John Cantius Garand 

Inventor of the Garand M-1 Rifle

from the Norwich Bulleting 6 August 2008

Boy from Griswold grew up to design great Army rifle

Some individuals show early signs and foreshadowing of what they will accomplish as adults. Today we look at one such individual.

John Cantius Garand was born in Canada on Jan. 1, 1888, but moved to Jewett City with his family when he was a child. He had limited schooling through third grade and spoke mostly French because of his lack of education. At 11, he went to work at the Slater Mill in Jewett City as a floor sweeper and that’s where he met his first hero. His name was Joseph Labonne, a Frenchman and an outstanding machinist. Labonne became a mentor to young John, who even returned to the mill on his day off to learn more about machinery.

While still working at the mill, John patented two of his inventions. The first was called a "telescopic jack." John designed this device for the toolroom. The second patent was a machine that painted the ends of bobbins in order to identify the colors of yarn in the textile mill.

He also became a good machinist while working there, due in part to Labonne’s tutelage. Labonne sold the latter patent for $1,000 for John. John’s father used the money to buy a farm in Griswold.

In Providence

In 1909, at 21, John became a tool and gauge maker at Brown and Sharpe in Providence. He had no success selling his second invention to this company and seven years later he left the Providence plant.

Near the beginning of World War I, John learned the military lacked an up-to-date machine gun. He began to develop one and took on a partner who would help him market the gun successfully. The partner was gun designer John Kewish. By 1918, the first model was complete and, through various contacts, the gun came to the attention of the Naval Consulting Board. It recommended Garand take the gun to the ordinance department for possible approval.

The testing people there felt the Army should not invest in this particular design. But the National Bureau of Standards allowed Garand and Kewish to use the bureau’s machine shop to improve the design. The bureau even paid them a small stipend while they worked on the weapon. After 18 months, Garand completed his new design; but the war was ending and the Army no longer wanted to pursue the project.