Full Name Samuel M. Stone Occupation Company President | Name Samuel Stone | |
Born February 19, 1869 ( 1869-02-19 ) Urbana, Ohio Spouse(s) Alice Osborne Bailey Stone Died December 9, 1959, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Employer Colt's Manufacturing Company | ||
Samuel M. Stone (February 19, 1869 – December 9, 1959) was a President of Colt's Manufacturing Company who saw the company through the build-up to World War I and the end of World War II.
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Early life
Stone was born in Urbana, Ohio in 1869 where he attended public schools. In 1890 he left Ohio for St. Louis to work as a buyer for Simmons Hardware Company. He worked at Simmons for 15 years, eventually leaving to accept a position at Colt Firearms.
Colt's
Samuel M. Stone started with Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1905 as a salesman. He was elected to company vice-president in 1916, and eventually President of Colt's from 1921 to 1944.
Anticipating a military draw-down following World War I, Stone and company president William C. Skinner implemented a diversification program at Colt's Manufacturing similar to that done at the close of the American Civil War. Skinner and Stone acquired contracts for business machines, calculators, dishwashers, motorcycles, and automobiles; all marketed under a name other than Colt. Other measures included cutting the work week, reducing salaries, and keeping more employees on the payroll than they needed, all of which kept the company in business.
Striking workers from the plant firebombed Stone's house in an act of terrorism in 1934. Later that year Stone was summonned to testify before the Nye Committee against allegations that Colt was campaigning for America to enter World War I. Company records disclosed that this was false and that Stone had been concentrating on selling pistols to markets in Latin America instead.
In 1944 Colt faced labor and money problems again as the wartime workforce surged from 1100 workers to over 13000. The Federal Government intervened and had Stone step down as president.