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Samuel Theodore Colt 1864-1931
FOUR MEN NAMED SAMUEL COLT ~ MURDER ~ SUICIDE ~ BIGAMY SCANDAL ~ BASTARD CHILD ~ FATAL ACCIDENT
THE STORY OF THE GUN THAT BROUGHT ALIVE THE FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF THE COLT DYNASTY
by Pete Holder
Whilst exhibiting at Wally Beinfelds show at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada in January 2003 I spotted a Colt New Service Double Action Target revolver serial number 7511 in 44 Russian caliber on the table of the renowned dealer and auction boss from Farmington, New Hampshire Pete Harvey. The gun looked great and was in near mint condition. What intrigued me most of all was the Colt historical letter that accompanied the revolver. It stated the following:-
Colt New Service Target Revolver
Serial Number: 7511
Caliber: .44 Russian
Barrel Length: 7½”
Finish: Blue
Type of Stocks: Not Listed
Shipped To: S.T. Colt
(Armory)
Date of Shipment: September 24, 1902
Number of Same Type
Guns in Shipment: 1
Because of the great condition of the gun and the fact that it was in 44 S&W Russian which is an obsolete caliber in the United Kingdom, I bought the set after the usual bit of haggling. I then set about my research. The historical letter gave me a lot of information and immediately raised many more questions. Who was S.T. Colt? Was he a member of the famous Colt family? Why was this gun shipped to him at the Armory on September 24, 1902? What happened to S.T. Colt? Where was he buried?
These questions bothered me for many months. During this time I contacted Kathy Hoyt at Colt, Larry Wilson the noted Colt historian and expert on Colt firearms and Dean Nelson curator at the Connecticut State Library in Hartford plus many more students of Colt folklore. All was to no avail. Dean gave me a list of the professional genealogists that were familiar with the Connecticut State Library collections and Hartford history and suggested that I employed the services of a professional genealogist to delve into the city records of one of its most famous sons.
I contacted Kenneth A. Buckbee a genealogist from Torrington in Connecticut and asked him to research S.T. Colt. His report arrived on my desk on October 5, 2004 with a wealth of information on S.T. Colt and his family history and beyond. From his report and what I have read from many other sources since, I was able to piece together the following story of murder, suicide, scandal, intrigue, bastard child, fatal accident and four men named Samuel Colt. It was a recipe for a blockbuster movie.
To understand the story we must first research the genealogy of the Colt family.
Sam’s parents were Christopher and Sarah Colt and they had two daughters Margaret born in 1806, Sarah Ann born in 1808 and four sons. John Caldwell born in 1810, Christopher Jr. born in 1812, Samuel born in 1814, and James Benjamin 1816.
The most famous son of course was the third born son Samuel who was born on the 19th July 1840 in a farmhouse at Lord’s Hill near Hartford in Connecticut.
Samuel was a failure at school and in his early business life. But saying that he went from rags to riches, farm-boy to sailor and Dr Coult of New York to Samuel Colt firearms inventor and manufacturer in Hartford and London. He kick-started the Industrial Revolution in America amassing the largest and richest firearms manufacturing business in the world through his entrepreneurial skills, his negotiating prowess and plain hard work.
He wined and dined with kings, queens, emperors, presidents, prime ministers and dictators presenting many with his highly embellished revolving pistols and rifles to gain advantage over his competitors and create the Colt empire which is as famous now as it was then in the middle of the nineteenth century .
Throughout his life Sam had a tempestuous relationship with all of his three brothers. James Benjamin Colt went to London sometime in 1853 to take charge of the new Colt factory. He was not a successful manager and had many disagreements with Sam. He later became an official at the Colt Plant and also a politician. Overall he was a failure. Christopher Colt Jr. operated a silk mill at Ware in Massachussettts. He married Theodora DeWoolfe and had two children. Sam’s third brother John Caldwell Colt is more interesting and of major interest in this story.
John Caldwell Colt turned out to be the black sheep of the family. Born on March 11th 1810 he was Sam’s older brother by four years. He had briefly been an U.S. Marine but was discharged due to ill health. He was a riverboat gambler and also a museum curator. He was normally mild mannered if not sometimes erratic in his behaviour. Whilst struggling to earn a living by writing a textbook on bookkeeping from his rented office in New York he murdered a hot-tempered printer named Samuel Adams after an argument over a bill that Adams had given to him. John Colt killed Adams with a hammer and put his body in a packing case and had a drayman cart it to the schooner Kalamazoo that was taking on cargo to be sent by sea to New Orleans. The stench from the decomposing body was made worse by the hot weather and the corpse was soon found. Poor John Colt was arrested. Sam scraped up the money for John’s defence and the trial turned out to be the newspaper sensation of the year.
At this time John was living with a beautiful twenty-three year old honey-blonde girl with striking black eyes. Her name was Caroline Henshaw who had given birth to a son a few weeks earlier in Philadelphia. The son’s name was “Sammie” or Samuel Colt Jr. who later was to become known as Samuel Caldwell Colt. It was now January of 1842 and at John’s murder trial Caroline M. Henshaw became an important witness for the defence. She told the court that she had met John in Philadelphia in 1840 and then went to live with him in the January of 1841. She was not well educated and John had spent much time to teach her to read and write. John’s defence was pretty flimsy and at the end of the trial on the 27th September 1842 he was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged in the courtyard of the Tombs prison in New York on November 18, 1842.
Whilst in the Tombs Prison Sam persuaded the easily corruptible Warden Malachi Fallon to allow John to decorate his cell in Murderers’ Row with bookshelves, paintings and rugs and also a caged canary to keep him company. He wore an elegant dressing gown, smoked cigars from Havana and eat the best food such as quail, trout, vegetables, coffee and cognac which came from a nearby hotel. He had not seen Caroline since the trial.
After losing his appeal and prior to the day of execution, James had been granted permission to delay his hanging until 4pm to enable him to “make an honest woman” of Caroline Henshaw. Samuel Colt was the first person to see John on the day of his execution. It was decided that John should marry Caroline Henshaw and make her his lawful wife thus legitimising Sammie Jr.. The wedding was officiated by the Reverend Dr. Henry Athon, rector of St. Marks Church in-the Bowery and the prominent witnesses included Samuel Colt, David Graham, Justice Merritt, a friend named John Howard Payne author of “Home Sweet Home” and Robert Emmett who represented him along with Dudley Seldon (Sam and John’s first cousin) in court. This was the first and only wedding to take place in the Tombs prison. The minister was given $500 by Sam for Caroline’s future welfare and the couple were married at midday on the 18th November, 1842. Afterwards Caroline spent some time alone with John to consummate the marriage. Shortly after 2 pm John said his goodbyes to several of his friends and they left his cell. When the weeping Caroline left with Sam her head was bent and her face covered by a handkerchief. Was this JCC escaping from prison? There was said to have been a carriage waiting outside the prison.
Just before the due hour there were as many as ten thousand spectators waiting to witness the event. The sheriff and the minister who had married the couple earlier, entered the cell to find “John” dead with a dirk knife buried deep into his heart. At the same time a fire started in the cupola of the prison and the whole area was evacuated. Prisoners were released from their cells to escape being burnt to death or dying from smoke inhalation. They mingled with the thousands that had come to watch the hanging. This would have been an opportune time for Caroline Henshaw to have left the cell. The fire was not extinguished until after sunset.
Had John cheated the gallows by committing suicide? Had he escaped dressed in Caroline’s clothing and substituted by a body from a nearby morgue? Had he escaped in the closed carriage that had been seen next to a side door? Had Caroline left the prison during all the confusion caused by the fire and not earlier when someone dressed in her clothing left the prison with Sam? The newspapers speculated that members of the Colt family had smuggled the knife into John’s cell. It was also suggested that Sam had bribed three different wardens by offering them $1,000 to let John escape dressed in Caroline’s clothes. These allegations were never substantiated but the warden admitted that he had been offered $500 to transfer John to another cell with a master key. The sheriff admitted several attempts at bribing him to let the prisoner escape and accepted $1,000 from Sam which he later returned. A Coroners jury was hastily formed and a verdict of suicide was reached. None of the jurors knew John by sight or whether the corpse was his or not.
Many years later Samuel M. Everett an old friend of James Caldwell Colt was reputed to have seen James Caldwell Colt alive whilst riding and looking for accommodation in the Santa Clara Valley in California. He approached a large and impressive ranch at dusk and saw a well dressed man who he recognised as John C. Colt. The man replied that his name was Don Carlos Juan Brewster. Also in the 1870 census for Putah Township in the county of Yolo, california it shows the name John C. Colt, male, white, sixty years of age (born in 1810 the same year as John C. Colt). It shows his profession as a carpenter and place of birth being in New York. Mel Russell graciously checked the Yolo County Archives for me but could not find any other details of JCC living in that part of the country. Maybe he was just on his way through town at the time of the census. Is the sighting and the census entry proof of John C. Colt being alive after his “suicide”.?
According to the Baptism Record of St. Mark’s Church, New York on January 23, 1843 and less than ten weeks after the marriage on November 18, 1842, Samuel Colt and his brother James as sponsors christened baby Samuel “Sammy” Colt who was born on December 17, 1841 as Samuel Caldwell Colt. The officiating rector was Henry Anthon the same rector who had married John and Caroline on that fateful day in the city prison. It appears that Caroline was not present at the Christening.
Caroline and her young baby supported financially by Sam were sent to Germany. Caroline was encouraged by Sam to send her son back to America but leaving her in Europe. She appealed to Sam for him to bring her back with her son but Sam only wanted the boy. The boy returned to America as Samuel Colt’s long lost “nephew” Samuel Caldwell Colt. The whereabouts of Caroline from then on are unknown.
This was only half the story as there were already strong rumours in many circles that Samuel Caldwell Colt was not the son of John Colt but the son of his younger brother Samuel Colt himself and his German mistress, Caroline Henshaw who was born in Germany in 1819. It was whispered that Sam had met the young and beautiful Caroline whilst visiting Scotland in 1835 and married her. At this time Sam was very busy registering his patents in London to enable him to enlarge and protect his firearms empire. He did not have much time to lavish attention on Caroline and she became an embarrassment to him due to her lack of breeding. They soon drifted apart. She was comforted by brother John which made Sam somewhat happy so that he could get on with his many business affairs. He obviously did not give her completely up and there relationship appeared to exist on and off for many years afterwards and at least up to the end of 1841. It was very convenient and an ideal opportunity for Sam to marry off Caroline to John and therefore give Sammy Junior the name of Colt.
When Sammy Jr. Colt returned to America as Samuel Caldwell Colt, he was well treated by Sam who was able to lavish his affection and attention on his “nephew” without arousing any undue attention. Sam sent him to private school even-though Samuel Caldwell was not a very good or keen student. He was taken under Sam’s wing and even his wife Elizabeth appeared to approve of him.
Samuel Caldwell Colt was born Sammie Jr. in Philadelphia on December 16, 1841. He was the son of Caroline Henshaw and “fathered” by in most people’s eyes Samuel Colt. He worked at the Colt Armory for many years and was a director from 1866 to 1901. At Samuel Colt’s funeral the handsome twenty one year old Samuel Caldwell remained in the background obscured by his Colt and Jarvis cousins. Even-though this was the case he was a major beneficiary in his “fathers” will inheriting a reputed $2,000,000 which was a massive fortune in those days. Sam’s wife Elizabeth reputably challenged the bequest but Samuel produced a marriage licence proving that Samuel Colt had married his mother Caroline Henshaw in Scotland. Samuel Caldwell married Mary Goodwin in 1863 with the service taking place at Elizabeth’s home, Armsmear.
As Samuel Caldwell grew older Elizabeth treated him as more of a son than her own son Caldwell who was always busy chasing women, racing his schooner “Dauntless” and enjoying a playboy existence. Caldwell died mysteriously in 1894 aged thirty six in Punta Garda, Florida. He was said to have died from an heart attack or had been shot and killed by a jealous husband who found him in bed with his wife. It is now accepted that he probably fell off a boat whilst hosting a wild party and drowned.
Later in his life Samuel Caldwell owned a stock farm in Farmington and was one of the first people to bring blooded Jersey cattle to America. They were exhibited all over the country and were awarded many prizes. He was a representative from Farmington in 1886. Samuel and Mary celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1913. They had three sons and three daughters including Samuel Theodore Colt. Samuel Caldwell Colt died in 1915 after several months illness.
Samuel Theodore Colt was the first born son of Samuel Caldwell Colt. He was born at the James B. Colt family mansion in Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford on September 27, 1864 as the Civil War reached its climax. At the age of four he moved with his family to Farmington where he lived throughout his life. He attended Hartford High School and started work at the Colt Armory on March 1, 1882 at the age of eighteen. He worked there for nearly fifty years with many years working as a machinist through to 1890 and in the inspection department from 1891. He rose to the position of final inspector. Samuel who never married, had two brothers and three sisters. He was a keen and active sportsman and loved shooting and fishing.
Colt’s Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company was planning to celebrate his fiftieth anniversary on March 1, 1932 only ten weeks away when tragedy struck. Samuel Theodore Colt was critically injured on the evening of Thursday December 17, 1931. He was on his way home to 17, Vandyke Avenue in Farmington from the Colt Plant when he was struck from the rear and thrown from his bicycle in a collision with an automobile. He was reported to have a fractured skull, a crushed leg and possibly internal injuries. The driver who was a friend of Samuel’s was arrested and bailed on a bond of $3,500 on a charge of reckless driving. Samuel had used a bicycle for years on his way to work at the Colt Plant. He would ride two miles from his home to Elmwood, leave it there and take a trolley to the city. Samuel Theodore died from his injuries in the early hours of December 18th at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford. He was buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery less than fifty yards from his great uncle or “grandfather” Samuel Colt. Samuel was sixty seven years two months and twenty one days old.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Many questions have now been answered leaving many more that have been left unanswered.
1) We know that Samuel Theodore Colt was either John Caldwell Colt’s grandson and Samuel Colt’s grandnephew or Samuel Colt’s gandson.
2) There were four family members named after Samuel Colt. There was Samuel Colt himself, his nephew or son by Caroline Henshaw, Samuel Caldwell Colt (Theodore’s father), Sam’s brother Christopher’s son Samuel Pomeroy Colt and our subject Samuel Theodore Colt.
3) There may be a connection by the date of September 24, 1902 and the shipping of #7511. Samuel Theodore was not only celebrating his thirty eighth birthday on September 27, 1902 he was also celebrating his twentieth anniversary of working at the Colt Armory. It may have been a joint celebration. The gun may have been a gift from the factory or maybe he bought it himself.
4) Samuel Theodore Colt was the first son of Sam Colt’s blue-eyed “nephew or son” Samuel Caldwell Colt who was born in Philadelphia, brought up in Europe by his mother Caroline Henshaw, later educated in Hartford, joined the Colt Armory and became a director and then went into breeding and exhibiting pedigree Jersey cattle.
5) Samuel Theodore Colt was born in 1864 in the Colt mansion Hartford and moved to Farmington when he was four. He was a keen and active sportsman and loved shooting and fishing. He was educated in Hartford and joined the Colt Armory when he was twenty years old. He worked there for almost fifty years until he was tragically injured in a bicycle accident and died of his injuries.
Questions left unanswered include:-
Was Samuel Theodore Colt (1864-1931) Samuel Colt’s grandson?
What happened to S.T. Colt’s mother Caroline Henshaw.
Was Colt New Service Target revolver # 7511 a factory presentation to S.T. Colt?
Pete Holder August 2005
CHRONOLOGY
1810 John Caldwell Colt is born.
1814. July 18. Samuel Colt is born.
1830. August 2. Sam aged sixteen sails to Calcutta and then on to London in early 1831.
1831. Returns to Boston. Bought ticket to Liverpool on 24th August. Arrived Liverpool on 13th September. Travelled to London via Manchester.
1835. Samuel Colt meets Caroline Henshaw in Europe.
1835. Bought ticket to Liverpool on 24 August. Set sail to England to register his firearm Patents.
Arrived in Liverpool on September 13th and on to London via Manchester on 16th September.
Registered Patents on 22nd October 22. Rifle patents on 29-30th October. Completed on the
30th October at a cost of $600..
Went to Edinburgh, Scotland where he fell in love with Caroline M. Henshaw aged no more
than sixteen. Married Caroline and set out for honeymoon in Paris.
November 25. Left Paris to Le Havre for one week.
December 3. Boarded the “Albany” for thirty four day voyage back to America.
1839. April. John Caldwell Colt opens office in New York for his book keeping business.
1840. June. John meets Caroline M. Henshaw in Philadelphia whilst lecturing. He teaches her to read and write.
1841. March. Samuel Caldwell Colt is conceived.
May 11. Caroline moves to New York to live with John as man and wife at 42 Murray Street.
September 17. John Caldwell Colt murders Samuel Adams.
September 23. John Caldwell Colt is arrested for murder.
December 17. Samuel Caldwell Colt is born Caroline Henshaw.
1842. January 19. Trial of John Caldwell Colt begins. Caroline M. Henshaw is an important
witness.
September 27. John Caldwell found guilty to first degree murder and sentenced to hang on
The 18th November.
1842. November 18. John Colt marries Caroline Henshaw and then commits “suicide” or
absconds rather than be hanged.
1843. January 23. James & Samuel Colt register John C. and Caroline Colt’s son as Samuel
Caldwell Colt.
1850. November 12. Samuel Colt made a Colonel (or rather Lt. Colonel) by Governor of Connecticut. Thomas H. Seymour. Sam became his Aide-De-Camp.
1858. November 11. Caldwell Hart Colt is born Sam & Elizabeth Colt. The only child of Samuel
Colt’s family to survive,
1862. January 10. Samuel Colt dies and out of his estate of $15,000,000 leaves $2,000,000 to Samuel Caldwell Colt.
1863. December 16. Samuel Caldwell Colt marries Mary Malvira Goodwin at Armsmear.
1864. September 27. Samuel Theodore Colt is born to Samuel Caldwell and Mary Colt.
1894. Caldwell Hart Colt dies mysteriously.
1902 September 24. Colt New Service Target revolver s/n 7511 shipped to S.T. Colt at the Armory.
1915 July 16. Samuel Caldwell Colt dies.
1931 December 18. Samuel Theodore Colt tragically killed in a road accident.
Acknowledgements:-
Kenneth A. Buckbee, 393 South Main Street, Apt. 2, Torrington, CT 06790-6729
“The Colt Armory a History of Colt’s Manufacturing Company, Inc.” by Ellsworth S. Grant.
Kathleen J. Hoyt. Historian, Colt’s Manufacturing Company, Inc.
Dean Nelson. Connecticut State Library.
Mel Russell. Yolo County Archives.
Richard Austin. Archivist, New York.
Carol Wilkerson.
COLT FAMILY TREE
Christopher Colt
Sarah Caldwell
|
|
| Margaret Colt (1806) ~ Sarah Ann Colt 1808
______________________________|________________________________________________________|
| | | |
John Caldwell Colt (1810-1842) ~ Samuel Colt (1814-1862) ~ James Benjamin Colt (1816) ~ Christopher Colt (1812-1855)
Caroline Henshaw (1919) / Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Theodora DeWolfe
| / (1826-1905) |
| / | |
| / | |
| / | __________|______________
| / | | |
Samuel Caldwell Colt (1841-1915) | Samuel Pomeroy Colt (1852-) LeBaron Bradford Colt
Mary Malvira Goodwin (1847-1939) |
| |
| |
| ______________________________|_______________________________________________________________________
| | | | | |
| Samuel Jarvis (1857-1857) - Caldwell Hart Colt 1858-1894) - Elizabeth Jarvis Colt (1860-1860) - Henrietta Selden Colt (1861-) - ?
|
|
|
|______________________________________________________________________________________________
| | | | |
Samuel Theodore Colt (1864-1931) – Mary Elizabeth Colt (1879-1958) – Hattie Colt – Esther Colt (1885-) – David Hill Colt – Harold Gillette Colt (1882-1952)
Unmarried Joseph Halton (1881-1963) Guy P. Miller Janet Chesney (1885-1970)
To start this story from my point of view we start with events that took place in the United Kingdom following the Dunblane tragedy in Scotland in March of 1996 where Thomas Hamilton armed with four handguns walked into the local primary school and killed the teacher and sixteen children also wounding many more.
This tragedy changed the gun laws in the United Kingdom banning ownership of hand guns by private citizens.
During 2001 many center fire calibers were granted antique status under section 58 (2) of the Firearms Act 1968.
One of these calibers was the 44 S&W Russian cartridge that was chambered mainly for the Smith & Wesson New Model Number three in the 187..through to the “Triplelock” Hand Ejector in the early 1900’s. Some Colt revolvers including the Model 1873 Single Action revolver, the Model 1878 Double Action and the early New Service Double Action revolvers were also chambered for the 44 Russian cartridge.
In the UK guns chambered in 44 Russian caliber became very desirable to collectors
On all my trips to America I was on the lookout for guns chambered in 44 Russian especially Colts.
At his time the only clue that I had was when I logged on to and opened the Hartford, Connecticut City Directory, 1889-92 and typed in S.T. Colt. To my surprise the following information came up on my screen.
Name: Samuel T. Colt
Location 2: Farmington t.
Business Name: Colt
Occupation: Machinist
Year: 1889
State: CT
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