Paragon CS 12 ga

Question
I have a Paragon CS side by side, 12 ga.  It has the serial number T36,xxx which I found when you open the breach.  It is on the underside of the barrel and also again on the lower.  When you close the action, both serial numbers almost line up perfectly.  Both numbers match I found the capital letter "I" with the circle around it on the under side in front of the trigger guard.  I know this Paragon was also made by several other companies.  How do you know which one of the companies made this particular shotgun?  This shotgun came from an estate sale in Wayne, IL, which is a wealthy and old historic area.  Al Capone had a hideout not far away.  It doesn't matter to me if this is worth anything or not, I just love the history aspect.

Answer
Hello Rich.
  Baker Gun Company and Stevens Arms, both made a SXS Model Paragon. A Baker would have been manufactured around 1900 and would be highly engraved, where a Stevens would be plain. The T36,xxx puts it in the Stevens manufacturing genre. If the "I" inside the circle indicates the year in which it was manufactured, (A=1949;B=1950: etc.) then your shotgun was born in 1957 as a Model 311 or 5100. Serial numbers were not required until 1968, so the T36,xxx was simply an assembly number. Many companies, including Stevens, used this system of numbers to keep track of parts for that individual firearm.
  I'm afraid Al Capone was already 'pushing up daisies' by 1957. However, I'm sure he had plenty of offspring running around those hills at that time.