Elisha Collier
{{Short description|American inventor}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Elisha Collier
| image =
| image_size=
| caption=
| birth_name = Elisha Haydon Collier
| birth_date = 1788
| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts
| death_date = January 23, 1856
| death_place = Boston, Massachusetts
| occupation = Firearms designer
| spouse =
| children =
}}
Elisha Haydon Collier (1788–1856) of Boston, Massachusetts, invented a flintlock revolver around 1818. It is one of the earliest true revolvers, after the 1739's revolver of Iaumandreu from Manresa and 1702's of Rovira from Ripoll, exhibited in the Armouries of the Tower of London,{{cite book|last=Lavin|first=J.D.|title=A History of Spanish Firearms|publisher=H. Jenkins|series=Arco gun library|year=1965|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yVgFqlo3w0YC&q=History+of+Spanish+Firearms+catalan+flintlock+revolving+gun+with+four+chambers|access-date=2023-06-09|page=}} in contrast to the earlier pepperboxes which were multi-barreled guns.{{Cite book |last=Bowman |first=H.W. |year=1963 |editor=Lucian Cary |title=Antique Guns |edition=4th printing |location=Greenwich, Connecticut |publisher=Fawcett Publications |page=94}} Collier's revolver was not self rotating but it was self-priming: a compartment automatically released gunpowder into the pan when the hammer was cocked.{{Cite web |url=http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?p=132015 |work=My Armory Discussion Forums |title=Flintlock Revolver from Elisha Collier |date=April 2008}}[http://www.mek-schuetzen.de/Blueprints/Flintlock_Revolver_bp.png Elisha Collier revolver schematic] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425092530/http://www.mek-schuetzen.de/Blueprints/Flintlock_Revolver_bp.png |date=2012-04-25 }}[http://hellinahandbasket.net/?attachment_id=4875 Image of Elisha Collier's revolver] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425092547/http://hellinahandbasket.net/?attachment_id=4875 |date=2012-04-25 }}
Gunmaking
{{multiple image |align=right |width=200px |direction=vertical
|image1=Elisha-collier-flintlock-revolver.jpg|caption1=Collier's flintlock revolvers
|image2=Revolver, flintlock (AM 776085-16).jpg|caption2=A surviving Collier's revolver
}}
It was patented in 1818, produced from 1819 by John Evans & Son of London, and purchased by European officers in the presidency armies. Over 10,000 of value (approximately 160 long guns) in pound sterling was supposedly to be made and contracted for India according to Elisha H. Collier's testimony in the 1851 Colt vs. Massachusetts Arms Company patent infringement trial of 1851 (J. Harrison – The Gun Collector Number 35 Feb 1951, pp. 553–555.) but further on in testimony was diminished by Mr. Collier suggesting that this number was only anticipated. It is known that there are but approximately 225 Collier pistols and long guns were made between 1819 and 1824, according to known serial numbers between the three types. A single barrel allowed greater accuracy and a faster reload time while reducing unnecessary weight. However, its flintlock action was a serious drawback: flints were unreliable and had to be changed frequently, while inferior quality powder risked a misfire.{{Cite web |url=http://patentpending.blogs.com/patent_pending_blog/2004/11/colliers_flintl.html |work=Patent Pending Blog |first=Bob |last=Shaver |title=Collier's Flintlock Revolver |date=November 22, 2004}}
Samuel Colt saw weapons of this type while serving as a cabin boy aboard the brig Corvo in 1832.{{Cite web |url=http://patersonmuseum.com/local/source/samuel_colt_.htm |work=Paterson Museum web site |title=Samuel Colt |access-date=2010-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226234431/http://patersonmuseum.com/local/source/samuel_colt_.htm |archive-date=2010-12-26 |url-status=dead }} Following his return from the Far East he was inspired to create his own caplock revolver: the Colt Paterson.{{Cite book |last=Ricketts |first=H |title=Firearms |location=London |year=1962}}
Collier also produced revolving shotguns and carbines in the 1820s.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/gunsofoldwestill0000chap |url-access=registration |first=Charles Edward |last=Chapel |title=Guns of the Old West |page=[https://archive.org/details/gunsofoldwestill0000chap/page/202 202] |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-486-42161-2}} Only 150 of these now rare guns were made.{{Cite web |url=http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/rare-collier-revolving-percussion-shotgun-1-c-63cafa5398 |title=Lot 3067: Rare Collier Revolving Percussion Shotgun |work=Invaluable: Online Live Auctions web site |year=2009}}
Other activities
In the 1830s, Collier invented a new boiler for steam ships.{{Cite journal
|title=Collier's Patent Steam-Boilers and Safety Breathing-Tube
|journal=The Mechanics' Magazine
|date=3 December 1836
|volume=XXVI
|issue=695
|pages=161–164
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cwgAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA162
}} He wrote a book on the subject, which was published in 1836.{{Cite book |title=On the Superior Advantages of the Patent Improved Steam-boilers, invented by E. H. Collier, etc. With a plate |year=1836}} In 1839 Collier designed a machine for mass-producing nails for the Globe Dock Factory, Rotherhithe, Surrey.{{Cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GAsAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA160 |title=The mechanic's magazine, museum, register, journal and gazette |volume=31 |year=1839 |page=130}}
Later life
Collier lived in England from 1818 until 1850, when he returned to Boston, Massachusetts. By this time Colt's cheaper mass-produced revolvers had supplanted his earlier, hand made designs.{{Cite web|url=http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/c/o/l/Wade-Collier-MA/PHOTO/0067photo.html |title=Elisha Hayden Collier's 1820 Flintlock Revolver |work=The Colliers of Massachusetts Family Page |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330085446/http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/c/o/l/Wade-Collier-MA/PHOTO/0067photo.html |archivedate=2012-03-30 }} Collier is listed as having lived at 88 Eliot Street in an 1850 census, where he died on January 23, 1856.{{Cite web |url=http://www.american-firearms.com/american-firearms/z-html/company-C/Collier,%20Elisha%20Haydon/Collier,%20Elisha%20Haydon.html |title=Collier, Elisha Haydon |work=American Firearms web site |date=27 February 2011}}