- Term
Lyman Cornelius Smith
- Alternate Term
L.C. Smith
Smith, Lyman Cornelius
- Occupation/Role
gunsmith
- Nationality/Ethnicity
American
- Geography
Syracuse, New York
- Remarks
Lyman Cornelius Smith was born in 1850, in Torrington, Connecticut. After some unsucessful bussines ventures Smith decided to give try to the lucrative business of producing firearms. In 1877, L.C. and his older brother Leroy joined forces with an established firearms designer, William H. Baker, to form W. H. Baker & Co., and for three years, the firm produced Baker designed shotguns. In 1880, Leroy Smith and W.H. Baker left the company, and founded Ithaca Gun Company. Smith reanamed the company to L.C. Smith Shotgun Company of Syracuse and went into partnership with his younger brother, Wilbert, and a designer Alexander T. Brown and toghether they went on to produce several popular breech-loading shotguns. In 1886, the company produced its first hammerless shotgun which proved to be their most successful design. Despite the success of the company, Smith decided to sell the manufacturing rights for the entire line of L.C. Smith Shotguns to Hunter Arms Company in 1889. Smith later went on to found the Smith-Premier Typewriter Company, which would later become Smith-Corona Typewriter Company. Hunter Arms would produce the line until 1945, when they sold it to Marlin Firearms Company. Marlin halted production of L.C. Smith shotguns in 1950. They briefly revived the brand in 1967, before retiring it for good in 1972.