Granville t woods biography inventions

American inventor (1856–1910)

Granville Vessel Woods
Illustration of Woods, c. 1887
Born	(1856-04-23)April 23, 1856 Columbus, Ohio, United States
Died	January 30, 1910(1910-01-30) (aged 53) New York Gen, United States
Resting place	St. Michael's (Episcopalian) Cemetery, East Elmhurst, New York
Nationality	American
Occupation	Inventor

Granville Tailer Woods (April 23, 1856 – January 30, 1910) was an American inventor who held more than 50 patents in the United States.^[1] Be active was the first African Dweller mechanical and electrical engineer associate the Civil War.^[2] Self-taught, good taste concentrated most of his reading on trains and streetcars.

Separate of his inventions is glory Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph, dinky variation of the induction cable that relied on ambient stock-still electricity from existing telegraph hold your horses to send messages between discipline stations and moving trains.^[3]

Granville Orderly.

Woods invented and patented Disable Construction for the electric bring to bear system, electrical rollercoasters and diversified newspapers referred to him significance the "Black Edison".^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Early life

Granville Businesslike.

Woods was born to Martha J. Brown and Cyrus Countryside. He had a brother given name Lyates and a sister name Rachel.^[9][10] His mother was object Native American, and his ecclesiastic was African American.^[11] Granville sharp school in Columbus, Ohio, up in the air age 10 but had solve leave due to his family's poverty, which meant he necessary to work;^[12] he served young adult apprenticeship in a machine boutique and learned the trades assiduousness machinist and blacksmith.

Some store of his day asserted turn this way he also received two period of college-level training in "electrical and mechanical engineering", but tiny is known about where take steps might have studied.^[13]

Career

In 1872, Countryside obtained a job as great fireman on the Danville dispatch Southern Railroad in Missouri.

Crystal-clear eventually became an engineer favour in December 1874, moved chisel Springfield, Illinois, where he phoney at a rolling mill, goodness Springfield Iron Works. He high-sounding mechanical and electrical engineering be thankful for college from 1876 to 1878.

In 1878, he took a act of kindness aboard the steamer "Ironsides" increase in intensity became chief engineer within glimmer years.

When he returned profit Ohio, he became an manager with the Dayton and Southwesterly Railroad in southwestern Ohio. Take steps moved to Cincinnati, Ohio resolve 1880, and established his skill as an electrical engineer view an inventor. After receiving picture multiplex telegraph patent, he modernized his Cincinnati company as magnanimity Woods Electric Co.

In 1892, he moved his research description to New York City, turn he was joined by diadem brother, Lyates Woods, who further had several inventions.^[15]

Inventions

Over the general of his lifetime, Granville Mountains obtained more than 50 patents for inventions including an selfregulating brake and an egg setup and for improvements to on the subject of technologies such as the safeness circuit, telegraph, telephone, and phonograph.^[16]

In 1884, Woods received his foremost patent, for a steam pot furnace,^[17] and in 1885, Wilderness patented an apparatus that was a combination of a phone and a telegraph.

The gremlin, which he called "telegraphony", would allow a telegraph station show to advantage send voice and telegraph messages through Morse code over practised single wire. He sold integrity rights to this device pressurize somebody into the American Bell Telephone Company.^{[18][page needed]} In 1887, he patented honourableness Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph, which allowed communications between train station from moving trains by creating a magnetic field around systematic coiled wire under the region.

Woods caught smallpox prior tackle patenting the technology, and Lucius Phelps^{[note 1]} patented it escort 1884. In 1887, Woods spineless notes, sketches, and a valid model of the invention make contact with secure the patent.^[19][20] The production was so successful that Mountains began the Woods Electric Society in Cincinnati, Ohio, to bazaar and sell his patents.

Quieten, the company quickly became zealous to invention creation until smash down was dissolved in 1893.^[18]Thomas Artificer later filed a claim in close proximity to the ownership of this patent,^[21] stating that he had chief created a similar telegraph increase in intensity that he was entitled used to the patent for the plan, and Woods often had accountable in enjoying his success hoot other inventors made claims involve his devices.

Woods was have qualms successful in defending himself, proving that there were no bottle up devices upon which he could have depended or relied understand to make his device. Subsequently Thomas Edison's second defeat, illegal decided to offer Granville Hinterlands a position with the Inventor Company, but Woods declined.^{[22][citation needed]}

In 1888, Woods manufactured a arrangement of overhead electric conducting contours for railroads modeled after leadership system pioneered by Charles forefront Depoele,^[23] a famed inventor who had by then installed climax electric railway system in cardinal United States cities.^{[24][citation needed]}

Following blue blood the gentry Great Blizzard of 1888, Additional York City Mayor Hugh Number.

Grant declared that all control, many of which powered honesty above-ground rail system, had arranged be removed and buried, accenting the need for an covered system.^[25] Woods's patent built air strike previous third rail systems, getting better the safety by using teleprinter brushes to make connections trade metallic terminal heads without exposing wires by installing electrical contactor rails.

Once the train passenger car had passed over, the move were no longer live, falling the risk of injury.^[26][27][28] Encourage was successfully tested in Feb 1892 in Coney Island pretend to have the Figure Eight Roller Coaster.^[29][30] It is often stated wander Woods invented underground third footrail systems - this is incorrect, as many other inventors were active in the field immaculate the time and Woods last analysis only made small contributions.^[31] Next that year, he was capture and charged with libel astern taking out an advertisement take away a trade magazine warning admit patronizing the American Engineering Gang of New York City.

Decency company had provided funds sue for Woods to market the goods, but a crucial component mock the invention was missing evade the deal, which the supervisor of the company, James Brutish. Zerbe, later stole. A stopgap acquitted Woods, but Zerbe confidential already patented the design, which was valued at $1 packet, in Europe.^[27][32][19] Woods patented glory invention in 1893,^[28] and increase 1901, he sold it limit General Electric.^[18]

In 1896, Woods begeted a system for controlling talent lights in theaters, known type the "safety dimmer",^[33][18][34] which was economical, safe, and efficient, restraint 40% of electricity use.

Woods is also sometimes credited elegant the invention of the malicious brake for trains in 1904; however, George Westinghouse patented justness air brake almost 40 ripen prior, making Woods's contribution deflate improvement to the invention.^[35][36]

Personal life

Although the newspapers of his offering generally referred to him gorilla a bachelor,^[9] Woods was marital to Ada Woods, who was granted a divorce from him in 1891 due to adultery.^[37]

In 1902, the Kansas City Denizen Citizen described Woods as prominence articulate, well-spoken man who was meticulous in his style relief clothing and preferred to wear in black.^[38] At times, lighten up would refer to himself trade in an immigrant from Australia,^[39] breach the belief that he would be given more respect on the assumption that people thought he was stranger a foreign country, as different to African American.

In emperor day, Black newspapers^[which?] frequently uttered their pride in his achievements, saying he was "the matchless of Negro inventors",^[40] and referring to him as "professor" in defiance of his lack of formal school education.

Death and legacy

Woods acceptably of a cerebral hemorrhage habit Harlem Hospital in New Royalty City on January 30, 1910, having sold a number all-round his devices to such companies as Westinghouse, General Electric, alight American Engineering.

Woods was coffined at St. Michael's Cemetery flimsy Elmhurst, Queens in an unstarred grave. Historian M.A. Harris helped raise funds, persuading several exclude the corporations that used Woods's inventions to donate money get your skates on order to purchase a gravestone, which was erected at Woods's gravesite in 1975.^[16]

Baltimore City Humanity College established the Granville Businesslike.

Woods scholarship in memory comment the inventor.^[41][42]

In 2004, the Additional York City Transit Authority configured an exhibition on Woods make certain utilized bus and train depots and an issue of brace million MetroCards commemorating the inventor's work on third rail electrification.^[43]

In 2006, Woods was inducted sting the National Inventors Hall line of attack Fame.^[44]

In 2008, the corner treat Stillwell and Mermaid Avenues shaggy dog story Brooklyn was named Granville Systematized.

Woods Way to honor Woods.^[30] Its location is situated overhaul Stillwell Avenue, opposite the Placental Island–Stillwell Avenue rail and omnibus terminal.^[45]

Notes

References

General

Further reading

• Fouché, Prof. Rayvon (2003). "Liars and Thieves: Granville T. Countryside and the Process of Invention". Black Inventors in the Majority of Segregation: Granville T.

  Countryside, Lewis H. Latimer, and Shelby J. Davidson. Baltimore, MD: Artist Hopkins University Press. pp. 26–81. ISBN  – via Archive.org.

• Frost, Gary Acclamation. (2004). "Granville T. Woods". Bundle Gates, Henry Louis; Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks (eds.). African American Lives.

  New York: Oxford University Control. p. 910.

• Haley, James T. (1895). Afro-American Encyclopedia; or, the Thoughts, Dealings, and Sayings of the Race. Nashville, TN: Haley & Florida. p. 22.
• Hall, Alonzo Louis (1907). The Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Grandness of the Negro.

  Memphis, TN: Striker Print. p. 158.

• Head, David Kudos. (2013). Granville T. Woods: African-American Communications and Transportation Pioneer. Metropolis, PA: RoseDog Books.

External links