Background
Jearum Atkins was born on August 20, 1815 in Waterbury, Vermont, United States to John and Elizabeth Atkins. He had a sister and 2 brothers.
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Jearum Atkins
Edit Profileagriculturist inventor manufacturer
Education
At the beginning of his life the main way of studying was self-education. His school training was comprised in a few short winter terms, and did not extend beyond the old fashioned three R's. Later he learned the millwright trade.
Career
Interest in physics, mathematics and invention predetermined his future career. After receiving serious physical injuries he couldn't do much, still he would rig up a drawing board and work out a great number of intricate and ingenious problems.
One invention of the early years of his prostration brought him fame and some money, but was destined to ruin him in the end. This was a self-rake harvester, in which the rake moved with a continuous progressive motion derived directly from the rotation of the master wheel. Atkins' patent was numbered 9479, and was issued on December 21, 1852. Forty machines were manufactured and sold in 1853, and 300 the next year, distributed among twenty states.
The automaton by now had proved a sensation. Despite bitter attacks from competing manufacturers, most of whom still made the old hand-raking reapers, the craze for Atkins's automaton persisted.
Orders poured in so fast that although construction was quadrupled for 1855, and rose to nearly 5, 000 in 1856, it fell short of the demand. At the height of its fame Atkins's automaton disappeared from the market almost overnight. Manufacturers by that time had taken up other types of self-rakes and were no longer interested in his device.
Between times, in Washington, he patented several ingenious inventions, but, as he has often remarked, he was born to misfortune. His inventions were all too large to be handled with small means, and capitalists are never satisfied with a moderate share.
During 1868 and 1869 he patented, besides the above, a farm gate, a harvester cutter, a safety valve, a locomotive smoke stack, calipers, and a low water alarm, all of them evincing a profound knowledge of mechanical and physical laws. He also made several other applications for patents, which failing fortune compelled him to abandon.
Among the inventions which were worked out, but not patented, was a method of loading heavy guns, designed particularly for use on the monitors, which were then supposed to be the acme of naval architecture.
As a last resort Atkins appealed to Congress for $100, 000 as a partial return for his contribution to agricultural advancement. Congress refused to listen, and thenceforth Atkins dropped from sight.
Achievements
Personality
Jearum Atkins had great passion for inventions, experiments and pursuing of knowledge. His intelligence and early inventions made him stand out from other children in the countryside.
Physical characteristics: he received serious spinal injuries from a runaway horse at a young age and had been recovering from it for 25 years. Near the end of his life he was partually blind and suffered a stroke of apoplexy.
Connections
Nothing is known about his own family, and, presumably, he had never had a wife or children because of his work and injuries.
- Father:
- John Atkins
- Mother:
- Elizabeth Atkins
- Brother:
- Eliphalet Atkins
- Brother:
- John Atkins
- Sister:
- Eliza Atkins
Born on October 28, 1783 in Claremont, New Hampshire, United States to John Atkins and Temperance York. He ran a water-powered sawmill in Vermont.
Born in Vermont, United States. Married Joshua Wing Rand and had 2 children.
References
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Born
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Died
February 25, 1897 (aged 81) -
Nationality
American