Frederick Overman

Background

Frederick Overman was born in 1803 in Elberfeld, Germany, the son of Johann Caspar Overmann and Maria Catherina (Ruhl).

Education

Overman's parents were people of humble circumstances, could afford to give him only an elementary education. They then apprenticed him to a merchant, but he found this occupation not to his liking and was apprenticed to a cabinet maker. While becoming proficient in his trade, he utilized every opportunity to gain general knowledge. At the completion of his apprenticeship he started on his wanderjahre and, making his way to Berlin, there gained admission to the Royal Polytechnic Institute. Beuth, its director, soon discovered the youth's native ability and encouraged him in every way, introducing him to Alexander von Humboldt and to various architects and artists who were prominent in Berlin at the time.

Career

Except for his Über die frischen des roheisens, which was published at Brünn in 1838, no record now remains of the successive steps by which he rose to be, at an early age, an authority in Europe on the metallurgy of iron, but according to his biographer he traveled all over Europe introducing his patented improvements in the puddling of iron and in manufacturing processes. He superintended the erection of a number of large plants, and was for a time in charge of engineering works at the royal mines at Chemnitz, Saxony, presumably an establishment where the pumps and other iron equipment were constructed. He also made a study of the mineral and industrial resources of Austria, collecting data for the use of Prince Metternich in negotiating a new commercial treaty with Great Britain.

In 1842, apparently dissatisfied with political and social conditions in Europe, Frederick came to the United States, where he anglicized his name and passed the rest of his life. It is probable that he went very soon to Pennsylvania, the seat of nearly one-third of the whole iron industry of the United States, which owed most of its growth to German technologists. A scientist rather than a business man, he seems to have had a checkered career of success and failure. Turning to the writing of technological works in English, he published in 1850 The Manufacture of Iron, a volume of some five hundred pages, followed by The Manufacture of Steel (1851), Practical Mineralogy, Assaying, and Mining (1851), The Moulder's and Founder's Pocket Guide (1851), and Mechanics for the Millwright, Machinist, Engineer, Civil Engineer, Architect, and Student (1851). He had nearly completed A Treatise on Metallurgy (1852), 700 pages, dealing with mining as well as the metallurgy of the common metals, when he was accidentally killed by inhaling arsine in his Philadelphia laboratory. The work appeared shortly after his death, with a final chapter added by the publishers and a preface containing a biographical sketch of the author.

If Overman had lived to a greater age he probably would have been a leading figure in the development of metallurgy in the United States, but he died almost a decade before the discoveries on the Comstock lode gave a great impetus to non-ferrous metallurgy, and two decades before the introduction of the Bessemer process into America similarly stimulated the metallurgy of iron. His Treatise on Metallurgy went through six editions. It exhibits a surprisingly sound understanding of the nature of alloys, and all his works deserve more recognition than has been accorded them for their influence on the development of mineral technology in America.

Achievements

• Frederick Overman's major works: The Manufacture of Iron (1850); The Manufacture of Steel (1851); Practical Mineralogy, Assaying, and Mining (1851); The Moulder's and Founder's Pocket Guide (1851); Mechanics for the Millwright, Machinist, Engineer, Civil Engineer, Architect, and Student (1851); and A Treatise on Metallurgy (1852).

Works

More photos

• book

  • Mechanics for the Millwright, Machinist, Engineer, Civil Engineer, Architect and Student: Containing a Clear Elementary Exposition of the Principles and Practice of Building Machines (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Mechanics for the Millwright, Machinist, Eng...)

  • The Manufacture of Steel (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Manufacture of Steel We compare favoura...)

  • Practical Mineralogy, Assaying and Mining

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • A Treatise On Metallurgy: Comprising Mining, and General and Particular Metallurgical Operations : With a Description of Charcoal, Coke, and ... Forge Hammers, Rolling Mills, Etc., Etc

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • The Manufacture Of Iron, In All Its Various Branches

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • The Moulder's and Founder's Pocket Guide (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Moulder's and Founder's Pocket Guide T...)

  • The Moulder's and Founder's Pocket Guide: A Treatise on Moulding and Founding

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

Connections

On May 9, 1829 Frederick Overman married Wilhelmina Friederike Helena Petzholtz.

Father:

Johann Caspar Overmann

Mother:

Maria Catherina (Ruhl) Overman

Wife:

Wilhelmina Friederike Helena (Petzholtz) Overman