The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-03-13
THE COTTON GIN.
Invention of a Southern Man, Not
 Whitney's.

Little Rock Gazette.
 Robert c. Watkins of 113 New Mont gomery Street, San Francisco. writes to The Manufacturers Record to .,ay that the cotton gin was invented by a south ern man instead of by a Northerner-by Joseph Watkins instead of by Eli Whit ney.
 MT. Watkins claims that accordine, to the records of the Watkins family the cotton gin was invented and oatentel (about 119O by Joseph Watkins of Ebert county. Georgia. At his death his papers Wisn y tnls patent, fell into the hands of John watkins, his brother, and at the death of Mrs. John Watkins the patent came into the possession of Mrs. Martha r. Jones, formerly of Wilks County, Georgia. and was burned immediately af- ter the civil war.
 The writer of this letter says that a snort time before MT. Watkins made his invention two bags of seed cotton had been shipped to Charleston, s. C.. but the belief of that day was that cotton could never become an article of com merce on account of the difficulty of sep arating the seed from the lint Great ex- citement prevailed. and, naturally, there was demand for a machine to do this work Ell Whitney. young Massachu- sets school teacher. was then at the estate of the widow of General Nathaniel Greene near Savannah. Being from the land of inventions he was appealed to to invent the necessary machine, and imme-
 
 to MT. Watkins, who was living at Old Petersburg, on the Savannah river. fifty miles above Augusta, and who had a cot ton gin in successful operation. Whitney was received with the hospitality that the old-time Southern planter always showed strangers, and examined Mir. Watkins's gin. Then Whitney so the San Francisco MT. Watkins asserts, re- turned home and made such alterations, perhaps Improvements, on his gin, as 10 obtain patent MT. Watkins was al- ways blamed by his family and friends for not proceeding against Whitney tor infringement of patent rights, but, being a wealthy planter, who pursued his me chanical inventions RIore for amusement than for money making, he never did so
 The foregoing the San Francisco Mir Watkins declares to be the true story of the invention of the cotton gin.
 However, Eli Whitney never had any thing except continual trouble with his gin. His biography says he invented his machine while on the plantation of Mrs Greene, on the Savannah river When he had completed his model Mrs. Greene and one other person were the only ones permitted to see it; but the news had been noised about and that the invention was a success became generally known One night the building where the model was concealed was broken open and the machine stolen. It Is said that gins were in operation on several plantations before Whitney could make another model and secure patent. lie formed a partner ship with Phineas Miller, who had some capital, and the two went to Connecticut to manufacture the machines. but in fringement of his patent involved him In continual litigation. The South Carolina Legislature gave Whitney $5O,00O and he was allowed a royalty oa his machine in North Carolina. The use of the gin brought the exportation of cotton up from 1S9,500 pounds in 1791 to 41.O0O, ,OO0 pounds in 1903. Robert Fulton said that 'Arkwright Watt and Whitney were the three men that did most for mankind of any of the contemporaries. and Macau- ley said: What Peter the Great did to make Russia dominant. Eli Whitneys invention of the cotton gin has more than equaled in its relation to the power and progress of the United States"
 Whether or not Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. he was mechanical ge- nius. He amassed a fortune in the man ufacture of firearms after failing to make money with his gin. He originated the idea of dividing the processes of manufacture among various machines so that all parts of the arms were inter changeable. Most of the national armo- ries were modelled after Whitney's estab- lishment, near New Haven. Conn, where is now the village of Whitneyville.