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GREAT FIRE AT
COLT'S ARMORY! ORIGINAL BUILDING DESTROYED! Loss Nearly $2,000,000!
900 Men Thrown Out of Work!
ONE MAN KILLED!
LOT 1195
Well-Documented Historic Presentation Cased Factory Engraved Colt Model 1862 Police Percussion Revolver with Presentation Inscription from the Factory to Henry Kellogg of the Phoenix Fire Insurance Company - Serial no. 30073, 36 cal., 4 1/2 inch round bbl., blue/ casehardened/silver finish, deluxe factory walnut grips. Factory presentation Colt percussion revolvers, especially those in high condition, are among the most sought after and valuable Colt firearms. This revolver features a factory documented presentation inscription from the Colt Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Co. to Henry Kellogg, an important Hartford businessman with businesses relationships with the Colt factory, including as the head of the Phoenix Fire Insurance Company which was one of the largest insurers of the Colt factory when it burned
in February 1864. He represented the company when the various insurance companies met to reach a settlement in the aftermath of the destructive fire. Herbert Houze in his article about the fire wrote that officials at Colt had estimated the company had suffered the loss of around $2 million dollars in damages split roughly equally between lost product in progress at the time of the fire and the tooling and buildings, but the factory was only insured for $600,000. The New York Times reported that none of the policies had been taken out until after Samuel Colt’s death and indicated among them was a $40,000 policy through Kellogg’s company.
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