Elizabeth Jarvis Colt: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox person |
{{Infobox person |
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| name = Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt |
| name = Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt |
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| image = Elizabeth and Caldwell Colt by Charles Loring Elliott 1865.jpg |
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| caption= Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt with her son Caldwell, 1865 |
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| birth_name = Elizabeth Hart Jarvis |
| birth_name = Elizabeth Hart Jarvis |
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| birth_date = {{birth date|mf=yes|1826|10|05}}<ref name="Phelps2013">{{cite book|last=Phelps|first=M. William|title=The Devil's Right Hand: The Tragic Story of the Colt Family Curse|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kHpMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA236|date=3 September 2013|publisher=Lyons Press|isbn=978-0-7627-8846-0|page=236}}</ref> |
| birth_date = {{birth date|mf=yes|1826|10|05}}<ref name="Phelps2013">{{cite book|last=Phelps|first=M. William|title=The Devil's Right Hand: The Tragic Story of the Colt Family Curse|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kHpMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA236|date=3 September 2013|publisher=Lyons Press|isbn=978-0-7627-8846-0|page=236}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> |
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| birth_place = [[Saybrook, Connecticut]], United States |
| birth_place = [[Saybrook, Connecticut]], United States |
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| death_date ={{death date and age|mf=yes|1905|08|23|1826|10|05}}<ref name="Convention1905">{{cite book|last=Convention|first=Episcopal Church. Diocese of Connecticut.|title=Journal of the Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Connecticut|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pekQAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA320|year=1905|publisher=The Diocese|page=320}}</ref> |
| death_date ={{death date and age|mf=yes|1905|08|23|1826|10|05}}<ref name="Convention1905">{{cite book|last=Convention|first=Episcopal Church. Diocese of Connecticut.|title=Journal of the Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Connecticut|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pekQAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA320|year=1905|publisher=The Diocese|page=320}}</ref> |
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| occupation = Businesswoman, philanthropist |
| occupation = Businesswoman, philanthropist |
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| spouse = [[Samuel Colt]] |
| spouse = [[Samuel Colt]] |
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| net_worth = |
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| children = [[Caldwell Hart Colt]] |
| children = [[Caldwell Hart Colt]] |
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| relatives = [[John C. Colt]], [[Richard Jarvis]] |
| relatives = [[John C. Colt]], [[Richard Jarvis (businessman)|Richard Jarvis]] |
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'''Elizabeth Jarvis Colt''' (October 5, 1826 – August 23, 1905 |
'''Elizabeth Jarvis Colt''' (born '''Elizabeth Hart Jarvis''', October 5, 1826 – August 23, 1905) was the widow and heir of firearms manufacturer [[Samuel Colt]], founder of [[Colt's Manufacturing Company]]. |
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==Early life== |
==Early life== |
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Elizabeth Hart Jarvis was born in [[Saybrook, Connecticut]] to Reverend William Jarvis, an Episcopal Minister, and Elizabeth Jarvis. She was the eldest of five children in an affluent and socially prominent family.<ref name="Coller2009">{{cite book|last=Coller|first=Jeremy|title=Splendidly Unreasonable Inventors: The Lives, Loves, and Deaths of 30 Pioneers Who Changed |
[[File:Hart Jarvis House, Portland, CT - October 2017.jpg|thumb|Hart Jarvis House, Portland, CT (October 2017).]]Elizabeth Hart Jarvis was born in [[Saybrook, Connecticut]], to Reverend William Jarvis, an Episcopal Minister, and Elizabeth Jarvis. She was the eldest of five children in an affluent and socially prominent family.<ref name="Coller2009">{{cite book|last=Coller|first=Jeremy|title=Splendidly Unreasonable Inventors: The Lives, Loves, and Deaths of 30 Pioneers Who Changed the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i9PyGVDCVDUC&pg=PT63|date=12 November 2009|publisher=Overlook|isbn=978-1-4683-0615-6|pages=63–65}}</ref><ref name="Boynton2014"/><ref name="Bendici2012">{{cite book|last=Bendici|first=Ray|title=Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in Connecticut History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eZ91V_t8sksC&pg=PA157|date=18 September 2012|publisher=Globe Pequot|isbn=978-0-7627-8954-2|pages=157–162}}</ref> She "grew up in a lovely 1830s Greek Temple Revival house in [[Portland, Connecticut|Portland]],"<ref>{{cite web|title=Portland's Elmcrest Redevelopment Should Keep Historic Homes|url=http://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-save-portland-historic-houses-20150924-story.html|date=September 25, 2015|website=www.courant.com|publisher=[[The Hartford Courant]]|access-date=23 December 2017}}</ref> which fell into disrepair and was threatened with demolition, but (as of 2017) may be moved and rehabilitated as part of other area development.<ref>{{cite web|title=Portland, developer hammer out new mixed-use plan for Elmcrest site|url=http://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/Portland-developer-hammer-out-new-mixed-use-plan-11756819.php|date=January 12, 2017|website=www.middletownpress.com|publisher=[[The Middletown Press]]|access-date=23 December 2017}}</ref> |
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==Marriage to Samuel Colt== |
==Marriage to Samuel Colt== |
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She met Samuel Colt in 1851 in Newport, Rhode Island, and the two were married in 1856 |
She met Samuel Colt in 1851 in Newport, Rhode Island, and the two were married in 1856<ref name="Boynton2014">{{cite book|last=Boynton|first=Cynthia Wolfe|title=Remarkable Women of Hartford|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xoC3AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA45|date=4 March 2014|publisher=The History Press|isbn=978-1-62619-320-8|pages=43–52|chapter=Elizabeth Colt, First Lady of Hartford}}</ref> The couple resided at [[Armsmear]].<ref name="Coller2009"/> with Bishop [[Thomas Church Brownell]] presiding over the wedding.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thomas Church Brownell (1779 – 1865)|url=http://cedarhillfoundation.org/notable-residents/thomas-church-brownell/|website=Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation|access-date=30 August 2016}}</ref> |
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The Colts had |
The Colts had five children. Two died in infancy; a daughter, named Elizabeth, died at the age of three. In 1861, Samuel Colt died from complications associated with [[gout]] and left Elizabeth a pregnant widow. Seven months after his death, the baby was [[stillborn]].<ref name="Boynton2014"/> Only one child, [[Caldwell Hart Colt|Caldwell]], survived to adulthood, but he drowned at sea at the age of 35.<ref name="Boynton2014"/>{{verify source|date=February 2015}} |
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In 1861, Samuel Colt died from complications associated with [[gout]] and left Elizabeth a pregnant widow. Seven months after his death, the baby was [[stillborn]].<ref name="Boynton2014"/> |
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==At the helm of Colt== |
==At the helm of Colt== |
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Following her husband's death in 1862, Mrs. Colt inherited a controlling interest in the manufacturing company (worth $3.5 |
Following her husband's death in 1862, Mrs. Colt inherited a controlling interest in the manufacturing company (worth $3.5 million at the time, or ${{Inflation|US|3.5|1862|r=0}} million, adjusted for inflation to {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars), and played a key role in rebuilding the main armory following arson in 1864.<ref name="Smith2004">{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Anthony|title=Machine Gun: The Story of the Men and the Weapon That Changed the Face of War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pTNvqbkvpo4C&pg=PA52|date=2002|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0-312-93477-4|pages=52–53}}, although the book claims the 2002 value was $200 million</ref> Her brother, [[Richard Jarvis (businessman)|Richard Jarvis]] took over as president of the company in 1865, following the death of [[Elisha K. Root]], and the two transitioned the company from the end of the [[American Civil War]] through the early 20th century, seeing the evolution from [[percussion cap|percussion]] [[revolver]]s to cartridge [[revolver]]s to [[semiautomatic pistol]]s and [[machinegun]]s.<ref>{{cite book|title =The Colt legacy: the Colt Armory in Hartford, 1855-1980 |first= Ellsworth S.|last= Grant |pages=22, 58|publisher= Mowbray Co.|year= 1982|isbn =978-0-917218-17-0 }}</ref> |
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Colt served for 22 years as the president of the Union for Home Work, an organization that provided daycare for the children of working mothers. She became the first President of the Hartford Soldiers Aid Society and, in 1869, organized the first [[Suffragette]] convention in Connecticut. For these actions, she was dubbed "The First Lady of Hartford".<ref name="Boynton2014"/> |
Colt served for 22 years as the president of the Union for Home Work, an organization that provided daycare for the children of working mothers. She became the first President of the Hartford Soldiers Aid Society and, in 1869, organized the first [[Suffragette]] convention in Connecticut. For these actions, she was dubbed "The First Lady of Hartford".<ref name="Boynton2014"/> |
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In 1867, she had an Episcopal church designed by [[Edward Tuckerman Potter]] built as a memorial to her husband and the three children they lost. The church's architecture contains guns and gun-smithing tools sculpted in marble to commemorate her husband's life as an arms maker. |
In 1867, she had an Episcopal church designed by [[Edward Tuckerman Potter]] built as a memorial to her husband and the three children they lost. The church's architecture contains guns and gun-smithing tools sculpted in marble to commemorate her husband's life as an arms maker. In 1896, a parish house was built on the site as a memorial to their son, Caldwell, who died in 1894. In 1975, the [[Church of the Good Shepherd and Parish House]] was listed in the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=75001925}}|format=pdf|title=Church of the Good Shepherd and Parish House |publisher=US Department of the Interior|page=2|access-date=December 20, 2011}}</ref> |
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==Retirement and death== |
==Retirement and death== |
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[[File:Samuel Colt memorial.jpg|thumb|Colt memorial in [[Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut)|Cedar Hill Cemetery]]]] |
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She sold her interest in Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1901. She was involved in society life in [[Hartford, CT]] and President of the Hartford Women's Auxiliary.<ref name="Convention1905"/><ref>[http://www.cwhf.org/inductees/arts-humanities/elizabeth-hart-jarvis-colt#.U2FiN8cXvM0 "Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt"], Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame. |
She sold her interest in Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1901. She was involved in society life in [[Hartford, CT]] and President of the Hartford Women's Auxiliary.<ref name="Convention1905"/><ref>[http://www.cwhf.org/inductees/arts-humanities/elizabeth-hart-jarvis-colt#.U2FiN8cXvM0 "Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112202921/http://cwhf.org/inductees/arts-humanities/elizabeth-hart-jarvis-colt#.U2FiN8cXvM0 |date=2016-01-12 }}, Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame. Accessed April 30, 2014.</ref> |
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Colt died of paralysis in [[Newport, Rhode Island]] on August 23, 1905. The ''[[Hartford Courant]]'' ran a full |
Colt died of paralysis in [[Newport, Rhode Island]], on August 23, 1905. The ''[[Hartford Courant]]'' ran a full-page obituary of Colt on the front page of the newspaper the following day, calling her the "First Lady of Connecticut". It was the first time that the newspaper recognized the death of a woman in this manner.<ref name="Boynton2014"/> |
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In her will, Elizabeth Colt left a collection of nearly 1,000 objects, artworks, firearms and documents to the [[Wadsworth Atheneum]] as well as a fund to build the Colt Memorial. The Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt Memorial Wing was the first American museum wing bearing the name of a woman patron.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehartfordguardian.com/2010/02/23/community-program-to-highlight-legacy-of-elizabeth-colt/|title= Program to Highlight Legacy of Elizabeth Colt|date=23 February 2010}}</ref><ref name="Wertkin2004">{{cite book|last=Wertkin|first=Gerard C.|title=Encyclopedia of American Folk Art|url=https:// |
In her will, Elizabeth Colt left a collection of nearly 1,000 objects, artworks, firearms and documents to the [[Wadsworth Atheneum]] as well as a fund to build the Colt Memorial. The Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt Memorial Wing was the first American museum wing bearing the name of a woman patron.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehartfordguardian.com/2010/02/23/community-program-to-highlight-legacy-of-elizabeth-colt/|title= Program to Highlight Legacy of Elizabeth Colt|date=23 February 2010}}</ref><ref name="Wertkin2004">{{cite book|last=Wertkin|first=Gerard C.|title=Encyclopedia of American Folk Art|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415929868|url-access=registration|date=15 January 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-95614-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415929868/page/539 539]}}</ref> |
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She is buried along with her husband and children in Hartford's historic [[Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut)|Cedar Hill Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame: Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt|url=http://cwhf.org/inductees/arts-humanities/elizabeth-hart-jarvis-colt#.Wj7zXd-nHcs|website=www.cwhf.org|publisher=Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame|access-date=23 December 2017}}</ref> |
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== External links == |
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{{Commons category|position=left}} |
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==References== |
==References== |
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[[Category:1826 births]] |
[[Category:1826 births]] |
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[[Category:1905 deaths]] |
[[Category:1905 deaths]] |
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[[Category:19th-century American businesspeople]] |
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[[Category:19th-century American philanthropists]] |
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[[Category:Burials at Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut)]] |
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[[Category:Businesspeople from Hartford, Connecticut]] |
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[[Category:Colt's Manufacturing Company]] |
[[Category:Colt's Manufacturing Company]] |
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[[Category:People from Deep River, Connecticut]] |
[[Category:People from Deep River, Connecticut]] |
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[[Category:19th-century American |
[[Category:19th-century American businesswomen]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Colt family]] |
Latest revision as of 03:08, 4 March 2024
Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt | |
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Born | Elizabeth Hart Jarvis October 5, 1826[1] Saybrook, Connecticut, United States |
Died | August 23, 1905[2] Newport, Rhode Island, United States | (aged 78)
Occupation(s) | Businesswoman, philanthropist |
Spouse | Samuel Colt |
Children | Caldwell Hart Colt |
Relatives | John C. Colt, Richard Jarvis |
Elizabeth Jarvis Colt (born Elizabeth Hart Jarvis, October 5, 1826 – August 23, 1905) was the widow and heir of firearms manufacturer Samuel Colt, founder of Colt's Manufacturing Company.
Early life
[edit]Elizabeth Hart Jarvis was born in Saybrook, Connecticut, to Reverend William Jarvis, an Episcopal Minister, and Elizabeth Jarvis. She was the eldest of five children in an affluent and socially prominent family.[3][4][5] She "grew up in a lovely 1830s Greek Temple Revival house in Portland,"[6] which fell into disrepair and was threatened with demolition, but (as of 2017) may be moved and rehabilitated as part of other area development.[7]
Marriage to Samuel Colt
[edit]She met Samuel Colt in 1851 in Newport, Rhode Island, and the two were married in 1856[4] The couple resided at Armsmear.[3] with Bishop Thomas Church Brownell presiding over the wedding.[8]
The Colts had five children. Two died in infancy; a daughter, named Elizabeth, died at the age of three. In 1861, Samuel Colt died from complications associated with gout and left Elizabeth a pregnant widow. Seven months after his death, the baby was stillborn.[4] Only one child, Caldwell, survived to adulthood, but he drowned at sea at the age of 35.[4][verification needed]
At the helm of Colt
[edit]Following her husband's death in 1862, Mrs. Colt inherited a controlling interest in the manufacturing company (worth $3.5 million at the time, or $107 million, adjusted for inflation to 2023 dollars), and played a key role in rebuilding the main armory following arson in 1864.[9] Her brother, Richard Jarvis took over as president of the company in 1865, following the death of Elisha K. Root, and the two transitioned the company from the end of the American Civil War through the early 20th century, seeing the evolution from percussion revolvers to cartridge revolvers to semiautomatic pistols and machineguns.[10]
Colt served for 22 years as the president of the Union for Home Work, an organization that provided daycare for the children of working mothers. She became the first President of the Hartford Soldiers Aid Society and, in 1869, organized the first Suffragette convention in Connecticut. For these actions, she was dubbed "The First Lady of Hartford".[4]
In 1867, she had an Episcopal church designed by Edward Tuckerman Potter built as a memorial to her husband and the three children they lost. The church's architecture contains guns and gun-smithing tools sculpted in marble to commemorate her husband's life as an arms maker. In 1896, a parish house was built on the site as a memorial to their son, Caldwell, who died in 1894. In 1975, the Church of the Good Shepherd and Parish House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[11]
Retirement and death
[edit]She sold her interest in Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1901. She was involved in society life in Hartford, CT and President of the Hartford Women's Auxiliary.[2][12]
Colt died of paralysis in Newport, Rhode Island, on August 23, 1905. The Hartford Courant ran a full-page obituary of Colt on the front page of the newspaper the following day, calling her the "First Lady of Connecticut". It was the first time that the newspaper recognized the death of a woman in this manner.[4]
In her will, Elizabeth Colt left a collection of nearly 1,000 objects, artworks, firearms and documents to the Wadsworth Atheneum as well as a fund to build the Colt Memorial. The Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt Memorial Wing was the first American museum wing bearing the name of a woman patron.[13][14]
She is buried along with her husband and children in Hartford's historic Cedar Hill Cemetery.[15]
External links
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Phelps, M. William (3 September 2013). The Devil's Right Hand: The Tragic Story of the Colt Family Curse. Lyons Press. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-7627-8846-0.[permanent dead link ]
- ^ a b Convention, Episcopal Church. Diocese of Connecticut. (1905). Journal of the Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Connecticut. The Diocese. p. 320.
- ^ a b Coller, Jeremy (12 November 2009). Splendidly Unreasonable Inventors: The Lives, Loves, and Deaths of 30 Pioneers Who Changed the World. Overlook. pp. 63–65. ISBN 978-1-4683-0615-6.
- ^ a b c d e f Boynton, Cynthia Wolfe (4 March 2014). "Elizabeth Colt, First Lady of Hartford". Remarkable Women of Hartford. The History Press. pp. 43–52. ISBN 978-1-62619-320-8.
- ^ Bendici, Ray (18 September 2012). Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in Connecticut History. Globe Pequot. pp. 157–162. ISBN 978-0-7627-8954-2.
- ^ "Portland's Elmcrest Redevelopment Should Keep Historic Homes". www.courant.com. The Hartford Courant. September 25, 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- ^ "Portland, developer hammer out new mixed-use plan for Elmcrest site". www.middletownpress.com. The Middletown Press. January 12, 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- ^ "Thomas Church Brownell (1779 – 1865)". Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
- ^ Smith, Anthony (2002). Machine Gun: The Story of the Men and the Weapon That Changed the Face of War. St. Martin's Press. pp. 52–53. ISBN 978-0-312-93477-4., although the book claims the 2002 value was $200 million
- ^ Grant, Ellsworth S. (1982). The Colt legacy: the Colt Armory in Hartford, 1855-1980. Mowbray Co. pp. 22, 58. ISBN 978-0-917218-17-0.
- ^ "Church of the Good Shepherd and Parish House" (pdf). US Department of the Interior. p. 2. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
- ^ "Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt" Archived 2016-01-12 at the Wayback Machine, Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame. Accessed April 30, 2014.
- ^ "Program to Highlight Legacy of Elizabeth Colt". 23 February 2010.
- ^ Wertkin, Gerard C. (15 January 2004). Encyclopedia of American Folk Art. Routledge. p. 539. ISBN 978-1-135-95614-1.
- ^ "Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame: Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt". www.cwhf.org. Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame. Retrieved 23 December 2017.