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A barrel drilling machine designed by
E. K. Root for Colt. From The Story of Colts Revolver by William B. Edwards, Stackpole, 1953 |
The following article, a short biographical sketch, originally appeared in Vol. 1, No.1 of Bullet 'N Press.
On July 4, 1829, curious onlookers and townspeople gathered near a local pond in Ware, Massachusetts, as fifteen year old Sam Colt prepared to test one of his submarine torpedoes. A hobby of his youth, it was a method of using explosives in waterproof casings placed into a body of water, and attaching it to an under water cable. Similar to the mines we use today, the charges were fired from shore when a "hostile" vessel approached. During this particular exhibition the load of charge was much to heavy for the small raft which Sam Colt intended to blow up. Water and mud sputtered indiscriminately on the spectators, dousing their summer apparel. One man emerged laughing through the angry crowd now closing in on Colt. His name was Elisha Root. More interested in the explosion than his own muddy clothing, he quickly defended Colt from the mob, shielding him with his own body.
As the two began to talk Elisha Root explained and shared some of his own ideas for a repeating gun. He instructed Colt on the basics of technical drawings, which today are called blueprints. It would be twenty years before the two would begin to work together.
Elisha Root was born on May 5, 1808 in Ludlow, Massachusetts. He was a mechanically inspired youth who was educated in public schools until he was old enough to become an apprentice. Working in various shops until 1832, he was then hired as a lathe operator by the Collins Company, a factory which made axes, in Collinsville, Connecticut. His employment there enabled him to excel in his mechanical abilities and, not long after he began his duties he was promoted to foreman, then subsequently superintendent. During his seventeen years with the Collins Company he transformed its operations from a small hand shop to a competent, fully equipped factory which became a near monopoly of American axe manufacture.
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A barrel drilling machine designed by
E. K. Root for Colt. From The Story of Colts Revolver by William B. Edwards, Stackpole, 1953 |
In 1849, Sam Colt hired Root after learning he had turned down an offer with Springfield Armory. Colt offered to double his compensation and give him almost anything reasonable. This was to include free license at the Colt Armory, as well as giving Root permission to patent all his own designs. At 41 years of age Root moved his wife, Matilda and their children to Hartford, Connecticut. Over the next five years, Root re-designed the factory building. He invented a cam pump, which was first used to pump water, in a steady continuous flow, from the Connecticut River to a hillside reservoir behind the Plant, this distributed water to the factory and housing below.
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A .31 caliber sidehammer Colt revolver, designed by
Root. From The Story of Colts Revolver by William B. Edwards, Stackpole, 1953 (identification added) |
Root's inventions revolutionized the firearms industry with his patent to improve the 1855 Sidehammer pistol, and New Model pocket pistol (where the cylinder actually locked into the frame for the first time). Root improved the rifling machine, the boring machine, and invented a stock turning machine . He also illustrated and patented various ways to put up combustible envelope cartridges in boxes. (The outer casings of the cartridges were made from combustible paper, so there was a need to package and carry them safely.)
In 1862, upon Sam Colts death, Elisha Root was elected President of the Colt Armory until his own death in 1865.
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