Guide to the Colt Family Papers , 1793-1961

Series 1. Samuel P. Colt Personal Papers
This series consists primarily of Colt's personal correspondence, as opposed to business and legal correspondence which are located in subsequent series. Among his most frequent correspondents were members of his family, including brothers George, Edward, and LeBaron, sister Isabella (Colt DeWolf), brother-in-law Frank DeWolf, mother Theodora, wife Elizabeth, sons Russell and Roswell, and father-in-law. Russell Bullock. There is also scattered correspondence with nieces, nephews, and other relatives. Non-family correspondents include U.S. Senator Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island, Colt's personal secretary, Merton Cheeseman, and Lillian Westby with whom Colt had a romantic relationship in the early 1900's. Also included in this series are copies of insurance policies, certificates of appointment for aide-de-camp and Assistant Attorney General, records of Colt's child support and alimony payments after his separation, receipts for groceries and other regular household expenses, lecture notes from Colt's days as a student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and guest registers and journals for Camp Colt, his fishing and hunting camp in Maine.

Subjects discussed in the family correspondence are the health and financial well being of various members of the Colt family, the status of Samuel P. and Elizabeth Colt's marriage, a dispute over the division of some furniture in Linden Place between Samuel P. Colt and his sister Isabella, and problems created by Theodora DeWolf Colt's outspoken nature.

Correspondence with Senator Nelson Aldrich concerns political issues, interests, and candidates in Rhode Island. The Lillian Westby correspondence concerns the personal relationship between Colt and Westby. Subjects include their meetings and separations, and their frequent European trips. Correspondence with Colt's personal secretary, Merton Cheeseman concerns Colt's health, travel plans, family, real estate, and stock investments.

The guest register and daily journals of Colt's "Camp Colt," a hunting and fishing camp in Maine provide a glimpse of the Colt family's leisure activities. The journals describe daily fishing and canoe trips taken by the Colt family and their guests, who signed the guest register at the beginning of each visit. The visitors to Camp Colt represent a broad spectrum of business and political leaders of early twentieth century Rhode Island.

The records in this series are arranged alphabetically by subject or name of correspondent and chronologically by date within folders. Letters to Colt from non-family members less than five letters and letters bearing only a partial signature are grouped together under the folder title "Correspondence" and arranged alphabetically by name. Unsigned letters are in folders labeled "Correspondence, Miscellaneous" and arranged chronologically by date.

Series 2. Christopher Colt, Sr. Business Correspondence
Christopher Colt, Sr. (1780-1850) was the grandfather of Samuel P. Colt and the father of Samuel Colt, inventor of the Colt revolver and founder of the Colt Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company. This series contains correspondence between Christopher and his son Samuel and other officers of the Colt Company. The subject of this correspondence is the development and operation of the Colt Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company.

By far the most significant items in the series are the some fifty letters between Christopher and his son in which they discuss Samuel's attempts to gain government contracts for his fledgling gun company. In one letter dated August 20, 1840, the young Colt described for his father just such an attempt, a demonstration of his "submarine battery" on the Potomac River in Washington. He described a flotilla of boats on the river for the demonstration, including a steamboat "fitted up" for the accommodation of "the President, [Martin Van Buren] with the Cabinet, his corporal's guard and the principal officers of the Army and Navy together with large number of ladies and gentlemen, the elite of the city." The demonstration was apparently a success. Also included is a holograph copy of Christopher Colt's will, dated 1835.

Materials in this series are arranged alphabetically by subject or name of correspondent and chronologically by date within folders.

Series 3. Christopher Colt, Jr. Business Correspondence/Records
Christopher Colt, Jr. (1812-1855) was Samuel P. Colt's father. This series contains business correspondence and financial records relating to Christopher Colt's involvement in the silk manufacturing industry in New England. He had interests in two companies, Colt and Company and the New England Silk Manufacturing Company.

This series contains correspondence with jobbers and dry goods merchants in the silk trade, ledgers and receipts relating to the two companies in which Christopher Colt, Jr. had an interest and three years of monthly payroll records for Colt and Company.

The subject of the correspondence relates to the manufacture and sale of silk goods. Typical of the correspondence is that with Arthur Tappan and Company in which Arthur Tappan and Christopher Colt, Jr. discussed quality of silk, cost of silk, shipment and delivery schedules, and routine problems that arose during the normal course of business.

The monthly payroll records for Colt and Company, spanning the years 1836-1838 inclusive, confirm two facts of early New England industrial life: the pay was very low and the workers were all women and young girls.

The materials in this series, particularly the correspondence, are in the poorest physical condition of any in the collection. The letters were bundled and wrapped in paper which was then coated with wax or linseed oil. The substance soaked through to the letters, leaving them with a sticky oil coating and making the paper brittle.

Records in this series are arranged alphabetically by subject or name of correspondent and chronologically by date within folder.

Series 4. Theodora DeWolf Colt Papers
Theodora DeWolf Colt (1824-1901) was the wife of Christopher Colt, Jr. and mother of Samuel P. Colt. She was a published poet and a member of the merchant shipping DeWolf family of Bristol. The bulk of this series contains correspondence between Theodora and her other children, George, Edward, Isabella, and LeBaron. Her correspondence with Samuel is in Series I. This series also includes correspondence with her nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and non-relatives, including her son Samuel's father-in-law, J. Russell Bullock. Other records include invitations, bills, receipts, programs for private theatrical programs which Theodora regularly staged at Linden Place, and some of Theodora's poetry, both printed and holograph. These are filed under the heading of "writings."

The subjects of Theodora's correspondence with family members cover the usual family concerns such as health, grandchildren, family, birthdays and holidays, and finances. Letters from Samuel P. Colt's father-in-law discuss what he considers to be Theodora's verbal abuse of her daughter-in-law and his daughter, Elizabeth Colt, wife of Samuel P. Colt.

Theodora was socially prominent in Bristol and consequently received numerous invitations to weddings and other social events in the community. She also regularly presented what were known as "private theatricals" at Linden Place. Formal programs were printed for these performances and some of these programs are in this series.

The materials in this series are arranged alphabetically by subject or name of correspondent and chronologically by date within folders.

Series 5. Edward D. Colt Correspondence/Business Records
Edward D. Colt (1844-1868), brother of Samuel P. Colt, was a stockbroker in Hartford, Connecticut. He appeared to be on the verge of success when he contracted a viral infection and died at the age of twenty-four in 1868. This series contains materials relating to his brokerage business and various financial transactions. It includes business correspondence, bank statements, cancelled checks, ledgers, and extensive records of stock purchases and sales. Also included are workbooks, notes, and a report card from Edward's years as a student at Eastman National Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Personal correspondence with other members of his family can be found in the series of the appropriate family member. Records relating to Edward's financial transactions (i.e. loans and promissory notes) with his brother, LeBaron, and sister, Isabella, document the family involvement in various business affairs.

The records in this series are arranged alphabetically by subject, name of correspondent, or type of record and chronologically by date within folders.

Series 6. LeBaron Bradford Colt Personal Papers
LeBaron Bradford Colt (1845-1924) was the older brother of Samuel P. Colt and a prominent lawyer and politician. He preceded his brother Samuel as a graduate of Columbia Law School in 1870 and succeeded him as a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from Bristol when Samuel was appointed Assistant Attorney General in 1879. LeBaron was appointed a federal judge by President William Garfield in 1881 and served on the bench as a District Court and Appeals Court judge until 1912. He won election to the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island in 1912, a position for which his brother Samuel had run unsuccessfully in 1906 and 1907. He was re-elected in 1918. LeBaron Bradford Colt died in 1924. An extensive obituary was written for the (Providence) Evening Bulletin, August 18, 1924. See Printed Material, Series XXV, for a photocopy of that obituary.

This series contains the personal papers and speeches of LeBaron Bradford Colt. Included is correspondence with his wife Mary Louise Colt, his brother George, and his children Beatrice, Primrose, Mary Louise, and LeBaron C. Colt. He and his wife had four daughters and one son (who died in 1916 in an automobile accident). Correspondence with his mother Theodora and brother Samuel is located in Series IV and Series I respectively. Printed copies of some speeches are filed under the heading of "Speeches and Addresses."

Included in this series is printed material relating to a court suit involving the Bristol, Rhode Island, and Hartford, Connecticut, branches of the Colt Family. In LeBaron B. Colt, et al. vs. Elizabeth H. Colt, et al., the Bristol Colts (Theodora, LeBaron, and Samuel) sued Elizabeth H. Colt, the widow of Samuel Colt, seeking to alter the terms of Samuel Colt's will to their benefit. After a protracted case, the courts ruled in favor of the Bristol Colts. As a result of the decision, each of the Bristol Colts was awarded a substantial number of shares of stock in the Colt Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company. The case is documented in several printed court documents including petitions, briefs for complainant, and transcripts of trial testimony.

Also contained in this series is a scrapbook compiled by LeBaron's daughter Beatrice from her early years through her formal debut into society. It documents the personal life and interests of a young woman growing to maturity at the turn of the twentieth century.

The materials in this series are arranged alphabetically by name, subject or type of record and chronologically by date within folders.

Series 7. Mary Louise Colt Correspondence
Mary Louise Colt (Mamie) (d. 1922) was the wife of LeBaron Bradford Colt. This series contains mostly correspondence between her and her parents, G.C. and Elizabeth Ledyard of Chicago. The majority of the letters are from Mary Louise's mother who invariably focuses on one of three themes: requesting Mary Louise to come back to Chicago, asking Mary Louise for money, and discussing her health and the general state of her existence. The correspondence with her father is not significantly different in content, but substantially less in volume. Routine family matters are also discussed in this correspondence spanning nearly thirty-five years.

The correspondence of each parent is filed by the parent's name and arranged chronologically by date. A few letters from people other than Mary Louise Colt's parents have been placed at the end of the series in a folder labeled "Miscellaneous Correspondence." Correspondence with her husband, LeBaron, is in Series VI filed under her name. This series also includes journals kept by Mary Louise Colt's parents, as well as a Cash Book kept by Mamie.

Series 8. Russell G. Colt Financial Records
Russell Griswold Colt (1882-1959), the second son of Samuel P. and Elizabeth Colt, married noted stage actress Ethel Barrymore in 1909 and was the father of Samuel Barrymore Colt, John Drew Colt, and singer Ethel Barrymore Colt (Miglietta). This series consists of the personal financial records of Russell Colt, including bank statements, cancelled checks, check registers, and quarterly statements of the trust fund established for him by his father.

The records in this series are arranged alphabetically by the type of record and chronologically by date within folders. Russell's correspondence with his father is in Series I.

Bank statements

Cancelled checks

Trust Fund Established by Samuel P. Colt

Series 9. Ethel Colt Miglietta Papers
Ethel Barrymore Colt (Miglietta) and John Romeo Miglietta (known as Romeo) were the daughter and son-in-law of Russell G. Colt and Ethel Barrymore. This series contains records that Ethel and Romeo left at Linden Place during the many summers the two spent there. Ethel Barrymore Colt was a singer and actress and that aspect of her career is reflected in the numerous musical scores, playbills, and broadsides located in this series. Romeo Miglietta was a mining engineer who traveled frequently in his work, a fact reflected in the Italian and South American return addresses on his letters to his wife. Miglietta's letters from British Guiana and Surinam detail his efforts to establish a bauxite mining exploration company in South America. He also describes life in a mining camp in the jungles of Surinam, the customs of the natives, and briefly discusses local politics. See Also John Romeo Miglietta Papers, MsG # 91. In addition to the correspondence and theatrical memorabilia, the series contains cancelled checks, bank statements, appointment calendars, a marriage certificate, an engraving of Ethel Barrymore Colt, correspondence and legal documents relating to the sale of the Colt family's Mamaroneck estate in New York and newspaper clippings. Photographs of Ethel Barrymore Colt and her family may be found in Photographs.

Years later, when the John Romeo Miglietta Papers (MsG # 91) were being processed additional correspondence between Ethel B. C. Miglietta, John, and other family members was given by the Miglietta family. This correspondence was added to the original records that had been located at Linden Place.

The records in this series are arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically by date within folders.

Series 10. Colt/DeWolf Family Records
The Colt/DeWolf Family Records contains a variety of material relating to several generations of the Colt and DeWolf families. The records are diverse. Included is a 1793 handwritten will of Mark Anthony DeWolf and a beautiful hand illustrated journal and notebook compiled between 1819 and 1821 by Sarah Ann Colt. Also included are correspondence and legal documents relating to the estate of Dorothy Colt, wife of Samuel P. Colt's son Roswell, and the legal guardianship of Roswell's daughter Elizabeth.

The series also includes the will of Elizabeth H. Colt, the widow of Samuel Colt of the Colt Firearms Company, the divorce decree of George DeWolf Colt, Samuel P. Colt's brother, two day books from the late 1870's, miscellaneous correspondence, and fragments of letters of the Colts and DeWolfs.

The materials in this series are arranged alphabetically by name and chronologically by date within folders. Miscellaneous letters and parts of letters are grouped together at the end of the series and arranged chronologically by date.

Series 11. Samuel P. Colt Personal Financial Records
Colt invested in real estate and particularly in the stock market. Nearly half the records in this series consist of correspondence and records of stock transactions with more than a dozen banking and brokerage houses in Rhode Island and New York City. These records are grouped together under the general heading of "Banking and Brokerage Houses" and then alphabetically by the name of the firm. Included are correspondence with the brokers, buy orders, sell orders, margin calls, and periodic statements of his accounts with the various banking and brokerage houses.

Colt's real estate investments were primarily in Rhode Island and New York City. In addition to Linden Place, he owned a townhouse in New York City, a hunting and fishing camp in Maine, a 450 acre farm on the Bristol, Rhode Island waterfront, and land on Hogg Island in Narragansett Bay. Included are deeds, title searches, mortgages, and correspondence relating to the various properties which Colt acquired. The records relating to North Farm document the manner in which Colt acquired, over a period of years, the 450 shorefront acres in Bristol. This acquisition became the showcase Poppasquash Point Farm and is now Colt State Park.

Included in this series are annual summaries of income and expenditures which Colt compiled. The statements provide detailed day by day lists of income and expenses, as well as listing investments, loans, household expenses and repairs for Linden Place, the New York townhouse, and his Maine Camp, political contributions ($121,743 in 1906) and miscellaneous expenses. Also included in this series are financial records such as bank statements, pass books, cancelled checks, check registers, and daily deposit and check statements.

The records in this series are arranged alphabetically by subject or type of record and chronologically by date within folders.

Series 12. Colt Memorial School
When Theodora DeWolf Colt died in 1901, her son Samuel decided to erect a monument suitable to her memory in the town of Bristol. Samuel Colt decided that the appropriate tribute was a new high school for the town . The school was completed in 1908 at a cost of $ 300,000 and deeded to Bristol. It was at the time, and presumably still is, the only school in the country constructed of bronze and Italian marble.

This series documents the construction of the Colt Memorial School. Included is extensive correspondence between Merton Cheeseman, Colt's personal secretary, and the architects and contractors, Cooper and Bailey of Boston and Norcross Brothers respectively. Through Cheeseman, Colt kept a close eye on the construction and passed on a number of suggestions which were incorporated into the final plans.

Included in the series are blueprints, a photogravure of the completed school showing Linden Place in the background, bids of unsuccessful contractors and architects, and brochures and catalogues from a variety of suppliers of school equipment and furnishings. The catalogues and brochures depict school furnishings and equipment that were considered state of the art for the time.

The materials in this series are arranged alphabetically by subject, type of record, or name and chronologically by date within folders.

Included with this series are photographs of the interior of Colt Memorial School taken May 2001 by David Rooney. These photographs are not part of the Colt Family Papers, but they show the extraordinary attention to detail and aesthetic considerations taken by Colt and the architects in constructing this memorial to Theodora Colt.

Series 13. George Terry Papers
George Terry, was a friend and business partner of Samuel P. Colt as well as being co-executor, with Colt, of the Cornelius J. Vanderbilt estate. He was the constant traveling companion of Cornelius J. Vanderbilt for ten years until Vanderbilt's death in 1882. Terry apparently had no permanent address and lived in hotels wherever his business interests and/or travels with Vanderbilt might take him.

This series consists of Terry's correspondence and miscellaneous personal financial records. Included are bank books, cancelled checks, check registers, correspondence with Vanderbilt and Colt, and twenty years of hotel receipts.

The correspondence with Colt is concerned primarily with the business and financial interests which they shared. Correspondence between Terry and Colt concerning the Vanderbilt estate, of which they were executors, and the New Mexico Ranch, in which they shared a financial interest, is located in the Estate Series and the New Mexico Ranch Series respectively.

The letters from Vanderbilt to Terry reveal a close and abiding friendship between the two men. Vanderbilt was an epileptic, subject to frequent seizures. As a result, he apparently asked his friend Terry to assist him and Terry became his constant traveling companion for ten years.

Vanderbilt expressed the true depth of his feelings for Terry in his will. He named Terry an executor of his estate and left him a bequest of $120,000, specifying that Terry's bequest be paid before any other bequests or debts were paid from the estate. He further bequeathed a $50,000 trust fund to Terry. Additional information about Terry's role in the Vanderbilt estate can be found in the Estate Files, Series XXI.

The materials in this series are arranged alphabetically by name of the person or subject and chronologically by date within folders.

Series 14. U.S. Rubber Company Records
This series documents the rise of the U.S. Rubber Company (now UNIROYAL) from the small bankrupt National Rubber Company in Bristol, Rhode Island to a major industrial power in less than fifteen years under the leadership of Samuel P. Colt. The records in this series are not the official records of the company, nor are they in any sense complete. They do, however, offer a fairly comprehensive account of Colt's role in the development of U. S. Rubber and a general overview of the company's rise to a position of dominance in the rubber boot and shoe industry.

The records in this series include annual reports, treasurer's reports, audit reports, ledgers, correspondence and financial records relating to subsidiary companies, general correspondence, stock certificates, records of stock transactions, minutes of meetings, and a variety of financial records which document the financial status and activities of the corporation. Subjects of the correspondence include expansion into new markets, costs of production, and locating new sources of crude rubber.

In 1887, Colt was appointed receiver for the bankrupt National Rubber Company of Bristol which manufactured a variety of rubber goods, including rubber boots and shoes. Within a year he had succeeded in getting the company out of debt and reorganizing it as the National India Rubber Company. The newly organized company concentrated on the manufacture of rubber boots and shoes, then a highly competitive industry. Colt gradually acquired a controlling interest in a number of smaller companies and in 1892 merged his holdings with the then fledgling U.S. Rubber Company. This conglomerate became the largest manufacturer of rubber goods in the world.

By the turn of the century, U.S. Rubber had over forty subsidiaries. Colt became the president of U.S. Rubber in 1901, an office he held until 1918, when he became Chairman of the Board of Trustees. During Colt's tenure as president, the company continued to expand its markets and sought to gain control of the crude rubber supplies as well by acquiring rubber plantations in the Amazon and in Mexico.

Among the items in this series which document the rise of U.S. Rubber are the Company's printed annual reports and its annual financial statements. The annual reports document the Company's acquisitions from year to year and the financial statements the company's annual profits. The magnitude of the company's finances are detailed in the information contained in the folders labeled "Financial Records" which contain statements of assets, liabilities and expenditures, income and gross sales statements, and sales and net profit statements. There is not a complete run of any of these Financial statements, but sufficient material exists in this series to document the company's financial health and growth.

The minutes of the annual meetings and the president's annual reports, though again incomplete, document how the company's goals and objectives changed to meet anticipated charges in its markets. The scattered records of some twenty of the more than forty U.S. Rubber subsidiaries allow some insights into the reasons behind the corporation's acquisitions of certain companies and the methods by which it acquired those companies.

The records in this series are arranged alphabetically by name, subject or type of record and chronologically by date within folders.