By Samantha L. Harper
Title: MS 066 - L.C. Smith, Marlin & Hunter Arms Companies Collection, 1890-1918
Primary Creator: Smith, Lyman Cornelius, 1850-1910
Other Creators: Hunter Arms Company (1889-1945), L.C. Smith Gun Company (1880-1889), Marlin Firearms, Marlin, John Mahlon (May 6, 1836 - July 1, 1901)
Extent: 19.0 Boxes
Date Acquired: 10/01/1989
Subjects: Firearms
Languages: English
Marlin Firearms Co., formerly of North Haven, Connecticut, is a manufacturer of high power, center fire, lever action, bolt-action, and .22 caliber rimfire rifles. In the past, the company made shotguns, derringers and revolvers. Marlin owned the firearm manufacturer H & R Firearms. In 2007, Remington Arms, part of the Freedom Group acquired Marlin Firearms. Remington currently produces Marlin brand firearms at its Kentucky and New York manufacturing facilities. John M. Marlin was born in Connecticut in 1836, and served his apprenticeship as a tool and die maker. During the Civil War, he worked at the Colt plant in Hartford, and in 1870 hung out his sign on State Street, New Haven, to start manufacturing his own line of revolvers and derringers. The outstanding team of inventors he was able to attract developed breakthrough and enduring models, such as the Model 1891 and 1893 rifles. Updated as Models 39 and 336 respectively, they are the oldest sporting shoulder arm models still in current production by their original maker. The lever action 22 repeater (now Model 39) was the favorite of many exhibition shooters, including Annie Oakley. When John Marlin died in 1901, his two sons took over the business and began a diversification program. In 1915 during World War I, a New York syndicate bought the company and renamed it the Marlin Rockwell Corporation. Marlin became one of the largest machine gun producers in the world for the US and its Allies, building the M1895 Colt-Browning machine gun and a later variant called the "Marlin gun". In 1917 Marlin Rockwell bought out the Hopkins & Allen Arms Company to promote an expanded line of firearms and improve the image of the Marlin company as makers of "sporting arms". The sporting firearms part of the business became a new corporation, which staggered until 1923, when it went on the auction block.
Courtesy Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlin_Firearms)
Lyman Cornelius Smith (1850-1910) was an American innovator and industrialist. He is buried in a mausoleum in Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, New York. L.C. Smith’s first business venture occurred in 1873, when he opened a livestock commission in New York City. The business failed within two years. Undeterred, Smith next attempted to establish a lumber business in Syracuse in 1875. His success in lumber was limited. Again on the verge of financial failure, Smith decided to enter into the lucrative business of producing firearms. Although he and members of his family manufactured guns, they are not the 'Smith' from Smith and Wesson. Instead, Lyman Smith was the namesake of the famous L.C. Smith Shotgun. In 1877, L.C. and his older brother Leroy joined forces with an established firearms designer, William H. Baker, to form W.H. Baker & Co., and for the next three years, the firm produced Baker designed shotguns. However, in 1880, Leroy Smith and W.H. Baker left the company, and founded Ithaca Gun Company. The defection of Leroy Smith and Baker from the company did not hamper business, as they were replaced by Smith’s younger brother, Wilbert, and a new designer Alexander T. Brown. The company was renamed the L.C. Smith Shotgun Company of Syracuse and went on to produce several popular breech-loading shotguns. In 1886, the company produced its first hammerless shotgun. This proved to be their most successful design. Despite the success of the company, Smith decided to sell the manufacturing rights for the entire line of L.C. Smith shotguns to Hunter Arms Company in 1889. Hunter Arms would produce the line until 1945, when they sold it to Marlin Firearms Company. Marlin halted production of L.C. Smith shotguns in 1950. They briefly revived the brand in 1967, before retiring it for good in 1972.
Smith later went on to found the Smith-Premier Typewriter Company, which would later become Smith-Corona Typewriter Company. He also funded the Smith Tower in Seattle, WA, and there are several buildings at Syracuse University named after him. Smith Corona or the SCM Corporation is a US typewriter and calculator company. The company experienced a decline in sales since the mid-1980s upon the introduction of PC-based word processing. Its competitors include Brother, Olivetti and IBM.
Courtesy Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyman_Cornelius_Smith)
Repository: McCracken Research Library
Access Restrictions: McCracken Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials. Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation or publication. Contact McCracken Research Library for more information.
Use Restrictions: ALL MATERIALS RESTRICTED TO STAFF USE ONLY.
Physical Access Note: Poor physical condition. Individual portfolios needed for each volume. Work in progress on re-housing volumes.
Acquisition Source: Lieutenant Colonel William S. Brophy (United States Army Ranger Retired)
Acquisition Method: Gift.
Preferred Citation: L.C. Smith, Marlin & Hunter Arms Companies Collection, MS 66, McCracken Research Library, Buffalo Bill Center of the West
