John Mahlon Marlin (1836-1901), a former employee of Colt firearms, formed his own company in 1863 and begin production of a small single shot .22 caliber deringer style pistol. All of the early production was limited to single shot handguns of one sort or another. With the expireation of the Rollin White patents, owned by Smith and Wesson, Marlin as well as a host of others began revolver production. His first efforts were very similar to Smith & Wesson and Colt New Line Series.