In 1849 Colt offered him the position of superintendent at a large salary. It was characteristic of Colt that, although he was just starting and still in small rented quarters, he outbid three others to get the best superintendent in New England. Root moved to Hartford, designed and built the new armory and installed its machinery. Many of the machines devised by him at that time are still running, holding their own in accuracy and economy of production with those of today. Almost every process used in the plant felt his influence. He invented the best form of drop hammer then in use, machines for boring, rifling, making cartridges, stock turning, splining, etc., and worked out the whole system of jigs, fixtures, tools and gauges. The credit for the revolver belongs to Colt; for the way they were made, mainly to Root. Fig. 33, a chucking lathe, and Fig. 34, a splining machine, are two of Mr. Root’s machines which are still at work. When Colonel Colt died, Mr. Root became president of the company and continued until his death in 1865, receiving, it is said, the highest salary paid in the state of Connecticut. He was a mechanic and inventor of high order, a wise executive, and the success of the two companies he served was in a large measure due to him. He was quiet, thoughtful and modest. His influence went into flesh and blood as well as iron and steel, for under him have worked F. A. Pratt and Amos Whitney, Charles E. Billings and C. M. Spencer, George A. Fairfield, of the Hartford Machine Screw Company, William Mason and a host of others whom we cannot mention here. Like a parent, a superintendent may be judged, in some measure, by the children he rears, and few superintendents can show such a family. Within a few years after the building of the Colt Armory, manufacturing at Hartford had taken a definite character. From that day to this it has centered almost wholly on high-grade products, such as guns, sewing machines, typewriters, bicycles, automobiles and machine tools. Naturally, during the past generation, the skilled mechanics of the city have attracted many new and important industries, only indirectly connected with the armory, which we cannot consider here.