Oliver Fisher Winchester

Oliver Fisher Winchester

Infobox Person
name = Oliver Fisher Winchester


image_size =
caption = Winchester circa 1847
birth_date = November 30, 1810
birth_place = Boston
death_date = December 11, 1880
death_place = New Haven, Connecticut
occupation = Winchester Repeating Arms Company
spouse = Jane Ellen Hope
parents = Samuel Winchester
Hannah Bates
children = Ann Rebecca Winchester (1835-1864)
William Wirt Winchester (1837-1881)
Hannah Jane Winchester

Oliver Fisher Winchester (November 30, 1810 – December 11, 1880) was an American businessman and politician.

Birth and marriage

He was the son of Samuel Winchester and Hannah Bates and was born in Boston on November 30, 1810. He married Jane Ellen Hope in Boston on February 20, 1834. Their children were:
* Ann Rebecca Winchester (1835-1864) who married Charles B. Dye
* William Wirt Winchester (1837-1881) who married Sarah Lockwood Pardee
* Hannah Jane Winchester who married Thomas Gray Bennett

Career

Winchester was known for manufacturing and marketing the Winchester repeating rifle, which was a much re-designed descendant of the Volcanic rifle of some years earlier. Winchester started as a clothing manufacturer in New York City and New Haven, Connecticut. During this period he discovered that a division of Smith & Wesson firearms was failing financially with one of their newly patented arms. Having an eye for opportunity, Winchester assembled venture capital together with other stockholders and acquired the S&W division, better known as the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company, in 1850. By 1856, Winchester had positioned himself as the principal stockholder in the company and relocated to New Haven, changing the name to New Haven Arms Company.

Initially, the company was plagued by sluggish returns, which was in part attributed to the design and poor performance of the Volcanic cartridge: a hollow conical ball filled with black powder and sealed by a cork primer. Although the Volcanic's repeater design far outpaced the rival technology, the poor performance and reliability of the .25 and .32 caliber cartridges used in the pistol and rifle models respectively, was little match for the competitors' larger calibers.

Fortunately for Winchester, he inherited a brilliant engineer, Benjamin Tyler Henry, who would prove an invaluable asset. Henry sought to improve on the Volcanic repeating rifle, by enlarging the frame and magazine to accommodate seventeen of his newly redesigned, all-brass case, .44 caliber rimfire cartridges. This new cartridge put the new company on the map, and Henry's ingenuity was rewarded with a patent in his name October 16, 1860, for what was to become the famous Henry rifle.

The Henry Rifle was manufactured for almost six years with a total production of approximately 12,000 rifles, both iron and brass frame models. Following the success of the Henry rifle, the company was reorganized once more and renamed the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. In 1866, employee Nelson King's new improved patent remedied flaws in the Henry rifle by incorporating a loading gate on the side of the frame and integrating a round sealed magazine which was covered by a fore stock. The first Winchester rifle was the Model 1866, the Yellow boy.

Repeating rifles were used to some extent in the American Civil War. However, the United States Army at that time did not use many repeating rifles as it was a new, untested technology. Repeating rifles were not widely used until after the war, when they became increasingly popular with civilians. Military authorities concentrated primarily on perfecting breech-loading single shot rifles for many more years. With thousands of rifles in the hands of the average pioneer, the Winchester repeating rifles gained a reputation as "the gun that won the West".

Oliver Winchester was also active in politics, serving as a New Haven City Commissioner, Republican Presidential elector in 1864, and as Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 1866 - 1867.

When Winchester died on December 11, 1880, his ownership in the company passed to his son, William Wirt Winchester, who died of tuberculosis in March of the next year. William's wife Sarah believed the family was cursed by the spirits killed by the Winchester rifle, and moved to San Jose, California and began building a chaotic mansion now known as the Winchester Mystery House with her inheritance, intending to confuse the spirits seeking revenge.

Legacy

Winchester Avenue in New Haven is named in his honor. Winchester Hall (no longer standing) at the Sheffield Scientific School was named in his honor. The Jane Ellen Hope building at the Yale Medical School is named in his wife's honor.

In 2006, the Olin Corporation, owners of the Winchester name, closed their factory in New Haven amidst much protest, finally ending all Winchester ties with the city.

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pif&GRid=5125&PIgrid=5125&PIcrid=103328&ShowCemPhotos=Y& Oliver Winchester's grave]
* [http://www.hlebooks.com/patents/winch/henry/henry.htm Henry repeating rifle US Patent no. 30,446 & other resources]
* [http://www.hlebooks.com/patents/winch/1866/w1866.htm Winchester Model 1866 US Patents no. 55,012 - 57,808 & other resources]


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  • Winchester, Oliver Fisher — ▪ American manufacturer born Nov. 30, 1810, Boston died Dec. 11, 1880, New Haven, Conn., U.S.       U.S. manufacturer of guns and ammunition who developed the Winchester rifle and made the Winchester Repeating Arms Company a success by the shrewd …   Universalium

  • Winchester, Oliver (Fisher) — born Nov. 30, 1810, Boston, Mass., U.S. died Dec. 11, 1880, New Haven, Conn. U.S. manufacturer of guns and ammunition. He initially set up a factory to manufacture dress shirts, and his success enabled him to purchase the Volcanic Repeating Arms… …   Universalium

  • Winchester, Oliver (Fisher) — (30 nov. 1810, Boston, Mass., EE.UU.–11 dic. 1880, New Haven, Conn.). Fabricante de armas de fuego y municiones estadounidense. Primero instaló una fábrica de camisas de vestir, y su éxito le permitió adquirir la fábrica de armas de repetición… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Oliver Winchester — Oliver Fisher Winchester Winchester circa 1847 Born November 30, 1810 (1810 11 30) Boston Died …   Wikipedia

  • Oliver Winchester — Oliver Fisher Winchester (* 30. November 1810 in Boston, Massachusetts; † 11. Dezember 1880 ebenda) war ein amerikanischer Geschäftsmann und Politiker. Leben und Wirkung Winchester, gelernter Schreiner, machte sein Geld als Hemdenfabrikant und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Winchester-Gewehre —   [ wɪntʃɪstə ], besonders in den USA im späten 19. und im frühen 20. Jahrhundert, teilweise bis heute verbreitete Repetiergewehre (Unterhebelrepetierer mit Röhrenmagazin), benannt nach Oliver Fisher Winchester (* 1810, ✝ 1880), der 1857 eine… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Winchester Repeating Arms Company — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Winchester. La Winchester Repeating Arms Company a dominé l’industrie des armes légères américaines entre la fin du XIXe et le début du XXe siècle. Sommaire 1 Fondation …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Winchester Rifle —    The Winchester rifle was as much a part of the Wild West as the Colt, a pistol. The 73 Winchester, made in 1873, was the prototype of the Winchester rifles that followed, a gun used extensively in hunting. Oliver Fisher Winchester (1810 1880)… …   Dictionary of eponyms

  • Oliver — Oliver, Joan Oliver, Joe Oliver, Miguel de los Santos * * * (as used in expressions) Cromwell, Oliver Davis, Benjamin O(liver), Jr. Ellsworth, Oliver Evans, Oliver Goldsmith …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Fisher — Fisher, Irving Fisher, John * * * (as used in expressions) Ames, Fisher Fisher, Irving Fisher (de Kilverstone), John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1 barón Fisher, Sir R(onald) A(ylmer) Winchester, Oliver (Fisher) …   Enciclopedia Universal

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