Hello everyone, I just joined this forum today, mainly in hopes that someone might be able to shed some light on some questions relating to the intersection of the Remington Arms Company with my family genealogy.
My ancestor, Richard Michael Dugdale (he typically went by R.M. or Richard M.) was an engineer and supervisor at the Remington Plant for at least the years 1916 and 1917, and presumably quite a bit longer. He probably would have started after 1900 and he definitely left before 1924. In 1917 he received a pin from the workers in the departments he supervised, Departments 66 and 67. Also, family lore states that he invented and was granted a patent for a pistol which was only required removing one screw for disassembly.
Now, given the time frame when R.M. worked for Remington and the limited number of pistols they made, the Model 51 or maybe possibly the prototype .45 ACP Model 53 seem to be the only candidates. However, the NRA website states "A total of 31 patents issued on various features are attributed to the Model 51. Twenty six patents were granted to Pedersen, three to Crawford C. Loomis, and one each to C. B. Dygert and G. H. Garrison," which would seem to eliminate the Model 51 as the pistol in question. Unfortunately, patents filed before 1920 cannot be searched by inventor, so I can't just search for it without knowing the patent number or date granted.
So I guess I have three questions I am hoping someone might be able to answer, or point me in the direction of some sources to research.
1. What were Departments 66 and 67 in 1917? What did they do and/or make?
2. Does anyone know if any patents were filed for the Model 53 or if there were any other early 20th century pistols that Remington either produced or developed that might fit the description I gave above?
3. Has anyone ever run across his name in relation to anything at Remington? (He later worked at Farrington Manufacturing and helped develop the Charga-Plate, so I am aware of all the patents he holds with them.)
Sorry for the long post. Any information anyone could provide would be most appreciated.
Thank You