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combination tool, Colt’s patent blued ball/bullet mold marked “36B” (.36 Caliber Belt Model aka 1861
Navy), two cartridge packs, and a key.
Provenance and Publications:
The factory letter indicates this revolver was listed in “Colt Civil War Record Book #4 to be factory engraved and placed in stock on May 31, 1862.” This is also
discussed in an included letter from R.L. Wilson to Eric Vaule. Wilson also notes that the consecutive revolver was presented by Samuel Colt and is featured on page
201 of “Samuel Colt Presents.” That revolver was presented to Chief Clerk William Faxon of the Navy Department by Samuel
Colt. As detailed in the Hartford Courant on June 6, 1862, discussed more below, soon after being placed in the factory’s inventory, the current revolver was presented to famous Methodist minister,
newspaper editor, and fiery speaker William G. Brownlow (1805-1877), often known as Parson Brownlow or the Fighting Parson. The presentation of the revolver is also recorded in Coulter’s biography, “William G. Brownlow: Fighting Parson of the Southern Highlands” (copy included) where the presentation is noted as taking place after he gave a speech for the workmen in early June 1862. The revolver was discovered by Eric Vaule in the 1970s and was later acquired by Greg Lampe. It is featured in “The Colt Engraving Book Vol. 1” on pages 174-175, in “Colt Accoutrements” by Rapley on page 223, and on the front cover of the January 2009 issue of “The Gun Report” and detailed within in an article “A Rare Colt Presentation” by Greg Lampe. In Lampe’s article he notes that only a handful of presentations from the workmen at Colt are known, and only two others are dated.
William Gannaway Brownlow (1805-1877),
Parson Brownlow was born in Virginia but grew up in Tennessee and was orphaned when he was less than 12 years old. He was instead raised by his uncle John Gannaway and worked hard on the farm until he turned 18. He became very religiously minded during the Second Great Awakening and became a devout Methodist. He was famously quick witted and provoking when it came to theological, political, and moral issues. He traveled as a circuit riding minister in the South and then turned to newspaper publishing