Daniel B. Wesson
Encyclopedia
Daniel Baird Wesson was a firearms designer from the United States. He was responsible for helping develop several firearms that had a very large influence in the field.
Daniel Wesson had five sisters and four brothers: Cornelia (b.1810); Edwin (b.1811); Betsy (b.1814); Rufus Jr. (b.1815); Charlotte (b.1819); Jane (b.1823); Franklin (b.1828); Martin (b.unk); and Frances (b.1830).
Wesson was married to Cynthia Maria Hawes, May 26, 1847 in Thompson, Connecticut. The couple had one daughter and three sons: Sarah Janette Wesson Bull (b.1848); Walter Wesson (Smith & Wesson executive, b.1850); Frank Wesson (b.unk); and Joseph Wesson (Smith & Wesson executive, b.unk).
and Courtlandt Palmer to develop the Smith & Wesson Lever pistol and the first repeating rifle
– the Volcanic. Production was in the shop of Horace Smith in Norwich, CT. Originally using the name "Smith & Wesson Company", the name was changed to "Volcanic Repeating Arms Company" in 1855, with the addition of new investors, one of whom was Oliver Winchester. The Volcanic Repeating Arms Company obtained all rights for the Volcanic designs (both rifle and pistol versions were in production by this time) as well as the ammunition, from the Smith and Wesson Company. Wesson remained as plant manager for 8 months before rejoining Smith to found the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" upon obtaining the licensing of the Rollin White
"rear loading cylinder patent.
In 1856 Smith & Wesson
began to produce a small revolver designed to fire the Rimfire cartridge they had patented in August 1854. This revolver was the first successful fully self-contained cartridge revolver available in the world. Smith & Wesson secured patents for the revolver to prevent other manufacturers from producing a cartridge revolver – giving the young company a very lucrative business.
At the age of 65, Horace Smith retired from the company and sold his share of the business to D. B. Wesson, making him the sole owner of the firm. In the late 1800s the company introduced its line of hammerless revolvers (still represented in Smith & Wesson
's handgun line).
In 1899, Smith & Wesson introduced what is arguably the most famous revolver in the world, the .38 Military & Police (Model 10). This revolver has been in continual production since that year and has been used by virtually every police agency and military force around the world.
, (called Dan Wesson
) followed the family tradition as gunsmith.
called Wesson Terrace. Now called White Cliffs, it is owned by the La Cava family and is a function facility often used for weddings, wedding showers, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Northborough's Annual Winter Ball, and gatherings for various local associations.
Wesson also lived and worked in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, building hospitals and a home there. In 1966 his Springfield home, owned at the time by the Colony Club, was destroyed by fire.
The summer house
he built in Northborough, Massachusetts was on land belonging to his wife's family. He was apprenticed in Northborough at his brother's gunsmith shop until his brother died. Having learned the gun trade in town, as well as having a wife from town, Daniel Baird Wesson returned with his wife to build a summer house there.
It was not the first mansion built by the wealthy inventor/industrialist. 13 houses (mansions) were constructed for him but White Cliffs is the only remaining Wesson mansion. The others having all been destroyed, mostly by fires.
The summer house benefited from his numerous European trips. He was an avid admirer of the Medici
period, and family, in Italy, and had a few of the Countess's rooms dismantled and rebuild in Northborough. Smith and Wesson guns were worldwide. This was from their licensing agreements set up with foreign countries and rulers to mass-produce them for their armies. S&W sidearms were desired sidearms in many foreign armies, including the armies of the Russian Czar.
White Cliffs was named for the "White Cliffs
" of England, especially in the Dover area. He had a painting of the magnificent white-chalk-cliffs there that he placed over the mantle that faced the main entrance. It is for this that the residence was called White Cliffs; even though at their time it was not a white building.
Wesson Terrace is actually a small development built in the 1950s-60s nearby. The only association of this and D.B. Wesson is that it was built above a brick aqueduct system, which supplied White Cliffs, that crossed the top of this New England hill.
Wesson Terrace was bought by the Tomaiolo family in the 1930s and turned into the restaurant now known as "The White Cliffs." According to Teddy Tomaiolo, one of the brothers who ran the restaurant in the 1970s, the building had been called "The Cliffs" by local residents. But an Irish waitress who worked at the restaurant in its early years used to sing "The White Cliffs of Dover" while doing her prep work. The Tomaiolos liked the name and used it for their restaurant, eventually painting the exterior all white.
Early years
Daniel Baird Wesson was the son of Rufus and Betsey (Baird) Wesson. Daniel's father was a farmer and manufacturer of wooden plows and Daniel worked on his father's farm and attended public school until the age of eighteen, when he apprenticed himself to his brother Edwin Wesson (a leading manufacturer of target rifles and pistols in the 1840s) in Northborough, Massachusetts.Daniel Wesson had five sisters and four brothers: Cornelia (b.1810); Edwin (b.1811); Betsy (b.1814); Rufus Jr. (b.1815); Charlotte (b.1819); Jane (b.1823); Franklin (b.1828); Martin (b.unk); and Frances (b.1830).
Wesson was married to Cynthia Maria Hawes, May 26, 1847 in Thompson, Connecticut. The couple had one daughter and three sons: Sarah Janette Wesson Bull (b.1848); Walter Wesson (Smith & Wesson executive, b.1850); Frank Wesson (b.unk); and Joseph Wesson (Smith & Wesson executive, b.unk).
Smith & Wesson
In 1854, Daniel B. Wesson partnered with Horace SmithHorace Smith (inventor)
Horace Smith was a gunsmith, inventor, and businessman. He and his business partner Daniel B. Wesson formed two companies named Smith & Wesson, the first of which was financed in part by Oliver Winchester and was eventually reorganized into the Winchester Repeating Arms Company-Early career:Born...
and Courtlandt Palmer to develop the Smith & Wesson Lever pistol and the first repeating rifle
Repeating rifle
A repeating rifle is a single barreled rifle containing multiple rounds of ammunition. These rounds are loaded from a magazine by means of a manual or automatic mechanism, and the action that reloads the rifle also typically recocks the firing action...
– the Volcanic. Production was in the shop of Horace Smith in Norwich, CT. Originally using the name "Smith & Wesson Company", the name was changed to "Volcanic Repeating Arms Company" in 1855, with the addition of new investors, one of whom was Oliver Winchester. The Volcanic Repeating Arms Company obtained all rights for the Volcanic designs (both rifle and pistol versions were in production by this time) as well as the ammunition, from the Smith and Wesson Company. Wesson remained as plant manager for 8 months before rejoining Smith to found the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" upon obtaining the licensing of the Rollin White
Rollin White
Rollin White was an American gunsmith who invented a revolver with a bored-through cylinder which allowed metallic cartridges to be loaded from the rear.-Early life:...
"rear loading cylinder patent.
In 1856 Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson is the largest manufacturer of handguns in the United States. The corporate headquarters is in Springfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1852, Smith & Wesson's pistols and revolvers have become standard issue to police and armed forces throughout the world...
began to produce a small revolver designed to fire the Rimfire cartridge they had patented in August 1854. This revolver was the first successful fully self-contained cartridge revolver available in the world. Smith & Wesson secured patents for the revolver to prevent other manufacturers from producing a cartridge revolver – giving the young company a very lucrative business.
At the age of 65, Horace Smith retired from the company and sold his share of the business to D. B. Wesson, making him the sole owner of the firm. In the late 1800s the company introduced its line of hammerless revolvers (still represented in Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson is the largest manufacturer of handguns in the United States. The corporate headquarters is in Springfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1852, Smith & Wesson's pistols and revolvers have become standard issue to police and armed forces throughout the world...
's handgun line).
In 1899, Smith & Wesson introduced what is arguably the most famous revolver in the world, the .38 Military & Police (Model 10). This revolver has been in continual production since that year and has been used by virtually every police agency and military force around the world.
Charitable donations
In 1900, Daniel Wesson, a strong advocate of homeopathy, founded the Hampden Homeopathic Hospital with a donation of $100,000. The hospital (later known as Wesson Memorial Hospital) was located in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1923 the hospital switched from homeopathy to modern-day medicine.Death
Wesson remained active in the firm until his death in 1906. After a four-year illness, Wesson succumbed to " ... heart failure superinduced by neuritis... " Daniel Wesson was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Springfield, Massachusetts. His great-grandson Daniel B. Wesson IIDaniel B. Wesson II
Daniel Baird Wesson II was an inventor and firearms maker and the great-grandson of inventor and firearms maker Daniel Baird Wesson who was co-founder of Smith & Wesson. Wesson worked in Smith & Wesson, the family company, from 1938 until 1963 when it was acquired by Bangor Punta. He left and...
, (called Dan Wesson
Dan Wesson
Dan Wesson may refer to:* Daniel B. Wesson , inventor and co-founder of Smith & Wesson firearms* Daniel B. Wesson II , his great-grandson, inventor and founder of Dan Wesson Firearms...
) followed the family tradition as gunsmith.
Residences
In 1886, Daniel Wesson built a summer home in Northborough, MassachusettsNorthborough, Massachusetts
Northborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The official spelling of the town's name is "Northborough", but the shorter spelling "Northboro" is also used...
called Wesson Terrace. Now called White Cliffs, it is owned by the La Cava family and is a function facility often used for weddings, wedding showers, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Northborough's Annual Winter Ball, and gatherings for various local associations.
Wesson also lived and worked in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, building hospitals and a home there. In 1966 his Springfield home, owned at the time by the Colony Club, was destroyed by fire.
The summer house
Summer house
A summer house or summerhouse has traditionally referred to a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden or park, often designed to provide cool shady places...
he built in Northborough, Massachusetts was on land belonging to his wife's family. He was apprenticed in Northborough at his brother's gunsmith shop until his brother died. Having learned the gun trade in town, as well as having a wife from town, Daniel Baird Wesson returned with his wife to build a summer house there.
It was not the first mansion built by the wealthy inventor/industrialist. 13 houses (mansions) were constructed for him but White Cliffs is the only remaining Wesson mansion. The others having all been destroyed, mostly by fires.
The summer house benefited from his numerous European trips. He was an avid admirer of the Medici
Medici
The House of Medici or Famiglia de' Medici was a political dynasty, banking family and later royal house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the late 14th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside,...
period, and family, in Italy, and had a few of the Countess's rooms dismantled and rebuild in Northborough. Smith and Wesson guns were worldwide. This was from their licensing agreements set up with foreign countries and rulers to mass-produce them for their armies. S&W sidearms were desired sidearms in many foreign armies, including the armies of the Russian Czar.
White Cliffs was named for the "White Cliffs
White cliffs of Dover
The White Cliffs of Dover are cliffs which form part of the British coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliffs are part of the North Downs formation. The cliff face, which reaches up to , owes its striking façade to its composition of chalk accentuated by streaks of black flint...
" of England, especially in the Dover area. He had a painting of the magnificent white-chalk-cliffs there that he placed over the mantle that faced the main entrance. It is for this that the residence was called White Cliffs; even though at their time it was not a white building.
Wesson Terrace is actually a small development built in the 1950s-60s nearby. The only association of this and D.B. Wesson is that it was built above a brick aqueduct system, which supplied White Cliffs, that crossed the top of this New England hill.
Wesson Terrace was bought by the Tomaiolo family in the 1930s and turned into the restaurant now known as "The White Cliffs." According to Teddy Tomaiolo, one of the brothers who ran the restaurant in the 1970s, the building had been called "The Cliffs" by local residents. But an Irish waitress who worked at the restaurant in its early years used to sing "The White Cliffs of Dover" while doing her prep work. The Tomaiolos liked the name and used it for their restaurant, eventually painting the exterior all white.