Leroy Lyman Cornelius and Leroy Henry Smith were sons of Lewis Steven Smith, a tanner in Center Lisle, NY. After his business failed when he made an incorrect estimate on delivering tanned hides, he opened a general store. He soon connected with William Henry Baker, a Center Lisle native, who'd designed and patented several improvements to the working of guns. The two men began manufacturing guns in 1863, first in nearby Marathon, and then in Lisle.
Lyman and Lewis were soon working in their father's business. Around 1877 they brought the operation to Syracuse producing “Baker’s Patented Double Breech-Loading Gun.” Leroy Smith first appeared in the 1878-79 Syracuse City Directory and, along with Lewis (father) and Lyman, was listed as being associated with "W.H. Baker and Company, Manufacturers of Baker's Patented Shotgun. In 1883, William Baker and Leroy Smith moved to Ithaca, buying Water Power Lot #6 on Fall Creek, the former site of the “Hub and Spoke” agricultural implements company, and began manufacturing “Ithaca Baker” shotguns. William Baker, along with Ithacans John Van Natta and Dwight McIntyre, bought the water power rights on the creek. By 1886, Leroy Smith and his brother-in-law, George Livermore (m. Ellen Julia Smith), bought out the Baker interests and established the original Ithaca Gun Company.[Baker left Ithaca early 1887 and returned to Syracuse to work with his brother Dr. Ellis Baker at the Syracuse Forging Co., which soon became the Syracuse Forging & Gun Co.]
When Leroy Smith died in 1902, he left his share of the company to his son, Louis, who for 17 years was Ithaca’s only salesman. He worked his way up to become president of the company and served several,
non-successive, terms as Ithaca's mayor.
The company was responsible for much of the early industry of Tompkins County, especially during World War I and World War II, and counted among its later patrons John Philip Sousa and Annie Oakley.
The original factory was located in the Fall Creek neighborhood of the city, on a slope later known as Gun Hill, where the nearby waterfall supplied the main source of energy for the plant. In later years, the company came under criticism regarding environmental pollution of Fall Creek, especially by lead, which led to at least two Superfund remediation efforts.
See
Endres, Gene. Ithaca Gun Once an Area Staple, Ithaca History Center, September 22, 2016; Snyder, Walter Claude. The Ithaca Gun Company: From the Beginning. Spencerport, N.Y.: Cook and Uline Pub, 1991; Lee, Jerry. Classic Guns: The Ithaca Model 37 Shotgun, Gun Digest, November 28 2017
Lyman and Lewis were soon working in their father's business. Around 1877 they brought the operation to Syracuse producing “Baker’s Patented Double Breech-Loading Gun.” Leroy Smith first appeared in the 1878-79 Syracuse City Directory and, along with Lewis (father) and Lyman, was listed as being associated with "W.H. Baker and Company, Manufacturers of Baker's Patented Shotgun. In 1883, William Baker and Leroy Smith moved to Ithaca, buying Water Power Lot #6 on Fall Creek, the former site of the “Hub and Spoke” agricultural implements company, and began manufacturing “Ithaca Baker” shotguns. William Baker, along with Ithacans John Van Natta and Dwight McIntyre, bought the water power rights on the creek. By 1886, Leroy Smith and his brother-in-law, George Livermore (m. Ellen Julia Smith), bought out the Baker interests and established the original Ithaca Gun Company.[Baker left Ithaca early 1887 and returned to Syracuse to work with his brother Dr. Ellis Baker at the Syracuse Forging Co., which soon became the Syracuse Forging & Gun Co.]
When Leroy Smith died in 1902, he left his share of the company to his son, Louis, who for 17 years was Ithaca’s only salesman. He worked his way up to become president of the company and served several,
non-successive, terms as Ithaca's mayor.
The company was responsible for much of the early industry of Tompkins County, especially during World War I and World War II, and counted among its later patrons John Philip Sousa and Annie Oakley.
The original factory was located in the Fall Creek neighborhood of the city, on a slope later known as Gun Hill, where the nearby waterfall supplied the main source of energy for the plant. In later years, the company came under criticism regarding environmental pollution of Fall Creek, especially by lead, which led to at least two Superfund remediation efforts.
See
Endres, Gene. Ithaca Gun Once an Area Staple, Ithaca History Center, September 22, 2016; Snyder, Walter Claude. The Ithaca Gun Company: From the Beginning. Spencerport, N.Y.: Cook and Uline Pub, 1991; Lee, Jerry. Classic Guns: The Ithaca Model 37 Shotgun, Gun Digest, November 28 2017
Leroy Lyman Cornelius and Leroy Henry Smith were sons of Lewis Steven Smith, a tanner in Center Lisle, NY. After his business failed when he made an incorrect estimate on delivering tanned hides, he opened a general store. He soon connected with William Henry Baker, a Center Lisle native, who'd designed and patented several improvements to the working of guns. The two men began manufacturing guns in 1863, first in nearby Marathon, and then in Lisle.
Lyman and Lewis were soon working in their father's business. Around 1877 they brought the operation to Syracuse producing “Baker’s Patented Double Breech-Loading Gun.” Leroy Smith first appeared in the 1878-79 Syracuse City Directory and, along with Lewis (father) and Lyman, was listed as being associated with "W.H. Baker and Company, Manufacturers of Baker's Patented Shotgun. In 1883, William Baker and Leroy Smith moved to Ithaca, buying Water Power Lot #6 on Fall Creek, the former site of the “Hub and Spoke” agricultural implements company, and began manufacturing “Ithaca Baker” shotguns. William Baker, along with Ithacans John Van Natta and Dwight McIntyre, bought the water power rights on the creek. By 1886, Leroy Smith and his brother-in-law, George Livermore (m. Ellen Julia Smith), bought out the Baker interests and established the original Ithaca Gun Company.[Baker left Ithaca early 1887 and returned to Syracuse to work with his brother Dr. Ellis Baker at the Syracuse Forging Co., which soon became the Syracuse Forging & Gun Co.]
When Leroy Smith died in 1902, he left his share of the company to his son, Louis, who for 17 years was Ithaca’s only salesman. He worked his way up to become president of the company and served several,
non-successive, terms as Ithaca's mayor.
The company was responsible for much of the early industry of Tompkins County, especially during World War I and World War II, and counted among its later patrons John Philip Sousa and Annie Oakley.
The original factory was located in the Fall Creek neighborhood of the city, on a slope later known as Gun Hill, where the nearby waterfall supplied the main source of energy for the plant. In later years, the company came under criticism regarding environmental pollution of Fall Creek, especially by lead, which led to at least two Superfund remediation efforts.
See
Endres, Gene. Ithaca Gun Once an Area Staple, Ithaca History Center, September 22, 2016; Snyder, Walter Claude. The Ithaca Gun Company: From the Beginning. Spencerport, N.Y.: Cook and Uline Pub, 1991; Lee, Jerry. Classic Guns: The Ithaca Model 37 Shotgun, Gun Digest, November 28 2017
Lyman and Lewis were soon working in their father's business. Around 1877 they brought the operation to Syracuse producing “Baker’s Patented Double Breech-Loading Gun.” Leroy Smith first appeared in the 1878-79 Syracuse City Directory and, along with Lewis (father) and Lyman, was listed as being associated with "W.H. Baker and Company, Manufacturers of Baker's Patented Shotgun. In 1883, William Baker and Leroy Smith moved to Ithaca, buying Water Power Lot #6 on Fall Creek, the former site of the “Hub and Spoke” agricultural implements company, and began manufacturing “Ithaca Baker” shotguns. William Baker, along with Ithacans John Van Natta and Dwight McIntyre, bought the water power rights on the creek. By 1886, Leroy Smith and his brother-in-law, George Livermore (m. Ellen Julia Smith), bought out the Baker interests and established the original Ithaca Gun Company.[Baker left Ithaca early 1887 and returned to Syracuse to work with his brother Dr. Ellis Baker at the Syracuse Forging Co., which soon became the Syracuse Forging & Gun Co.]
When Leroy Smith died in 1902, he left his share of the company to his son, Louis, who for 17 years was Ithaca’s only salesman. He worked his way up to become president of the company and served several,
non-successive, terms as Ithaca's mayor.
The company was responsible for much of the early industry of Tompkins County, especially during World War I and World War II, and counted among its later patrons John Philip Sousa and Annie Oakley.
The original factory was located in the Fall Creek neighborhood of the city, on a slope later known as Gun Hill, where the nearby waterfall supplied the main source of energy for the plant. In later years, the company came under criticism regarding environmental pollution of Fall Creek, especially by lead, which led to at least two Superfund remediation efforts.
See
Endres, Gene. Ithaca Gun Once an Area Staple, Ithaca History Center, September 22, 2016; Snyder, Walter Claude. The Ithaca Gun Company: From the Beginning. Spencerport, N.Y.: Cook and Uline Pub, 1991; Lee, Jerry. Classic Guns: The Ithaca Model 37 Shotgun, Gun Digest, November 28 2017
Family Members
Siblings
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
