This incredibly high condition early factory engraved Colt Model 1851 Navy revolver was manufactured in 1852 and features beautiful early Hartford engraving. Finding these early factory engraved revolvers in high condition is extremely difficult, and few of them have known history. The engraving consists of very circular scroll patterns with some feather-like detailing on the rear third of the barrel, flats of the loading lever arm, essentially all of the frame, most of the hammer along with a bestial mask, and on the trigger guard and back strap along with wavy line borders and some areas of light crosshatching. The "COLT'S/PATENT" marking is engraved on the left side of the frame in a banner formed by the scrolls. This early style Hartford engraving is attributed to Thomas J. Barlow who engraved for Colt c. mid-1852 to early 1854 after previously working for Blunt & Syms in New York City (see "Colt Factory Engravers of the Nineteenth Century" by Herbert G. Houze for more on Barlow and other examples). The factory "dot" marking is stamped above or below the matching serial numbers on the barrel, frame, trigger guard, and backstrap. All of the visible serial numbers match. The barrel has a brass cone front sight and the one-line "-ADDRESS SAML COLT NEW YORK CITY-" address. The cylinder has the classic Naval Battle of Campeche roll scene and patent marking. A "T" is marked horizontally on the right side below the shoulder. The revolver comes in an exceptional presentation case with hunter green lining, an Eley Bros. cap tin, martial themed powder flask with sloped charger (original but not original to the set), brass ball/bullet mold with "COLT'S/PATENT" marked on the iron sprue cutter, a blued L-shaped combination tool, lead balls and conical bullets, and a key. The revolver is featured in the book "Colt 1851 Navies and 1861 Navies and Conversions" by Robert Jordan on page 267. The set is accompanied by an extensive binder of research and biographical information compiled by Greg Lampe in which he attributes the revolver as originally belonging to southern Episcopal minister, educator, and author Francis Lister Hawks and then likely given to given by him his son Francis Tomes Hawks in 1861 when the latter went off to war as a captain in the CSA Engineer Corps. This cased revolver came directly from the great-granddaughter of Captain Hawks, Katherine Vaux McCauley, to Michael Simens in 2012 and was subsequently purchased by Lampe. The documentation includes copies of correspondence from when the revolver was purchased from the family. They attributed the revolver as owned by the younger Hawks, but Lampe and others determined that based on the date of manufacture the revolver most likely was first owned by his father while he was an influential religious leader in New York City. Also included is "Revolutionary History of North Caroline in Three Lectures by Rev. Francis L. Hawks, D.D. LL. D., Hon. David L. Swain, LL. D., and Hon. Wm. A. Graham, LL. D." which was compiled by William D. Cooke and published in 1853 and a copy of "Adventures of Daniel Boone" from "A Library for My Young Countrymen" written by Francis L. Hawks and published as by "the author of Uncle Philip's Conversations." Francis Lister Hawks Dr. Francis Lister Hawks (1798-1866) had a diverse career as a lawyer, clergyman, educator, historian, and author. He was born in New Bern, North Carolina, to Francis Hawks and Julia Airway Stephens and was a grandson of John Hawks, the supervisory architect of Tryon Palace, the governor's home in New Bern. The family was fairly wealthy and held thirteen slaves in 1820. Francis L. Hawks graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1815 at the top of his class and then studied law under Judge William Gaston and John Stanley and was admitted to the bar in 1820 and practiced law. He also became a respected orator and represented New Bern in the House of Commons in 1821. In 1826, he began training for the Episcopalian ministry and studied under Reverend William Mercer Green and was ordained as a deacon by Bishop Ravenscroft in New Bern the following year and soon after was ordained as a priest. By 1833, he was the highest paid clergyman in the entire United States and was famed for his oratory skills as the rector of St. Thomas Church in New York City where he remained for twelve years. In 1832, he received his Doctor of Theology from Columbia College. During this period, he also taught at the seminaries, and he was the historiographer of the Episcopal Church of the United States and conservator of documents and traveled internationally for his studies. In 1838, he was accused of sexual affairs by blackface actor, singer, and newspaper editor George Washington Dixon who launched attacks against many members of the upper class. Dixon was charged with libel and eventually plead guilty and later claimed Hawks had paid him to do so. Regardless of the credibility of the claims, the accusations and his failed leadership of a boy school led him to resign from St. Thomas Church in 1843, and he subsequently hopped between various churches in the South and served as the first president of the University of Louisiana (Tulane University today) in 1847. He returned to New York as the minister at Calvary Church in 1849 and remained there until 1862. During the Civil War, he worked at Christ Church in Baltimore and then returned once again to New York in 1865. In addition to his theological work, Hawks was an avid historian, author, and editor. Among his works was a series of nine children's books written under the name of "Uncle Philip" for Harpers & Brothers, and he also published titles under the pseudonym Lambert Lily. In 1855, he and Commodore Matthew Perry co-authored "Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan," and the following year was the editor of the American edition of "The Pictorial Cyclopedia of Biography" published by D. Appleton & Co. of New York. Francis Tomes Hawks Less has been written about Francis Tomes Hawks (1832-1883), but a biography of the younger Hawks compiled by Lampe is included and indicates that he was born in 1832 to Dr. Hawks and his second wife, Olivia Trowbridge Hunt, in New York City. In 1858, he was hired as an engineer for the construction and landscaping of Central Park in New York City. In 1861, Hawks was commissioned as a captain and was aide-de-camp to General Lawrence O'Bryan Branch until early 1862 and was then on the staff of Brigadier General James H. Lane and later Branch's assistant adjutant general. General Branch wrote in his report of the Battle of New Bern, "To Mr. Francis T. Hawks, who tendered his services for the occasion and was placed on my staff, I was greatly indebted for services in bearing orders and rallying troops. He remained with me throughout the battle and subsequent retreat." He resigned in January 1863 but then soon received a commission as a lieutenant in Company A of the 2nd Regiment, Engineer Troops (Corps of Engineers) in Wilmington, North Carolina, in August. He helped prepare the coastal defenses at the mouth of the Cape Fear River under General W.H.C. Whiting. He became ill in January 1865 and was on sick leave when the Union attacked the coast of North Carolina. In 1866 , he married Hannah Gaston Manley of New Bern in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and the couple moved to the "Nihil" tobacco plantation owned by her sister which held 64 slaves prior to the Civil War. In 1870, he took a position as general freight agent for the Midland Virginia Railway in Alexandria, Virginia, and in July of 1882 was promoted to general freight and passenger agent. He died on July 27, 1883. "The Daily Journal" of New Bern, North Carolina, on June 29, 1883, indicated: "Capt. Francis T. Hawks, son of Rev. Dr. Francis L. Hawks, and son-in-law of the late Hon. M.E. Manly, died in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, June 27th, after an illness of two days." Provenance: The Hawks and McCauley Family; Michael Simens' Historical Arms; The Greg Lampe Collection

Exceptionally fine with crisp original factory engraving throughout, 85% plus of the bright original blue finish, 90% of the original case colors, 98% plus of the original silver plating, and primarily only very minor age and storage related wear, including some slight flaking of the blue finish. The highly figured grip is excellent and retains nearly all of its original high gloss "piano" varnish finish and displays only slight storage and handling related wear. Mechanically excellent. The case and accessories are very fine and has very slight age and storage related wear such as slighting rubbing from the hammer spur.