Thomas Seymour was a personal friend of Hartford gunmaker Samuel Colt. He was elected to Congress for one term, but declined to run again so that he could accept a commission to fight in the Mexican War. Returning to Connecticut as a hero for leading a successful charge at Chapultepec, Seymour was elected Governor in 1850.
After serving as Governor for three terms, Thomas Seymour resigned to accept an appointment as the United States Minister to Russia. Colt gave this pistol to his friend around that time, both to arm him and to provide a sample to help Colt earn business in Russia.
16 comments:
Interesting our history of arming our friends who eventually become our enemies. Hmmm. Sometimes I wonder. :))
Human beings are curious creatures with a wide range of motivations.
God create men different,colonel Colt made them all the same.Vey interesting pic.
Looks like a .44 I once owned. The darn thing kicked like a mule!
Interesting historical commentary. Pulled that right out of your head, too, I'll bet.
Shoot!
Yes, I enjoyed the historical words too.
Fascinating history behind it!
What an interesting bit of history.
Fascinating history indeed, Jack! I always enjoy that along with your captures! Great way to start my day! Enjoy your weekend!
Haha! So a multi useful present then Jack :) It certainly is difficult to shoot (?) things under glass!
Interesting gun and history. It was a Texas Ranger order for revolvers that put Samuel Colt in business. The Rangers had a number of suggestions for improvements that were incorporated in the model Colt you show in your photo.
1850.. the Wild West Days. If you didn't have a gun back then you were probably considered a radical. Or a fool.
Networking even back then!
Bravo obtaining such a good shot through glass. You're a brave blogger posting anything about guns nowadays. Thanks for checking it at SDP recently. It's going to be a long road back but manageable. Since I don't have operational photo software right now, it's quite challenging for me to post. But, the new system should be up and running within a month (providing we can get a purchase order from requisitions). Regarding using a Mac, I would suggest avoiding the accompanying iPhoto software. It can't handle the number of pics we photo bloggers take.
To me, the history of his life is more interesting than the history of the gun, but the gun is a good point of entry to learn about his life story.
The international arms trade is nothing new, is it? Being minister to Russia in the 1860's must have been a challenge. Imagine the heating bills.
Nice post and photo.
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