Christopher Miner Spencer (1833 – 1922), born June 20, 1833, was an American inventor, from Manchester, Connecticut, who invented the Spencer repeating rifle (one of the earliest models of lever-action rifle), a steam powered
"horseless carriage", a machine for making metal screws, and several other inventions.
Early Years
Spencer worked for Samuel Colt’s factory, where he gained learned the arms-making
trade.
Civil War
Although the Spencer rifle had been developed as early as 1859, it was not initially used by the Union. On August 18, 1863, Christopher Spencer walked into the White
House carrying one of his rifles and a supply of cartridges. He walked past the sentries, and into Abraham
Lincoln's office. After some discussion, he returned the following afternoon, when Sepncer and Lincoln were joined by
Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War
and other officials, and the group then proceeded to walk out on the Mall. Near the site of
theWashington Monument, they engaged in target shooting.
Subsequent to that meeting, the U.S ordered some 13,171 rifles and
carbines, along with some 58 million rounds of ammunition. This proved in part to be his undoing. The heavy expenses incurred in the manufacturing of these
arms, as well as a glut of rifles on the market after the war resulted in the Spencer Repeating Rifle
Company declaring bankruptcy. All the assets were acquired by Oliver
Winchester.
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
