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LOT 1518
Historic Smith & Wesson First Model .38 Military & Police (Model of 1899) Double Action Revolver
Documented as Shipped to Leroy T. Hillman, West Point graduate and Commander of Rock Island
Arsenal with Factory Letter, Original Box, and Research - Serial no. 1254, 38 S&W Special cal., 6 1/2 inch
round bbl., blue finish, hard rubber grips. Manufactured in 1900, this is a very fine example of a First Model .38
Military & Police revolver, also referred to as the “Model of 1899”, that is documented as sent to Leroy T. Hillman
around the time of his graduation from West Point, who was later commander of the Rock Island Arsenal. The
included factory letter lists the revolver with a 6 1/2 inch barrel, blue finish, and checkered hard rubber grips
when shipped to Leroy T. Hillman at West Point, New York on 11 June 1900. Leroy T. Hillman (1879-1918) was born
in Ohio, with little known about his early life until he was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point
from the State of Indiana in 1896. Hillman graduated from the academy on 13 June 1900, just two days after this
revolver was shipped, indicating that the revolver was either ordered by himself, family, or friends as a celebration
of his graduation. Shortly afterwards, on September 17, 1900, Hillman married Miriam I. Ellis, the sister of one of his West Point instructors, then-1st LT Wilmot
E. Ellis (Class of 1889, retired as a Colonel), whose wife Seddie Clark Lauderdale was a direct descendant of William Clark of The Lewis & Clark Expedition fame.
Leroy Hillman was initially commissioned in the artillery corps in 1900, where he served at various coastal artillery forts in the northeast until around
July of 1904, when he was transferred to the Ordnance Department. He was then stationed at the Sandy Hook proving ground from July 1904
until 15 June 1905 when he was transferred to Watervliet Arsenal in New York, promoted to captain 12 July 1906, and was assistant to the
commanding officer until 8 September 1906, when he was transferred to the Rock Island Arsenal and was involved in the production of
artillery carriages, remaining there until 8 July 1908. Hillman was transferred back to the artillery corps and from 10 August 1908 until 1 July
1909 was in command of a battery at Fort Du Pont in Delaware. From 2 July 1909 to 7 September 1916, Hillman served in the office of the
Chief of Ordnance in Washington, D.C., at Watertown Arsenal, on a short special duty in Europe to analyze French and British artillery being used in World War I, and was
promoted to major. Due to his findings during his time in Europe, Hillman was able to recommend to the Ordnance Department the adoption of the Browning Automatic
Rifle, similar to other air-cooled machine guns in use by French and British forces, as well as recommendations for modernizing American artillery, including hydro-
pneumatic recoil systems. By January of 1918, Hillman had been promoted to colonel and on 4 March of that year was assigned as commander of the Rock Island Arsenal,
which had increased in size to 13,000 employees during the war from a total of just 1,300 before it. Following the armistice in November of 1918, Hillman was a principal
member of a board of officers tasked with recommending which Ordnance plants and arsenals would be retained, and if retained, what their area of expertise would be,
which later allowed for rapid mobilization and rearmament during World War II. On 21 December 1918, he returned to Rock Island Arsenal but just eight days later he died at the
age of 39 after battling a combination of influenza and pneumonia. He was one of an estimated 50 million victims worldwide that would succumb to the Spanish Flu pandemic.
The top of the barrel on this revolver has the standard two-line address and patent date marking. The serial number on the butt is partially obscured (starts with “1” and ends with “4”),
while the full serial number is visible on the left of the grip frame, rear face of the cylinder, and bottom of the barrel. The matching assembly number is marked on the frame and crane.
Included correspondence between the consignor and Smith & Wesson historian Roy Jinks indicates that Jinks believes the restamping of the serial number on the left of the grip
frame indicates that the lanyard loop on the butt was factory installed, despite it not being listed in the ledgers. It is fitted with a blade front sight, frame-top groove rear
sight, factory installed lanyard loop/stud on the butt, and a pair of checkered hard rubber grips with “S&W” monograms at the tops and patent dates
on the bottom. Includes the original factory box as well as a later production factory box for protecting the original. Also included are numerous
copies of documents pertaining to Hillman and his career and family compiled by the consignor.
CONDITION: Very fine, retains 90% of the original blue finish with some scattered small brown flakes, some mild handling wear on the grip straps
showing a brown patina, and a light cylinder turn line. The grips are excellent with a few scattered light handling marks and crisp checkering.
Mechanically excellent. A well-documented, historic Smith & Wesson revolver that belonged to a West Point graduate who later became
commander of the Rock Island Arsenal, and was married into one of the most prominent of historical American families!
Provenance: The Michael Priwer Collection.
Estimate: 6,000 - 10,000
Commander
Leroy T. Hillman
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