The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1896-02-11
NICHOLAS VAN PATTON.
Was he a Dreamer OF q Prophet-A Strange
and Unique Character

\ Sthteu JDat Il WOulu give my TecOtiec-
I on Of Nicholas Van Patton, who !
to invent perpetual motion,
working ut IL about half q centu-x.
Mr.. Van Patton came to the shoal ON
Enoree that now bears his name Just
sixty-fve years ago. He brought capital
with him and had the reputation OF
being q trained machinist, aud general
report said he had no superior inthel
arts. Before putting his
mechinrey In motion he looked
about with regard to getting al
helpmate In his affairs and came near
being successful. He had centered
his affections on q handsome young
lady we'll of, but politics, unfortu- |
nately for him, sprung up-union and
nullification-and when he thought he
had nothing to do but set the day,
competition sprang up in the person
OF a dashing young widower Of the
same faith of his intended, and his
politics appears to have preponderated
and the widower bore off the prize.
He laughed at his own defeat and see
ing his rival in public company he ap
preached him and pointed him out as
he fellow that had three wives aud
had cut him out to get the fourth one.
His rival afterwards had the fifth wife.
For sometime to come he appeared
to have discarded all thoughts OF mat
rimony and devoted his entire energy
to building up his factories, merchant
mill and saw mill. Carding wool and
spinning all followed in rapid success
sion. He actually built q double row
OF cottages over a quarter mile long
for prospective operatives to live in.
Its an old and true saying, MIR. Editor,
to let we'll enough alone. Fow men of
hia dnu aud fimn rnl IN hA on
we'll advanced on the road to complete
success. He appeared all at once to
drop all interest in his machinery and
turned all his attention to discover
perpetual motion and bent all his en-
ergy to that end. His numerous i'm
provements, one by one, went down for
the want Of his personal attendance.
He peddled, Dr. sold his cottages as
best he could. Some bought them for
kitchens, lumber or store houses.
Some Of them travelled miles. MIR. Van
Patton thought sometimes that tri-
umphant success was almost In sight,
that a bright future was almost in his
grasp, but he never realized them.
Knowing that L was no mechanic,
he al different times showed me parts
Of his machinery that he thought
would lead him to success. One NAM
moth machine he made. I never saw
anything like it. He could set it to
moving and would show different
forms. In n Of those forms it slight
ly resembled an Oriental saddle and
about double the size. This immense
concern was made out of pure brass
and as polished as if it came from
Sheffield or London. The number of
things or joints could be but described
by the name of legion. None of these
| fhln0S wnra rnnrn than fn,, ~, I.,o
inches long and it would require close
inspection to see the joints. The Dot
tom of 1t was fiat. The only time it
would appear to assume the shape of
a saddle would be when the side would
fly up, the top Of each side would be
about the height of a man a little
under medium height. About two
feet from the bottom there were five
pieces of brass, | will call them
punches not knowing the proper name.
There were two in each side. l can't
state their length precisely, but they
were fastened to the joints. The five
ends all pointed inwards. When the
machine was standing in the position
l am attempting to describe, the bot
tom appeared to be about two feet
wide. Right on the bottom lay two
brass balls not attached to any part of
the machine. Their weight was said
to be fifty pounds each. Their round
@ was said to be perfect. Every
time the machine was put in motion
the punchers we're to punch the balls
to the other side, there to meet the
opposite punchers and be punched
back 1t was reported that when this
machine refused to do what he in
tended, he took a sledge hammer and
smashed 1t.
About this time Mr.. Van Patton
made another advance towards matri-
mony land was In a fair way to meet
with success. He selected "a lady at
S~partanburg well off and highly re-
SpecteC. Nothing vas to do but set
the day and a on the parsOn. He
made her var of his ~pecnniary mat
tiers, and that he was in debt nine
thousand dollars. He was doomed to
another disappointment. Ho then
married a daughter of one of his ten
ants, q clever m She preceded
him to the the grave. He ever after.
ward remained single. Unfortunately
for Mr.. Van Patton, when his
al motion failed, he thought he could
invent a machine that would make one
horse do the work of twenty. He
spent years at that and failed. Mr..
Van Patton and DR.. j. z. Barrett, of
Abbeville, a scientist, were lifetime
friends. The Doctor once sent Mr..
Van Patton a message by me, that
when he completed his machine he
claimed that the first use to make of it
was that they we're to take q trip to
the moon. | delivered the message to
him In public. Some OF the crowd
made light of it.. That angered him.
Mr.. Van Patton, laying aside his no.
lions about perpetual motion, would
rank high as an intelligent man. His
three business trips to England added
much to his information. His third
trip he was in the employ CT General
Green's grandchildren to put up a
factory near Nashville, Tenn. He was
sometimes censured for his religious
views, being called a Universalist, but
ne remedied that by joining the Bap-
lists.
Mr.. Van Patton. was q native of New
York State. He was of respectable
parentage. Il have seer q letter that
was written tO.his father by General
Washington. II he had been as selfish
as some men are, he would have put
the letter on the market. The late
Hon. Simpson Bobo saw the letter and
urged him to make a present of it to
'Wofford College. He permitted the
letter to go to the College for ~inspec-
tinn and IL xuoo ,,pfrut okol - TT