Scope and Contents
Correspondence, diaries, printed material, business papers, personal papers, photographs, postcards, and maps relating to Samuel Colt and the Jarvis-Robinson family. Colt's business activities, correspondence from the Jarvis-Robinson family, and printed ephemera relating to Colt's Manufacturing Company and the family's social engagements are especially well represented in the papers. Colt's national and international business ventures, particularly with Texas and Russia; family travel diaries; and an 1868 map of Hartford are also present.
Dates
- 1740-1963
- Majority of material found within 1830 - 1920
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Jarvis-Robinson Family Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Samuel Colt Acquisition was purchased from Elizabeth C. Titus Putnam on Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana, 2006. The Jarvis-Robinson Family Acquisition was a gift of Elizabeth C. Titus Putnam, 2006
Arrangement
Organized into two groupings: Samuel Colt Acquisition and Jarvis-Robinson Family Acquisition.
Material within this collection has been organized by acquisition reflecting the fact that the collection was acquired in two discrete increments. Researchers should note that material within each acquisition overlaps with material found in other acquisitions. For instance, materials pertaining to Samuel Colt can be found in both groupings. In order to locate all relevant material within this collection, researchers will need to consult each acquisition described in the Collection Contents section.
Researchers should also note that similar material can be arranged differently in each acquisition, depending on how the material was organized when it was received by the library.
Extent
13.67 Linear Feet (34 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
Correspondence, diaries, printed material, business papers, personal papers, photographs, postcards, and maps relating to Samuel Colt and the Jarvis-Robinson family.
Jarvis-Robinson Family
The Jarvis-Robinson family comprised relatives of Samuel Colt, including his wife, Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt (1826-1905), her brother and Colt's business partner, Richard Jarvis (1829-1903), and her sister, Hetty Hart Jarvis (1828-1898). Their descendants included Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Beach Robinson (1869-1936) and her husband, Charles Leonard Frost Robinson (1874-1916).
Samuel Colt (1814-1862)
Samuel Colt, inventor, industrialist, and arms manufacturer.
Processing Information
This collection received a basic level of processing in 2014, including rehousing and in some instances minimal organization. Various acquisitions associated with the collection have not been merged and organized as a whole. Each acquisition is described separately in the contents list below.
The finding aid for this collection is compiled from individual preliminary lists for each acquisition that were created at or around the time of receipt by the library. The preliminary lists were migrated to comply with current archival descriptive standards and merged into a single file in 2007-2008. As part of the migration, modifications were made to the formatting of individual lists; however, the content of the lists was neither modified nor verified.
As a rule, descriptive information found in the Collection Contents section is drawn in large part from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
This collection includes materials previously identified by the call number Uncat MSS 918.
- Colt firearms
- Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Co
- Connecticut -- Economic conditions -- 19th century
- Connecticut -- Social life and customs
- Firearms industry and trade -- United States
- Hartford (Conn.) -- Maps
- Jarvis family
- Mines and mineral resources -- Arizona
- Mines and mineral resources -- Mexico
- Photographs -- United States -- 20th Century
- Robinson family
- Russia -- Commerce -- United States
- United States -- Commerce -- Russia
- Weapons industry -- Russia
- Weapons industry -- United States
- Title
- Guide to the Jarvis-Robinson Family Papers
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- by Beinecke staff
- Date
- 2007-05-16
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.