Thanks guys. Here's a slightly lengthier account of the story.
By the 1850's, we had a wave of capitalists in the United States whose wealth (and power) had grown exponentially. Antitrust and anti-monopoly laws were largely non-existent then, which meant that these wealthy capitalists could act with near impunity.
The development of the lever-action guns is rightly attributed to people like Benjamin Tyler Henry and Daniel Wesson, but much of this was done with funding from New York capitalists like Courtlandt and Amos Palmer, and Boston capitalists like Julius A. Palmer. Many of these fortunes were built in hardware mercantilism, and the networks that these men developed—for the movement of both money and goods—were part of why Joseph W. Storrs could move Model 1's around the country with such efficiency. Storrs was very much a part of this network.
And to give you an idea of the wealth that we're talking about: Catharine Wolfe (1828-1887) was the daughter of another wealthy New York hardware mercantilist. The fortune she inherited from her parents enabled her to become an art collector of repute. When she died, a sizable portion of her collection was willed to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, and it was her collection of European art that really put the MMOA on the map. Much of it is still on display there.
Rollin White is a good example of the underbelly of this unfettered capitalism. In striking his patent deal with D. B. Wesson, White became a poor pawn in a rich man's legal game. In fairness, I don't think D. B. realized just how wildly successful his cartridge ammunition would become, but he certainly didn't mind the success.
The actors in the Rollin White patent lawsuits understood the far-reaching legal and political implications of the suit, and they all came into the courtroom ready for war. I don't think D. B. Wesson gave a damn about Rollin White by that point; he had ensnared White contractually into defending the patent and was going to wring every last penny out of White. Whether D. B. was a vindictive prick or just that cheap is anyone's guess, but in any case he seemed more than happy to hang Rollin White out to dry.
So yes, Rollin White struck a bad deal that left him in financial ruin. But I simply do not accept the conclusion that Rollin White was some sort of idiot, or that he was being greedy—at least, no more greedy than any of us would be if we had a patent that someone else was offering to license from us.
Rollin was born into a fairly poor family in rural Vermont. I don't have any record of his having received any education beyond the local public schools. He was granted his first patent in 1842 at the young age of 25 years old, and it was for an innovation in looms. My guess is that he started out working in some sort of textiles factory, and that he had enough of an entrepreneurial spirit to pursue getting a patent. Rollin eventually followed his older brother Josiah to Hartford, where they both worked at Colt's plant. I don't have any information to suggest that the White family had any family history of gunmaking, so my guess is that they were simply chasing jobs and opportunities to keep their young families afloat (something that Rollin's parents had also done).
Interestingly, Rollin struck out for Iowa shortly after he worked out the deal with D. B. Wesson. What took him out there specifically is anyone's guess, but I think he probably took the patent monies from D. B. and set himself up in the dry goods business. He seems to have been reasonably successful in this enterprise; he didn't return to Massachusetts until 1864, shortly after the White v Allen lawsuit wound up.
I don't know exactly why he moved back to Massachusetts from Iowa, but I'm guessing that he had a lot of debts and obligations to take care of in Massachusetts, and trying to manage that from Iowa was too logistically difficult.
In the 1920's Rollin White's son gave some fairly lengthy accounts of his father's troubles in a series of correspondence that I've been researching. According to him, his father was not involved at all in the establishment of the Rollin White Arms Company. This is actually consistent with my research ... and my guess is that Rollin was given some stock to keep him quiet about the affair.
To add insult to injury: the Rollin White Arms Company was funded largely by a wealthy Boston mercantilist. Someone else that, undoubtedly, sought to capitalize on Rollin White at Rollin White's expense.
Mike
