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Biography of Walter HuntName: Walter HuntBirth Date: July 29, 1796 Death Date: June 8, 1859 Place of Birth: Martinsburg, New York, United States Nationality: American Gender: Male Occupations: inventor, farmer, land speculator Walter Hunt Walter Hunt (1796-1859) was a nineteenth century inventor who created many practical things, as well as a few unusual ones. Among his many inventions, Hunt is best known for creating the safety pin and making the first workable sewing machine. However, he failed to profit from any of his inventions.Walter Hunt was the first of thirteen children born to Sherman and Rachel Hunt on July 29, 1796 in Martinsburg, New York. As a child he was educated in a one-room schoolhouse. In 1817 Hunt earned a degree in masonry. He married Polly Loucks and the couple had four children together.Hunt worked primarily as a farmer in a milling community. A textile mill dominated the economy of Lowville, a small town in Lewis County, New York. Most of Hunt's family and friends, including his younger brother Hiram Hunt, were in the business of spinning wool and cotton. When the mill did poorly, it …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…For more than forty years, he has been known as an experiment in the arts. Whether in mechanical movements, chemistry, electricity or metallic compositions, he was always at home: and, probably in all, he has tried more experiments than any other inventor." Further Reading Garrison, Webb B., Why Didn't I Think of That? From Alarm Clocks to Zippers, Prentice-Hall, 1977.Kane, Joseph Nathan, Necessity's Child: The Story of Walter Hunt, America's Forgotten Inventor, McFarland and Company, Inc., 1997.Walter Hunt American Inventor, Clinton N. Hunt, 1935.Wulffson, Don L., Extraordinary Stories Behind the Invention of Ordinary Things, Lothrop, Lee, and Shepard Books, 1981.Wulffson, Don L., The Kid Who Invented the Popsicle and Other Surprisong Stories about Inventions, Cobblehill Books/Dutton, 1997."Invention of the Safety Pin," http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/story019.html (December 13, 2000)."Walter Hunt: Inventor of the Safety Pin," http://inventors.about.com/science/inventors/library/inventors/blhunt_pin.html (December 13, 2000). |