The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-04-03
WORLDS GREAT BENEFACTOR.
THE INVENTOR OF
THE COTTON GIN.
1t Was Holmes Not Whitney
The Honor Belongs to Georgia
and Not Massachusetts.

The Honor Belongs to Georgia
and Not Massachusetts.
Henry p. Moore in Sunny South.
The invention which produced the
greatest revolution known to history in
agriculture, In manufactures and in
commerce was that of the cotton gin
The greatest stimulus to the worlds
progress was created by the cotton gin
England and the continent of Europe
flourishcd under Its influence as they
had never flourlshed before; the wilds
of America were transformed by it and
painless wilderness became, as If by
magic, fields of ffuitfulness, blooming
gardens and poDulous cities that rival.
led the proudest capitals of the old
world in wealth, power and magnlf-
cence. The direct result of this sim
pie machine was 10 render commodity
hitherto but little utilized readily mer-
chantable and almost in a twinkling 1t
became king of the worlds commerce
and finance. Hence it becomes very
important question: who invented the
cotton gin, and one that has not re-
ceived the consideration from histo.
rians that it deserves.
The great Macaulay appreciated the
marvellous results of the invention and
expatiates at length upon its beneficial
effects upon the civilization of his time.
But he seems TO have treated with un-
wonted neglect Its authorship, and ac-
cepted, contrary to his usual custom,
the common version without lnvestiga-
tion. In all the histories of the United
States that it has been my privilege to
read, in all the histories of Georgia,
while noticing the fact that Whitney's
claim was contested for a period ex-
tending more than generation, Meth.
er the grounds for the litigation nor
the circumstances attending nor the
name of the unsuccessful claimant ap-
pear in their pages, and although Geor-
gia did not escape the charge of in
gratitude in the doubtful issue of the
causes tried In this State, there is no
defense set up.
Eli Whitney, according to the best
accounts obsainable, produced the first
device for separating lint cotton from
the seed. His machine proved, after
testing it, to be impractical. 1t con-
sisted of cylinder into which annular
rows of spikes were driven, revolving
so as to pan the spikes through inter
walls between wires which formed the
breast of the gin.
Eli Whitney was born at Westbor-
ough, Mass, December 8, 1865. He
was a nailsmith by trade and during
the revolutionary war, when naiIs were
in demand and wages remunerative, he
managed to save enough money to
take him through Yale college. Gen
eral Nathaniel Greene, prior TO the
war, had been an anchorsmith at Prov
idence, and it is quite likely, in the light
of subsequent events, that the two had
been thrown together. AT any rate, so
1t Is related, as the widow of General
Greene was returning from visit to
Providence, her old home, to Savannah,
she chanced to meet on shlpboard
young Whitney, who, ostensibly, was
coming to Georgia to enter private
family as tutor. He also proposed, it
is said, to employ his spare time in
studying law. Berg. disappointed in
his expected engagement, he accepted
the invitation of Mrs. Greene to ac-
company her to her plantation-Mul-
berry grove, few miles up the Sa-
vannah river.
in Its infancy. There was no way of
separating the lint from the seed ex-
cept by hand, which was very tedious
process. "A good days task for ne
gro was a pounds of lint cotton. Un-
der these circumstances it is obvious
cotton growing could not be very lu-
crative. Hence it was not engaged in
extensively.
About this time Colonel Robert For
sythe, the father of John Forsythe, the
noted statesman, aud Majors Pendle-
ton and Brewer, comrades of General
Greene who resided at Augusta, called
to pay their respects to Mrs. Greene,
and during the course of conversation
the fact was mentioned TINT agricul-
ture would be very profitable If some
one would invent machine for clean
ing cotton. Thus the matter was
brought to Whitney's attention.
subsequently Mrs. Greene married
Phineas Miller, and they, accompanied
by Whitney, moved to Augusta, where
Miller and Whitney associated with
them Captain James Toole, the firm
becoming Miller, Whitney & Toole.
They purchased two tracts of land on
IeoChy CIech, Ill OiCuInOuu C0unLy,
from Thomas and Mary Glascock, Sep.
tember %, 1907, now known as the
Phinizy place, and established their
gin factory. A patent had been issued
to Eli Whitney March Id, 1894, signed
by George Washington, President; Ed
mund Randolph, Secretary of State,
and William Bradford, Attorney Gen
eral. Subsequently Whitney returned
to Connecticut, leaving his partner,
Miller, to look after his interests in
the South, while he established the
Whitney Arms Co., at Whitneyville,
Conn. Toole seemed to have dropped
out of the concern, for we hear no
more about him. Whitney died at New
Haven January 8, 1926, leaving large
estate. A handsome monument was
erected to his memory, which was un-
yelled with elaborate exercises, the
distinguished United States Senator,
Charles Sumner, delivering the eulogy.
Hodgen Holmes, the inventor of the
saw gin, the same that is in use at
the present day, and for which no SUBJ
stitute has ever been found, was u
Scotchman by birth, but when quite
young he went with his father to live
at Cork, Ireland, when the elder
Holmes acquired bleach. green and