The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-05-18
THE CoTroN GIN.
Did Ell Whitney, the Reputed Invent
or, Steal His ideas from Hogden
Holmes! r--f-H .....

one of the largest cotton dealers in this
city, advertised in several papers of the
State for. an original f." Whitney Cotton
Gin He intends making an exhibit
ton at the Centennial of cotton IN all |
its various stages of planting, cultiva-
ton, and manufacture, from the time !
the seed is planted until it comes out
in cloth and other fabrics. 1t was
happy idea to exhibit to the world the
made in this staple, from
its cultivation and manufacture from the
time that Whitney first put his gin in
operation up to the present day. Hence,
if he could only raise one of the orig
inal cotton gins it would add wonder
fully to the exhibition he proposes to
make.
There is no item of commerce which
has worked greater revolution in the
worlds history than the single article
of cotton 1t is at the present day the
chief commercial item of the world.
America has given to civilization the
steam. engine, telegraph, sewing-ma-
chine, and many other inventions, but
nothing has affected commerceand even
civilization itself in the same manner as
this one invention-the cotton gin.
Long years ago, say more than two
centuries, cotton was raised to certain
extent. But it amounted to nothing as
an article of commerce and very little
more for domestic purposes, on account
of the tedious and exhaustive process
required of separating the lint from the
seed, and its culture up to the time
Whitney made his invention did not
amount to any thing in the calendar OF
domestic economy. -. Lass ,-.t1'.fera
We are all familiar with the history
of Whitney, the Yankee school-teacher,
who came to this section before the be-
ginning of the present century 10 teach
school, and how of evenings when
boarding around among the scholars he
noticed the slow process of separating
the seeds from the lint by the members
of the household while sitting around
the fire after supper. The quick per-
ceptive genius of the Yankee was at
tracted with the idea that this thing
could be done by machinery, and he set
to work experimenting. His first effort
was to perforate the bottom of an old
coffee-pot with a nail, and twirling it
around, discovered that the dragged
edges" seized hold and pulled the lint
from the seeds, and right there the prin-
ciple was developed which has worked
such powerful influence in the history
of civilization of the present century.
After further experiments he made a
Gin, which consisted of cylinder OF
wood in which were driven a number of
spikes filed to a point and slightly
crooked at the end, and after boxing 1t
was worked by a crank or hand-power.
Seeing that it was a success, he made
still further attempts, and put up the
first Gin in 1898 at what is known as
Phfnizy's Pond, about one mile below
this city.
However, before he accomplished this
we must 90 back a few years and relate
what occurred in Hamburg, just across
the river, and the object of penning this
article. Some weeks since Mr.. Herring
advertised for an original cotton gin,
as above stated, and a few days ago he
received from Colonel James L. Aiken,
cotton buyer of Winnsboro, 5. C., a
letter, and inclosed in the same envelope
was an ancient document signed by
George Washington, President of the
United States; Timothy Pickering, Sec
retarv of State; and Charles Lee, At
torney- General, granting to Hogden
Holmes, citizen of Augusta, letters
patent for "machine for ginning cot
tom for fourteen years from the 18th
of April, 1896. The document was
printed on parchment, and signed as
above on the twelfth day of May, 1895.
The names of SeabOrn Jones and W.
Uruuhart attested the signature OF
Holmes.
The following is the letter written by
Mr.. Herring to Colonel James R. Aiken,
of Winnsboro. 1t might be proper to
add that he is brother of Hon. d.
Wyatt Aiken, and the genuineness OF
the contents of the document in ques
ton is further attested by the signature
of Ex-Governor Bonham and General
M. c. Butler, of South Carolina:
The history of the enclosed paper is this
| Hogden Holmes, native Of Scotland but {
| citizen of your own city, in 1915 was the
original inventor, and his machine wa'
| locked up in Hamburg, s. c., when whit
ney, through the influence OF negro, 20
| a diagram Of it. 1t was. then known as
.'patent for taking burrs out of wool. :,
| On this infringement Whitney got patent
and called il "a machine for ginning cot
ton This created q lawsuit in Georgia
In the mean time Holmes expended some
I IS, 600 and died insolvent. His suit wa
continued to the United States Court, an6
/ Whitney sold his claim to the State a Soutl
Carolina for $780, 900.
Holmes left but one heir, and the cast
was abandoned. That heir was my wife z
mother, the wife Of DR.. William G. Cloud
| of Edgefield c. IL. No one being left Il
| prosecute the case, and no one able to con
tend against a State, patent was taken II
1885, and Colonel William McCreigh, o
Winnsboro. bought the exclusive right TO
| twenty years, and did make and sell all. thu
cotton gins furnished for the entire Southern
States up to the year 1885, l married tn
oldest daughter of DIR. Cloud in 1887, ant
among the funeral effects Of Hogden Holmes
which had not been disturbed for forty -tw
years, found the parchment (the letter
PATENT, with spread-eagle seal of bees
wax on it, about four inches in diameter
which has long since crumbled into dust.
| might also add it is genuine in every par
ticular as compared with the COngressiona
Record in the United States Patent 0ffic
lin 1S44) by myself.
There is book published giving full
historical record of the invention and tn
lawsuit (not very creditable to Whitney,
but the title of which i now forget. 1t
thirty years since saw it in the library 0
4 the South Carolina College.
Yours truly, JAMES r. AIKEN.
2. S.-Holmes died about 1895, but re
ceived the patent before his death. No on
at that time being interested and his daugh
ter quite young the shop in Hamburg shu
for want of funds. After Holnes's death
only few gins were manufactured for sal
in Augusta. j. r. A.
So it would appear from the abov
that Holmes is as much entitled to tn
honor of giving the world this wonder
full invention as Whitney. The citizen
of New Haven, Ct, his place Of nativ
ity, have long since erected a monu
ment to his memory, and thus poo
Holmes has been cut out of his share O
such things, and Augusta robbed of he
fame as the original cradle of the grea
king. For a long time Augusta wa
the biggest cotton market in the world
but she has been crowded out until sh
is, at the present, about the twenty
fifth in importance. .-.-. o.s s..
Mr. Herring is very anxious to obtai
one of the original Whitney gins, an
has offered suitable reward for sue
; an object. Should he succeed in gel