Dean Nelson, Director Museum of Connecticut History First published in The CONNector Magazine Volume 19, No. 4 Fall 2017 Shoulder Arms Top: U.S. Model 1819 Hall Rifle, Simeon North Contract of 1831, dated 1831; (Accession # 2017.369; purchase) Below: U.S. Model 1843 Hall/North Carbine,dated 1848 The year 2017 has been particularly benevolent to the Museum’s collections development program, providing closely-timed opportunities to acquire several interrelated early military rifles that embody key “firsts” in the evolution of precision metalworking production. Massachusetts Institute of Technology scholar Merritt Roe Smith in the 1970s identified the historic and technological significances of John Hall’s U. … Continue reading Gun Making Firsts-The Harpers Ferry and Middletown Connections