38 MERWIN, HULBERT & Co.

Research notes

Joseph Merwin has been involved in the firearm business since 1856 when he formed a company called Merwin & Bray although the company did not survive the Civil War and by 1868 he formed a partnership with William and Milan Hulbert who at that stage owned a 50% interest in the firm of Hopkins & Allen. The Merwin & Hulbert revolvers were of superior quality design and were regarded by some as equal to or even better than Colt and S&W. They were also a favourite of Pat Garret and Jesse James. Revolver production was done at the Hopkins & Allen factory but were Merwin designed. Hopkins & Allen at that time did not have a good reputation as a manufacturer of quality guns and the company ran into difficulty when the orders they delivered to Russia were not paid for, although they were able to recover from the loss. Merwin died in 1888 and the company was restructured to Hulbert Brothers Manufacturing Co., but the company was liquidated in 1896. The company of Hopkins & Allen continued to manufacture Merwin Hulbert style rifles, primarily .22 and .32 caliber single shots, until 1916 when it went bankrupt and was bought by Marlin the year after. (Erlmeier, Brandt Ref. 361)