Excerpt from Simeon North, First Official Pistol Maker of the United States: A Memoir Becoming interested in the achievements of their ancestor in the manufacture of pistols and guns for government use, they were surprised to find that there nowhere existed, in any public form, any record of these achievements, nor any knowledge of them on the part of the historians of the subject. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1913 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER V THE BUILDING OF THE MIDDLETOWN FACTORY. AND AN UNPLEASANT EPISODE DIMMEDIATELY upon returning from Washington to Berlin with this contract, Colonel North purchased fifty acres of land located on Mattabesett or West River, with the privilege of flowing, at Staddle Hill, in Middletown, about a mile and a half southwest of Middletown Center. The water power at Berlin was not sufficient to take care of a factory as large as it was now necessary to operate. Here he proceeded to build a large dam, and to erect a three story brick factory, together with several outbuildings, planned along the best lines of the manufacturing buildings of those times. He states in a letter (see p. 122) that this factory with its machinery and tools, represented an investment of one hundred thousand dollars. There were few larger manufacturing investments in those days, either in New England or elsewhere in the country. When the new factory was completed and equipped, Colonel North turned over the Berlin shop to his eldest son Reuben, who had been long associated with him in the business there, and who continued to run it, in close affiliation with the Middletown factory, making forgings for the pistols manufactured in the new factory. Reuben North carried on the Berlin shop as superintendent until 1843, when, his health failing, he retired, and the factory was closed. It was destroyed by a flood in 1857, which swept away the dam on Spruce brook at the same time. Hardly a trace of this primitive factory has been visible for many years, and the stream has shrunken to such meager dimensions that it is difficult for the imagination to realize the large and important business which was so successfully conducted with the aid of its flow, by father and son, ..

Hardcover reprint of the original 1913 edition - beautifully bound in brown cloth covers featuring titles stamped in gold, 8vo - 6x9". No adjustments have been made to the original text, giving readers the full antiquarian experience. For quality purposes, all text and images are printed as black and white. This item is printed on demand. Book Information: North, S. N. D. Simon Newton Dexter. Simeon North, First Official Pistol Maker Of The United States; A Memoir. Indiana: Repressed Publishing LLC, 2012. Original Publishing: North, S. N. D. Simon Newton Dexter. Simeon North, First Official Pistol Maker Of The United States; A Memoir, . Concord, N. H., The Rumford Press, 1913. Subject: North, Simeon, 1705-1852