RICHARD J. GATLING - DOCUMENT SIGNED 10/1857 - HFSID 277691

RICHARD JORDAN GATLING
Gatling and his attorney signed this document regarding a 1857 Marion County lawsuit against Martin Robbins. This document was signed before the Gatling gun was patented and offered a rare glimpse of Gatling's life before the creation of his most famous invention.
Document signed "R. J. Gatling". Also signed by Gatling's attorney. 1 page, 7¾x12¼ ruled paper, with docket on verso. Aug. 11, 1857. Docketed on verso: "Affadavit for/summons of Garnishes". This document was signed by Gatling and his attorney in the Marion County, Indiana Circuit Court, in regards to a $1,000 suit he filed against Martin Robbins. According to this document, one John Gavin, Esq. had money belonging to Robbins that the Marion County Sheriff couldn't attach by virtue of the order of other attachments in Gattling's suit and that Robbins wasn't an Indiana resident. Gatling hadn't yet patented his most famous invention, the Gatling gun, when this document was signed. He was best known - if he was known at all - for his agricultural inventions. This is a rare glimpse at Gatling's life before the creation of this world-changing device. Gatling (1818-1903, born in Maney's Neck, North Carolina) was an American inventor best known for inventing the rapid-fire Gatling gun, the first practical machine gun. By the 1850s, Gatling had become wealthy from agricultural inventions such as machines for sowing rice and wheat. He patented the Gatling gun in 1862, the year The Gatling Gun Company was founded in Indianapolis. The Gatling Gun Company moved to Hartford in 1874 when he struck a deal with the Colt Patent and Firearms Company of Hartford to manufacture the device, by then in great demand by the U.S. Navy and Army for various purposes. Gatling moved to Hartford with his family that year, and stayed until his company was officially merged with Colt in 1897, at which time he moved to New York City. Lightly toned and creased. Docket on verso shows through paper. Folded three times and unfolded. Otherwise in fine condition.