| Master list of arms, 1917-1918 | |||||||||||
| P14321-2405 Sa, 1918 August 21 | |||||||||||
| P2937-1219 Sa, 1918 February 12 | |||||||||||
| P10740-1933 Sa, 1918 June 26 | |||||||||||
| P15482-2611 Sa, 1918 September 26 | |||||||||||
| P14094-2364 Sa, 1918 August 10 | 22 | ||||||||||
| CMG 6, 1917 July 16 | |||||||||||
| CMG 156, 1918 January 8 | |||||||||||
| CMG 181, 1918 January 14 | |||||||||||
| P5820-1429 Sa, 1918 April 12 | |||||||||||
| CMG 3, 1918 July 16 | |||||||||||
| CMG 174, 1918 November 13 | |||||||||||
| P13043-2161 Sa, 1918 February 5 | |||||||||||
| P13095-2177 Sa, 1918 August 6 | |||||||||||
| 14984, 1917 October 1 | |||||||||||
| P9886-1851 Sa | |||||||||||
| 14670-R32; 14671, 1917 September 18 | |||||||||||
| 5662-1412 Sa, 1918 May 21 | |||||||||||
| 18497-2992 Sa, 1918 October 17 | |||||||||||
| P4813-1868 Sa, 1918 May 15 | |||||||||||
| P13264-2196 Sa, 1918 August 9 | |||||||||||
| 47253-143/2, 1916 December 16 | |||||||||||
| 749/15/1442; 1443, 1915 | |||||||||||
| 12962-2155 Sa, 1918 August 30 | |||||||||||
| 1915 January 22 | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous | 23 | ||||||||||
| National Guard, 1873-1889 | |||||||||||
| U.S. Arsenals, 1873-1887 | |||||||||||
| Orders from Foreign Governments | |||||||||||
| Includes numerous British WW I orders. | |||||||||||
| These are arranged in chronological order as they were placed by each country. | |||||||||||
| Italy, circa 1860 January 16 | |||||||||||
| Egypt, 1865 September 20, 1866 February 15 | |||||||||||
| Egypt, 1866 May 17 | |||||||||||
| Russia, 1867 December 7 | |||||||||||
| Turkey, 1886 November | |||||||||||
| Rumania, 1915 May 1 | |||||||||||
| Russia, 1915 November 26 | |||||||||||
| Great Britain, 1917 November 28, 1918 April 27 | |||||||||||
| Great Britain, 1918 May 7, 1918 May 8 | |||||||||||
| Argentina, 1933 August 29 | |||||||||||
| Series 5. Tests and Reports, 1857-1921, 20 folders | |||||||||||
| This series contains the records of tests conducted with arms manufactured by the Colt Company. Prior to adoption of arms, the government required that numerous trials and inspections be conducted. The series also contains reports from military officers on the merits of Colt's weapons. | |||||||||||
| Series is arranged in chronological order. See item listing in first folder. | |||||||||||
| 1857-1860, 1867, 1875, 1892-1904, 1910, 1912, 1921 | 24 | ||||||||||
| Series 6. Production Records, 1856-1928 | |||||||||||
| This series contains those records dealing with the number of arms manufactured and ordered, production notes, records of employee's production and time, materials received, contractors, and ballistic tests. | |||||||||||
| Arranged in rough chronological order with some material arranged in folders by type. | |||||||||||
| See also: Series 5, Tests and Reports, 1857-1921. Administrative File, Records of Colt Company Production, box 62. | |||||||||||
| Production Notes, 1856-1865, 1875-1877, 1912 | 24A | ||||||||||
| Production Log, 1861-1882 | |||||||||||
| Contractor Log, 1867-1869, 1871-1873, 2 volumes | |||||||||||
| Production/ Time Books, 1871-1889, 6 volumes | |||||||||||
| U.S. Army M1897's Delivered, 1897-1899 | |||||||||||
| Price/Buyer's book, 1895-1905 | |||||||||||
| Orders Placed, 1926 | 24B | ||||||||||
| Orders Placed, 1928 | |||||||||||
| Production notes on Baxter, Universal, Colt Company, and Gatling | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous, 1892, undated | |||||||||||
| Series 7. Stocks and Stockholders, circa 1917-1979, 4 folders | |||||||||||
| Notices, 1934-1942 | 24C | ||||||||||
| Most of the notices appeared in newspapers and dealt with dividends, dates of annual meetings, and company policy as it effects employees. These notices were issued by the Board of Directors. | |||||||||||
| Statements, 1919-1948, 1979, 2 folders | |||||||||||
| Contains an important record of condensed financial statements issued to stockholders. One odd statement is included for the first quarter of 1979. Most of these were released in conjunction with annual meetings. | |||||||||||
| Stock Certificates, circa 1917-1953 | |||||||||||
| Contains stock certificates that because of company name changes, are void. | |||||||||||
| Material arranged by type in rough chronological order. | |||||||||||
| Subgroup 1. London Armory, circa 1840-1890 | |||||||||||
| Samuel Colt's success at the 1851 Crystal Palace Exposition in London lead to his decision to open a branch armory at Pimlico, on the Thames, in 1853. The manufacturing phase of the operation was short-lived. The factory was closed in 1857 but the London Agency, operating as a sales office, remained until 1912. | |||||||||||
| Series 1. Correspondence | 25 | ||||||||||
| As a branch of the armory in Hartford, London agents were required to send monthly reports to the home office concerning the London operation. | |||||||||||
| Arranged in chronological order by type. | |||||||||||
| Incoming | |||||||||||
| 1852-1854, 1860, 1870, 1875, 6 folders | |||||||||||
| Outgoing | |||||||||||
| 1853, 1855, 1859-1860, 1862-1864, 1868-1875, 12 folders | |||||||||||
| 1876-1883, 1885-1886, 9 folders | 26 | ||||||||||
| 1887-1890, 8 folders | 27 | ||||||||||
| Series 2. Accounts, 4 folders | 28 | ||||||||||
| Arranged in chronological order. | |||||||||||
| 1866 | |||||||||||
| Balance Sheets, 1871-1882 | |||||||||||
| Cash Received and Paid Out, 1871-1882 | |||||||||||
| Accounts of Gatling Gun Co. to London Agency, 1873, 1875 | |||||||||||
| Series 3. Orders, 1 folder | |||||||||||
| Contains requests for arms and parts from all over Europe and Australia. The orders appear to have been submitted to Hartford where they were filled by the armory there. The London Armory was apparently just a go-between and maintained no stocks of their own. | |||||||||||
| Arranged in numerical order. | |||||||||||
| Orders, 1-199, 1888-1890 | |||||||||||
| Series 4. Scrapbook, 3 folders | |||||||||||
| Contains clippings from foreign newspapers, pasted in scrapbook pages. They concern arms in general and Colt arms in particular. They begin circa 1840, over ten years before the London Armory was established. The clippings can most likely be attributed to an enthusiastic early employee. | |||||||||||
| circa 1840-1860, 3 folders | |||||||||||
| Series 5. Miscellaneous, 1 folder | |||||||||||
| Contains extract and autobiography of James Nasmyth. | |||||||||||
| Subgroup 2. Colt's Cartridge Works, 1855, 1 folder | 29 | ||||||||||
| Samuel Colt established the Cartridge Works in 1855. Located in the South Meadows, it manufactured the cartridges necessary for the guns in the nearby armory. As far as we can tell, almost all of the Cartridge Work's employees were women. Not a totally unusual occurence in light of the experiences of "mill girls" in Lowell and Lawrence, the early use of women in gun manufacturing in the Connecticut River Valley needs to be explored. | |||||||||||
| Unfortunately for researchers, few records have survived from the Cartridge Works. Contained in this subgroup is the payroll record for October, 1855, and a few cartridge paper samples. | |||||||||||
| Subgroup 3. Brass Foundry, 1855-1889, 1 folder | |||||||||||
| The Brass Foundry, supervised by Thomas Curry, was one of many Colt armory inside contracting operations. Colt supplied the workspace and machinery and in return, experienced workers filled the orders. The owners of large manufacturing interests in the mid-nineteenth century used the inside contractor system to more efficiently run the operation. The owner could devote himself to money matters while skilled specialists saw to the employees and actual production. | |||||||||||
| Contains only two items; an account book, 1855-1889 and a diary, 1871. Both were kept by Curry. | |||||||||||
| Subgroup 4. Johns-Pratt Company, 1922-1942, 4 folders | |||||||||||
| In an attempt to diversify production, the Colt Company purchased the Johns-Pratt Company in 1923. Located in Hartford on Capitol Avenue, Johns-Pratt had produced electrical and moulded plastic products since 1886. Out of Johns-Pratt, Colt created three new divisions: the Plastics Division, Electrical Division, and the Autosan Dish-washing Machine Division. | |||||||||||
| Johns-Pratt Company, 1 folder | |||||||||||
| Contains an accounting firm's report on the Johns-Pratt Company, December 31, 1923; financial statements, income and cash reports, January 1924-January 1926. | |||||||||||
| Plastics Division, 1922-1937, 1 folder | |||||||||||
| The Plastics Division was divided into three departments: the button department, mechanical goods department, and general plastics moulding department. The materials in this subgroup contain, an article on the Plastics Division from a November 1936 "Connecticut Industry," and a March 1940 "American Era." Also included are newspaper clippings and an advertising circular. | |||||||||||
| Colt Noark Division (Electrical Division), 1922-1942, 1 folder | |||||||||||
| Colt's Electrical Division produced a wide array of fuses, switches, and starters for industrial use. | |||||||||||
| Most of the material's on the division in the file are catalogues of products and two newspaper/magazine clippings. | |||||||||||
| Autosan Dish-Washing Machine Division, circa 1935, 1 folder | |||||||||||
| First patented in 1913, the Colt Autosan Dish-Washer gained wide acceptance with restaurants and holels during the 1930s. Production continued until circa 1950. | |||||||||||
| Records include an instruction and parts booklet and advertising circulars. | |||||||||||
| Subgroup 5. Sonora Mining and Exploring Company, 1858-1861, 1 folder | |||||||||||
| Interested in the exploration of the Arizona territory, Samuel Colt founded the Sonora Mining and Exploring Company. He sent his secretary, J.D. Alden; his agent, W.B. Hartley; and his brother-in-law, R.W.H. Jarvis to Arizona to investigate land expansion and mining possibilities. The Sonora Mining and Exploring Company shared board members and some stockholders with the Colt Company. | |||||||||||
| The subgroup contains correspondence, 1858-1861 form Colt's men in Arizona as well as letters to Board of Directors and stockholders. Also contains H.R. 836, January 1859, a bill to provide temporary government for the Territory of Arizona. Also S. 555, February 1859, a bill to provide temporary government for the Dakota and Arizona territories. | |||||||||||
| Subgroup 6. Union Ferry Company, 1857-1875 | 30 | ||||||||||
| The Union Ferry Company was incorporated in 1857 for the purpose of operating a ferry across the Connecticut River between Hartford and East Hartford. Samuel Colt was elected a director of the company in August, 1858, and was the company's single largest stockholder. | |||||||||||
| Series 1. Correspondence, 2 folders | |||||||||||
| Arranged in chronological order by type of correspondence. | |||||||||||
| Outgoing, 1858 October-1859 October | |||||||||||
| Incoming, 1858 January-1864 November | |||||||||||
| Series 2. Corporate Legal Records, 2 folders | |||||||||||
| Contains the act incorporating the Union Ferry Company in May, 1857. | |||||||||||
| Record of Incorporation, 1857 May | |||||||||||
| Corporate papers and by-laws | |||||||||||
| Contains a record book with minutes of Board of Director's meetings, July 1857-March 1867, corporate by-laws and legal correspondence, lists of stockholders, and certificates for shares of stock, 1858. | |||||||||||
| Series 3. Financial Records, 8 volumes | |||||||||||
| Contains a fairly complete records of the company's finances. | |||||||||||
| Bank account book, 1858-1875 | |||||||||||
| Daybook, 1858-1875 | |||||||||||
| Daybook, 1858-1866 | |||||||||||
| Trial balances and Treasurer's Reports, 1859-1867 | |||||||||||
| Contains accounts of the Union Ferry Comapny with the Colt Company, indicating that there was some exchange of labor and storage between the two. | |||||||||||
| Record Book, 1857-1869 | 30A | ||||||||||
| Ledger, 1858-1866 | 30B | ||||||||||
| Cash book, 1858-1866 | 30C | ||||||||||
| Journal, 1859-1866 | 30D | ||||||||||
| Series 4. Passenger Logs, 10 volumes | 31 | ||||||||||
| Contains ten volumes listing the horse teams, wagons, ox teams and foot passengers ferried across the river. Volume one is missing. | |||||||||||
| Volume 2, 1863 July-December | |||||||||||
| Volume 3, 1863 September-1864 September | |||||||||||
| Volume 4, 1864 September-1865 September | |||||||||||
| Volume 5, 1866 November-December | |||||||||||
| Volume 6, 1867 March-October | |||||||||||
| Volume 7, 1867 May-June | |||||||||||
| Volume 8, 1867 April-September | |||||||||||
| Volume 9, 1870 December-1871 October | 32 | ||||||||||
| Volume 10, 1871 October-1872 September | |||||||||||
| Volume 11, 1874 July-December | |||||||||||
| Subgroup 7. Willow Ware Manufacturing Company, 1864-1873, 9 volumes | |||||||||||
| Samuel Colt built his armory on a floodplain in Hartford's South Meadows. A dyke was built and thousands of willow trees planted to help prevent soil erosion. These willows were the inspiration, and the material, for Colt's Willow Ware Manufacturing Company. Founded circa 1864, the company used the abundant willows to manufacture furniture, baskets, and wagons. Colt brought skilled craftsmen and their families over from Germany to work in the Willow Ware plant. He built them a "company town", called Potsdam Village, complete with chalet-type housing and a beer garden. Fire destroyed the Willow Ware factory building in 1874. Due in part to increased competition, it was never rebuilt. | |||||||||||
| Financial Records, 1864-1873 | |||||||||||
| Items 3, 4, 5 are in one box. | |||||||||||
| Daybooks, 1868-1873, 2 volumes | |||||||||||
| Although these volumes are labeled "daybooks" they do not contain standard daybook entries. They contain the Willow Ware Company's retail accounts and list the orders placed by these various merchants. | |||||||||||
| The volumes are chronological by year, and within, chronological by month and year. | |||||||||||
| 1868 December-1873 October | Item 1 | ||||||||||
| 1870 November-1873 April | Item 2 | ||||||||||
| Checkbook, 1870 November-1873 March, 1 volume | Item 3 | ||||||||||
| Contains check stubs for checks written as well as some forty pages of blank checks. | |||||||||||
| Stubs are in chronological order. | |||||||||||
| Inventories, 1864-1870, 2 volumes | |||||||||||
| Contains year-end inventories of manufactured items, chairs, baskets, hampers etc., as well as some materials used in production. The first inventroy, 1864 December, was crossed out and consolidated in the second volume, 1864 December-1870 December. | |||||||||||
| Chronological by year. | |||||||||||
| 1864 December | Item 4 | ||||||||||
| 1864 December-1870 December | Item 5 | ||||||||||
| Journals, 1864-1873, 2 volumes | |||||||||||
| Contains a monthly accounting of the basic assets and liabilities for the Willow Ware plant. | |||||||||||
| Organized in chronological order by month and year. | |||||||||||
| 1864 January-1871 May | Item 6 | ||||||||||
| 1871 June-1873 October | Item 7 | ||||||||||
| Ledger, 1864-1873, 1 volume | Item 8 | ||||||||||
| Contains the list of Willow Ware accounts and their debit/credit standing with the company. Index included at front and back of volume. | |||||||||||
| Petty Cash Book, 1872 January-1873 February, 1 volume | Item 9 | ||||||||||
| Contains the account of petty cash on hand for the Willow Ware Company. | |||||||||||
| Chronological by month and year. | |||||||||||
| Subgroup 8. Baxter Steam Engine Company, 1871-1894 | 33 | ||||||||||
| The Colt Company manufactured a number of products under contract from other companies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One of these was the Baxter Steam Engine. The Baxter Steam Engine Company was apparently purchased sometime in 1871 from the firm of Russell E Spheer and operated out of New York City. The Colt contract with the Company (Russell & Spheer) dates to September, 1870. Colt then transferred business to the new Baxter Steam Engine Co. at the request of Russell & Spheer. The Colt Company manufactured the engine, which in turn was sold by the Baxter Steam Engine Company and its agents. | |||||||||||
| Series 1. Outgoing Correspondence, 1871-1890 | |||||||||||
| Contains the correspondence to the Colt Company from the Baxter Steam Engine Co. and its agents. Most of the correspondence is concerned with orders and the squaring of accounts between Baxter and Colt. | |||||||||||
| It is arranged in chronological order by year and, within each folder, alphabetically by name of correspondent. | |||||||||||
| 1871-1874, 1877-1885, 13 folders | |||||||||||
| 1886-1890, 5 folders | 34 | ||||||||||
| Series 2. Incoming Correspondence, 1871-1873, 3 folders | |||||||||||
| Contains a relatively small amount of correspondence from the Colt Company to Baxter Steam Engine. Most of the correspondence deals with the early period of the business relationship between the two companies and therefore concerns itself with setting down the terms under which the two companies would continue to do business. | |||||||||||
| Arranged in chronological order by year, within that it is alphabetical by name of correspondent. | |||||||||||
| Series 3. Accounts, 1874-1881, 2 folders | |||||||||||
| Contains an account between Baxter Steam Engine and the Colt Company of the total amount, in dollars, of engines sold and the royalties due the Baxter Steam Engine Company. Also, lists of engines sold and consigned to dealers. Includes horsepower designation. | |||||||||||
| Accounts, 1874-1881 | |||||||||||
| The following are in the same folder | |||||||||||
| Engines sold, 1871-1872 | |||||||||||
| Agent's stock, 1872 | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous, 3 folders | |||||||||||
| Advertising cuts and circulars | |||||||||||
| Catalogues, 1878, 1880, 1889, 1894 | |||||||||||
| Weight of castings for canal boat | |||||||||||
| Subgroup 9. Colt's Disc Engine (West's Patent Disc Engine), 4 folders | 35 | ||||||||||
| The Colt Disc Engine was another product manufactured under contract by Colt. The West Patent Disc Engine adopted the name of its manufacturer and was renamed Colt's Disc Engine. | |||||||||||
| Advertising cuts and circulars | |||||||||||
| Catalogues | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1878, 1880-1882, 1884, 1888 | |||||||||||
| Royalty and sales records of engines, 2 volumes | |||||||||||
| Subgroup 10. Facer Refrigerating and Ice Machine Company, 1 folder | 36 | ||||||||||
| The Colt Company, in addition to the engines noted, manufactured other related machinery. The Facer Company of New York contracted for the manufacture of its refrigerating and ice machine. | |||||||||||
| Catalogue, undated | |||||||||||
| Subgroup 11. Federal Adding Machine Company, 1918-1924, 5 folders | |||||||||||
| As part of the post-war diversification effort, Colt contracted with the Federal Adding Machine Company for production of its "A" adding machine. Production began at the Colt Company in 1919. The relationship between the two companies was something less than beneficial, especially for Colt, and production ceased circa 1923. | |||||||||||
| Letters of recommendation, 1918 | |||||||||||
| About the machine prior to the manufacturing agreement. | |||||||||||