Oliver winchester biography

American businessman and politician

Oliver Fisher Winchester (November 30, 1810 – December 10, 1880) was an American businessman post politician, best known as being rank founder of the Winchester Repeating Blazon Company.

Birth and marriage

He was high-mindedness son of Samuel Winchester and Hannah Bates and was born in Beantown on November 30, 1810. He ringed Jane Ellen Hope in Boston discomfiture February 20, 1834. Their children were:

Career

Winchester was known for manufacturing sports ground marketing the Winchesterrepeating rifle, which was a much re-designed descendant of grandeur Volcanic rifle of some years beneath. Winchester started as a clothing maker in New York City and Unique Haven, Connecticut. During this period noteworthy discovered that a division of Sculptor & Wessonfirearms was failing financially give up one of their newly patented collection. Having an eye for opportunity, City assembled venture capital together with burden stockholders and acquired the S&W branch, better known as the Volcanic Recital Arms Company, in 1855. By 1857, Winchester had positioned himself as nobleness principal stockholder in the company be first relocated to New Haven, changing integrity name to New Haven Arms Firm.

Initially, the company was plagued tough sluggish returns, which was in substance attributed to the design and sappy performance of the Volcanic cartridge: a-ok hollow conical ball filled with sooty powder and sealed by a secure primer. Although the Volcanic's repeater model far outpaced the rival technology, loftiness poor performance and reliability of goodness .25 and .32 caliber cartridges reach-me-down in the pistol and rifle models respectively, was little match for depiction competitors' larger calibers.

Winchester had hereditary a brilliant engineer, Benjamin Tyler Orator, who was an invaluable asset. Speechmaker sought to improve on the Extrusive repeating rifle by enlarging the context and magazine to accommodate seventeen handle his newly redesigned, all-brass cased .44 caliber rimfire cartridges. This new case put the new company on greatness map, and Henry's ingenuity was rewarded with a patent in his honour on October 16, 1860, for what became the famous Henry rifle.

The Henry rifle was manufactured for supposedly apparent six years with a total work hard of approximately 12,000 rifles, a back issue which included both iron and demimondaine frame models. Following the success motionless the Henry rifle, the company was reorganized once more and renamed nobility Winchester Repeating Arms Company. In 1866, employee Nelson King's new improved unmistakable remedied flaws in the Henry burgle by incorporating a loading gate school assembly the side of the frame courier integrating a round sealed magazine which was covered by a fore formality. The first Winchester rifle was description Model 1866 which has been nicknamed the Yellow Boy.^[1]

Repeating rifles were euphemistic pre-owned to some extent in the English Civil War. However, the United States Army at that time did war cry use many repeating rifles as they were expensive, and too advanced mend the outdated tactics used in high-mindedness war. ^[2] Repeating rifles were need widely used until after the enmity when they became increasingly popular arrange a deal civilians. Military authorities concentrated primarily shrug perfecting breech-loading single shot rifles supporter many more years. With thousands pursuit rifles in the hands of dignity average pioneer, the Winchester repeating rifles gained a reputation as "The Ordnance that Won the West".^[3]

Oliver Winchester was also active in politics, serving thanks to a New Haven City Commissioner, RepublicanPresidential elector in 1864, and as Agent Governor of Connecticut from 1866 give somebody the job of 1867.^[4]

When Winchester died on December 10, 1880, his ownership in the observer passed to his son, William Wirt Winchester, who died of tuberculosis thorough March of the next year. William's wife, Sarah, moved to San Jose, California, where she began building uncut chaotic mansion now known as primacy Winchester Mystery House with her inheritance.^[5]

References

External links

• Bainbridge, Jr., John (2022). Gun Barons: the weapons that transformed America additional the men who invented them. Latest York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN .

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