Tool Talk
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: mvwcnews on December 22, 2015, 08:24:58 PM
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As a few of you know, I started digging looking for info on George Carpenter Taft -- sometime wrench maker & inventor of Worcester, MA.
Thomas H. Dodge cropped up really quick. He was the attorney who "won" the Collins / Coes lawsuit battle by getting the 1865 Jordan & Smith patent declared invalid for lack of novelty -- he persuaded the judge that the nut supporting the strain of adjustment in the 1840 HEWET patent wrench as made by E.F. Dixie performed the same function as that claimed by Jordan & Smith in 1865.
Anyhow, Thomas H. Dodge was quite a figure. ( http://www.worcesterma.gov/dpw/parks-rec/city-parks/dodge-park ) is one overview of his life. Barbed wire collectors know him for his barbed wire patents & the company formed to manufacture the wire. He "invented" the use of return addresses on the upper left hand corner of mail pieces in the U.S. Mail system.
(https://books.google.com/books?id=Fl4oAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA330&dq=thomas+dodge+worcester+intitle:cyclopedia+intitle:biography&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjY9O769fDJAhUBOSYKHQUUCx8Q6AEIMDAA#v=onepage&q=thomas%20dodge%20worcester%20intitle%3Acyclopedia%20intitle%3Abiography&f=false ) will get you to an entry in the 1892 National Cyclopedia of American Biography.
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Great stuff, Stan! Now I have to go read more about Dodge.
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On the personal side, after his first wife died , at the age of 84 he married his 40-year old "stenographeh."
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On the personal side, after his first wife died , at the age of 84 he married his 40-year old "stenographeh."
Respect! (Said with a slight bow to Mr. Dodge.)
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Lawyer, inventor, businessman, stenographer employer; the guy led a pretty diverse and interesting life.