Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 05.djvu/250

 HERRESHOFF

HERRESHOFF

Brown, of Providence, one of the founders of Brown university. In lb28 he was graduated from Brown university and engaged in agricul- tural pursuits, spending several years in improv- ing the Point Pleasiint farm at Bristol, which had been purchased in 1780 by John Brown. In 1856 he removed to the town of Bristol, and en- gaged in ship building. He was married. May 15. 1S33, to Julia Ann, daughter of Joseph W. Lewis, of Boston, Mass.. a well-known sea cap- tain, and had nine children: James Brown fq.v.): Caroline Louisa, who married, in 186G, E. Stanton Ciiesebro, of New York city; Charles Frederick, who engaged in farming, occupying the ancestral home at Point Pleasant, and be- came a political power in the village; John Brown (q.v.); Lewis and Salh" Brown, both of whom became totally blind; Nathanael Greene (q.v.), John Brown Francis (q.v.). and Julian Lewis (q.v.). Charles Frederick Herreshoff, 2d, died in Bristol. R.I.. Sept. 8. 1888.

HERRESHOFF, James Brown, inventor, was born in l^ri^tol. R.I.. March 18, 1834; eldest son of Charles Frederick and Julia Ann (Lewis) Herreshoff. He was educated in the scientific department of Brown university. He engaged as a manufacturing chemist with the Rumford Chemical company, 1863-68, during which time he improved the Hors- ford"s substitute for cream of tartar. In 1868. in company with his father, he began manufacturing fish oil and fertilizer with a novel oil press of his own invention. Later lie devoted his attention to experi- menting, and as a re- sult produced the coil-boiler, the fin keel and a mercurial anti-fouling paint which gave the Herreshoff Manufacturing company its reputa- tion in the construction of fast steam and sail- ing yachts, both in America and Europe. He was married in 1875 to Jane, daughter of "William and Margaret I. (Morrow) Brown of Ireland. For many years after his marriage he resided abroad, afterward removing to California. Among his numerous inventions are: the Her- reshoff cross-i)lank boat (1858); sliding seat for row boats which came into use in all racing shells (1860); improved apparatus for making nitric and muriatic acids (1864); ankle brace or Blondin skate (1865); thread tension regulator for sewing machines (1866); fish oil pres.s (1870);

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apparatus for measuring the specific heats of gases (1872); gasoline driven bicycle, said to be liie first made (1872); coil-boiler (1873); and a sounding apparatus which, when tested on the steamer Providence, gave the profile of the bot- tom of Long Island sound (1874). In 1879 he invented a steam engine built to run by super- heated steam up to 800° Fahrenheit, the cylinder being made of iiardened stub steel, and resulting in saving half the coal. In 1881 he built the first fin-keel boat made in Switzerland, and in 1887-89 was engaged in extensive experiments with this keel in Bristol harbor, R.I. In 1900 he resided in Coronado, Cal.

HERRESHOFF, John Brown, shipbuilder, was born in Bristol, R.I., April 24, 1841; son of Charles Frederick and Julia Ann (Lewis), and grandson of Charles Frederick and Sarah (Brown) Herreshoff. He was educated in the schools of Bristol and at the age of fifteen became totally blind. In 1864 he began the business of yacht- building in Bristol and for some time was associ- ated with Dexter S. Stone as Herreshoff & Stone. From 1879 the business was carried on under the style of the Herreshoff Manufacturing company, John B. Herreshoff being president of the corpora- tion. Mr. Herreshoff's sailing vessels were famous for their speed and for tlioroughness of construc- tion. Prior to 1874 he Iniilt 250 yachts and many vessels of other descriptions. The fastest boats he modelled with his own hands. About 1870 the company began to build steam yachts. With his brother, Nathanael Greene (q.v.), he improved the " coil-boiler" invented by James Brown Her- reshoff. Besides doing work for the United States, the company built vessels for the English, Russian, Spanish and Peruvian governments, and their vessels attained the greatest speed of any in the world, being equally noted for their fine- ness of constiniction and seaworthiness. Mr. Herreshoff was married. Oct. 6, 1870, to Sarah Lucas Kilton, of Boston, IMass.

HERRESHOFF, John Brown Francis, chem- ist, was born in Bristol, R.I., Feb. 7, 1850; son of Charles Frederick and Julia Ann (Lewis) Her- reshoff. He attended Brown university and was assistant professor of analytical chemistry there, 1869-72. In 1874 he removed to New York city, where he engaged in business as a manufactur- ing chemist. He was married, Feb, 9, 1876, to Grace Eugenia, daughter of John Dyer, of Provi- dence. He became superintendent of the Laurel Hill chemical works on Long Island in 1876, and soon afterward invented a remarkable jirocess for the manufacture of sulphuric acid. The business under his direction became the largest of the kind in America. Brown university con- ferred upon him the honorary degree of A.M. in 1890.