The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-05-17
STORY OF THE GIN
Mr.. ID. A. THOMPKINs WRITES
ABOUT THE INVENTION.
ELI WHITNEYS TROUBLES.
IN FIGHTING AGAINST INFRINGE
MENTS ARE SHOWN.

Grove, Near Savannah. When He
Invented the Cotton Gin-The One
Great Need of the south Mt That
Time Was Satisfied by the Inven-
tiOn-Why There Were So Many In
fringements-Record in the SHIFTS
File in United States Court
House at Savannah
The cotton gin and Eli Whitney are al
ways interesting subjects 10 Savannahians
by reason of the proximity of Mulberry
Grove, where the invention was made. to
Savannah. Mr.. D. A. Thompkins of Char
lotte, N. c., who is known by many in
Savannah, is the author of a very interest
ing pamphlet that has just made its ap-
pearance, treating of the cotton gin and
the history of its invention, exhibiting
copies of the original patent specifications
and drawings and giving synopsis of tes-
timony in the twenty-seven lawsuits re-
lating to infringements in Georgia from
1896 to 1906.
Mr.. Thompkins wrote his story from
verified court records, which are now to
be found in the court house vaults in Sa-
vannah. The author spent a great deal
of time and money in gathering his data,
and he believes that his information is ex-
haustive, as there is little reason 10 think
that there are any undiscovered facts
bearing upon his subject. Mr.. Thompkins
wrote, in part, as follows about the young
Yankee, who was so brilliantly endowed
with the spirit of mechanical invention
and his most famous work, the cotton
gin:
I'm 1892, Eli Whitney of Massachusetts
went by boat to Savannah, Ga, from
which place he intended to go into the
interior as a tutor in a private family.
On the same boat was travelling Mrs. Ma
thanael Greene, the widow of the Amer
lean Revolutionary General, who was re-
turning from a Northern trip to her
home at Mulberry Grove, near Savannah,
Ga. On this journey Whitney naturally
made the acquaintance of Mrs Greene.
Arriving in Savannah, he failed to per-
feet his arrangement for teaching and
accepted an invitation from Mrs. Nathan
ael Greene to make his home at her house
and pursue the study of law, which was
his great desire. While he was in Mrs.
Greene's house he exhibited great talent
for mechanics, and made himself useful
In that respect around the plantation.
III the Spring OIL 1855, some OLD COM
rades of Gen. Greene, Majs. Brewer, For
sythe and Pendleton, who lived near
Augusta, Ca, called on Mrs. Greene. In
the course of their visit they discussed
the troubles of agriculture in the upper
country, and mentioned the fact that
much upland cotton could be profitably
produced if there were only some ma
chine for separating the lint from the
seed. Mrs. Greene proposed that they talk
~ ~
result of that visit was that Whitney
was given a room in the basement of the
house, and after considerable expert
menting produced machine that sue
cessfuly separated the lint from seed
In 1898 Whitney went to New Haven,
Conn. to confer with his old friend and
patron. Elizur Goodrich and others, in
relation to obtaining patent.
The original description in Whitneys
own words accompanying his petition for
patent was filed with Thomas Jefferson,
Secretary of State at Philadelphia, June
90 1888. Whitney also made affidavit
concerning his invention before Elizur
Goodrich, notary public, and alderman of
New Haven, Conn, Oct. %, 1888
A patent was issued to Eli Whitney
March a. 1894, and signed by George
Washington President, Edmund Ran
dolph, Secretary of State, and William
Bradford, attorney general.
During some litigation over validity of
the patent in the United States District
Court in Savannah, Georgia, 1904 copy
of the complete patent and specification
and drawing was filed with the court.
This copy was certified by James Madi-
son. Secretary of State, April q. 1904.
These documents are now on file in the
United States Court House Savannah,
Ga, and are believed to be the only au-
thentic records of this patent in exist
ence. The original patent papers filed in
the patent office by Whitney in 1793 were
destroyed by the patent Office fire in 1895.
AS soon as possible after this fire, the
authorities made efforts to obtain copies
of all papers that were destroyed. 1t so
happeEed, however that they never Sc
cured the certified copy on record in Sa-
vannah, Ga. but they received from some
source not shown on the records, on May
2 1Al. what purported to be a copy or
the Whitney patent
The defense in all of the extensive It'll
cation over the patent in Georgia consists
principally in claiming that there was a
prior invention. The witnesses mostly re-
lied upon to prove this were Dr. John
Cortes Dyampert of Columbia county,
Georgia, and Mr.. Roger Mccarthy OF Chat
ham county, Geogia. The former swore
ne saw machine somewhere in the Do
mains of the King of Prussia" in 1773,
used for making lint in hospitals. Nc
earthly swore he saw something similar
IN 1870 or 1871 But it developed on cross
examination, and on the introduction OF
numerous other witnesses, whose deposit
tons are on file among the court records.
that these machines were on entirely diff
ferent principles. and used for other pur-
poses. There were no means of separa-
'lon other than gravity in any of these
machines. and they were all for beating
and cleaning lint after seed had been re-
moved
1T was finally admitted by the defense
that Whitneys invention was new, but
that the infringing machines were made
before Whitney's model was publicly ex-
moited or before it was publicly an
hounced that he had a patent.
There is widespread allegation that
whitney was badly treated in the South.
mis- seems to rest on the rumor that
ms Tirst model was stolen from his shop
al Mulberry Grove, Ca. that copies OF
IL were widely made and used without
license. and his witnesses failed to APP
pear a the trials, that the South Carolina
legislature after agreeing to pay him for
the patent. afterward rescinded its action;
and finally that there was a conspiracy
among the cotton planters to invalidate
nus patent AS to the burglary of Whit
ueys shop, and stealing of his models,
there is not a word in the voluminous
records OF evidence I'm the infringement