Roswell L. Colt Roswell L. Colt Roswell Lyman Colt (1779-1856) was an American businessman who made a fortune in the shipping industry, served for decades as governor of the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures, and was an early railroad executive. Colt's parents were Peter Colt (1744-1824) and Sarah Lyman. (Peter's brother was Benjamin Colt (1740-1781), whose grandson would be gunmaker Samuel Colt (1814-1862).) A graduate of Yale University, Peter founded a shipping business that traded with the West Indies, served in the Revolutionary War, served as Connecticut State Treasurer from 1790 to 1794, and went on to help found Paterson, New Jersey. In
William Mason (Colt) built by Colt. With increased competition from their British rival, Webley & Scott, Colt had Mason design a double-action revolver for them in 1877, the Colt M1877. Following this, Mason once again teamed up with Richards to produce a larger framed version, the Colt M1878 Frontier in 1878. His final design for Colt was the Colt M1889, a collaboration with Carl J. Ehbets for a revolver with a swing-out cylinder. Ehbets continued to perfect the idea for 7 years after Mason left Colt for Winchester. Mason left Colt to work for the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1882. While he