Samuel Colt - Hartford, CT
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 41° 45.188 W 072° 40.405
18T E 693431 N 4624983
A large monument to the inventor Samuel Colt is located near the entrance to in Colt Park off of Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford, CT
Waymark Code: WMMHHR
Location: Connecticut, United States
Date Posted: 09/23/2014
Views: 1
The memorial commemorates events in the life of inventor Samuel Colt the inventor of the Colt revolver. Samuel Colt was born in Hartford, CT on July 19, 1814. He worked in his fathers textile plant. Then he became an apprentice seaman. When sixteen year old Samuel Colt was serving as a sailor, he conceived the idea of a pistol with a revolving cylinder capable of firing multiple shots before reloading. His revolver was patented in 1832 and Colt opened a huge firearms factory in Hartford, CT. The firearms business made him very wealthy.
In 1854, he made a tour of Europe to receive accolades and demonstrate his invention. This greatly enhances the market for his pistol. Colt died of gout in Hartford on January 10, 1862, and was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery.
In 1905, his widow commissioned this sculpture in Colt Park, on the the grounds of the Colt estate, which she had donated to the city for use as a public park.
The 20.6' by 30' by 40' red granite monument contains two bronze sculptures of Samuel Colt and two bronze bas-relief sculptures depicting events in the life of Samuel Colt. An 18' by 4' by 4' figure of the inventor as an adult and a 4.5' high seated sculpture as a teenager. The adult Colt is standing while wearing a very large overcoat with billowing cuffs and a double breasted jacket. He is holding a roll of papers in his right hand. The young Colt is wearing seaman's clothing. He is sitting on a piling with his legs crossed, right over left while whittling a wooden copy of his revolver cylinder, which he is holding in his right hand. A pulley and chain are at his feet. The bas-relief sculpture on the right side of the monument depicts Colt meeting the Czar of Russia and the one on the left depicts Colt demonstrating his invention before the British House of Commons.
The sculpture was created by John Massey Rhind and cast at the Gorham Manufacturing Company foundry. It was dedicated on April 26, 1906. Below the adult figure of Colt is the inscription:
SAMUEL COLT
1814-1862
ON THE GROUNDS ON WHICH
HIS TASTE BEAUTIFIED
BY THE HOME HE LOVED
THIS MEMORIAL STANDS
TO SPEAK OF HIS GENIUS
HIS ENTERPRISE AND HIS
SUCCESS AND OF HIS
GREAT AND LOYAL HEART
The back contains the inscription:
HIS WIFE IN FAITHFUL AFFECTION
DEDICATES THIS MEMORIAL
1905