Who were Smith and Wesson? They were both inventors, gunsmiths, and businessmen. They obviously formed the Smith & Wesson firearms company.
The Smith & Wesson company was formed in 1852. The original company was sold to a man called Oliver Winchester, and it became the Winchester company that still exists today. Smith & Wesson was formed when Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson decided to work together.
Horace Smith was born in 1808. He worked in the U. S. Armory until 1842 and he also worked for many gun makers. His father was a gun maker and he grew up helping build and design guns. He was an inventor and worked on improving different types of guns. Daniel B. Wesson was born in 1825 and he worked for his brother, Edwin Wesson, after he left school. His brother was a manufacturer of target rifles and pistols. Daniel Wesson was also an inventor and worked on improving the guns his brother sold.
Horace Smith worked for different gunmakers and he ended up working at the Robbins and Lawrence Armory in Windsor, Vermont. He was tasked with working on a revolver called the Wesson & Leavitt. The Leavitt half of that was Daniel Leavitt who was also a gunsmith. He came up with many innovations, but he was sued by Samuel Colt, who owned the patent for the revolver. The Wesson half was Edwin Wesson, Daniel Wesson’s brother. During the work, Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson came to know each other. This was probably in the late 1840s. In 1849, Edwin Wesson died of a heart attack at the age of 37. This must have had a large effect on his brother, but, soon after, Daniel Wesson decided to partner with Horace Smith to make a gun of their own.
In 1952, the first Smith & Wesson company was formed. They started work on the Smith & Wesson Lever pistol and Volcanic cartridge. A volcanic cartridge was a lead bullet with the bottom hollowed out and powder packed in. The idea of bullets with their own powder was just taking off, but the volcanic cartridge didn’t have enough powder and it didn’t have much power. They secured investment from Oliver Winchester, who was a shirtmaker, and they renamed the company to the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company. Shortly after, Winchester bought the company off them and renamed it the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.
Smith and Wesson used the money they got from selling their company and set up the second Smith & Wesson company in 1856. Samuel Colt’s patent on the revolver ran out in 1856 and Smith and Wesson started designing their first gun. They set up shop above a stove and pipe factory and began to assemble machinery. It took them almost a year before they were able to produce their first gun. It was called the Smith & Wesson Model 1. It was a revolver that could hold seven cartridges. It was the first gun to fire cartridges that had powder in them and were fired when a firing pin hit their rim. The barrel was on a hinge so it could tip up when it was reloaded. It took Smith & Wesson a long time to make, but it was an instant hit. It was difficult to manufacture, but it was very easy to make. They sold 5 guns in 1857 and 2,500 guns in 1858. It became so popular that they had to move to a new factory in 1860.
The revolver was popular and was taken up by some law enforcement agencies. However, it was probably the American Civil War that cemented it in place because many soldiers used it as a defensive sidearm. It wasn’t long before demand outstripped supply. The gun was issued, rather soldiers on both sides bought it with their own money because it was such a good gun.
Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson continued to manage the company as it produced more and more successful guns. Their model 3 was the first cartridge firing revolver used by the US army and their model 10 was the standard firearm of the American police for most of the 20th century. Smith and Wesson were both gone by this point, though. Horace Smith died in 1893 and Daniel Wesson died in 1906. They wouldn’t know how synonymous their names would come to be with the firearm. And this is what I learned today.
Photo by Karolina Grabowska: https://www.pexels.com/photo/hands-of-a-person-holding-a-gold-bullet-and-a-pistol-5202384/
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_%26_Wesson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Smith_(inventor)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_B._Wesson
https://guides.loc.gov/american-firearms/gunmakers/smith-wesson
https://www.smith-wesson.com/ourstory
https://www.ssusa.org/content/5-interesting-facts-about-smith-wesson/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Leavitt
https://www.rockislandauction.com/riac-blog/the-volcanic-pistol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_%26_Wesson_Model_1