Zacharian Allen, 1795-1882, was a lawyer, inventor, and civic leader of the nineteenth century. One of his most notable inventions was the home hot-air furnace. He also originated the Providence Water Works and is credited with introducing the first vehicles to the Providence Fire Company. Allen was also instrumental in setting up the mutal fire insurance system in early America . Read more >
Joseph R. Brown, 1810-1876, was a mechanical genius who co-founded Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Co. which became one of the leading manufacturers of machine tools. Read more >
Claggett, William, 1696-1749 |
William Claggett was born the son of a baker in England or Wales, and as a youth he migrated with his family to Boston. He served an apprenticeship to clockmaker Benjamin Bagnall of Boston, and at age nineteen married Mary Armstrong in a ceremony presided over by Cotton Mather. His son William, who also became a noted clockmaker, was born in 1715.
By 1716 the young clockmaker and his family came to Newport where Claggett lived and worked for the next thirty-three years until his death in 1749. Read more >
George H. Corliss, 1817-1888, was the developer of the steam engine. The famous gigantic engine built by Corliss won a first prize at the Paris Exposition of 1867 as well as many other awards. Read more >
John Goddard, 1724-1785, was an early Amercan cabinetmaker and the nation's first furniture craftsman. He was the originator of block front knee-hole desks and secratary's desks. Read more >
Frederick Grinnell was an industrialist and president of the firm that bears his name. As President of the Providence Steam and Gas Pipe Company that later became the Grinnell Corporation, he patented the automatic sprinkler and emerged as the acknowledged world leader in automatic fire protection. He was instrumental in organizing the National Fire Protection Association, and subsequently formed the General Fire Extinguisher Company. Read more >
Mr. Jalbert was a world renowned researcher and inventor of parachutes, sails, and kites. He was born in Quebec but lived for many years in Woonsocket, RI. He was the designer of the Dolly Spinnaker for the yacht 'Stars & Stripes', which won the 1987 America's Cup. Read more >
The late Sol Koffler, was the inventor and manufacturer of the internationally famous Tourister Luggage. Although active in Jewish affairs, his philanthropy transcended all race, religion, or color. Read more >
Dr. Harry Kroll worked as one of the world's leading scientist and research chemists. He holds fifty-one world patents issued by the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, and France. As senior scientist for Technic, Inc. Read more >
The steps leading to the invention of an American cultural original, the diner eatery, began in Providence through the initiative of Walter Scott. He was born on November 28, 1841 in Cumberland, the son of lawyer Joseph A. Scott and Juliet Howland Scott. By age eleven Scott was peddling candy, fruit, and newspapers on the streets of Providence to supplement his widowed mother's small income. Read more >
Simon Wardwell, 1849-1921, was a 19th-century visionary industrialist, patenting numerous machines for improving the manufacture of textiles and clothing items.
The manufacture of textile machines in the Blackstone Valley was a crowded field, not for the faint of heart; it was like making cars in Detroit or steel in Pittsburgh. However, for Simon Willard Wardwell, it was a place not only to build products for other producers but also a place to build a reputation.
During a lifetime of bright ideas Wardwell amassed one-hundred-and-seventy patents. Read more >
When an historical movement is particularly successful, it is logical that there would be many claims of authorship. This is certainly true of the Industrial Revolution and the beginnings of the American factory system. At the center of the Industrial Revolution's story is, of course, Samuel Slater; but it does not detract from Slater's reputation to add more personalities to the story. Read more >
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