Background

He was born in Kempton, Ill. , in 1874. He was the son of William Harvey and Abby (Hinckley) Teeple. He was left an orphan at an early age and grew up in the family of a neighbor.

Education

His early education was afforded by the local schools of a scattered farming community, supplemented by such reading as was possible without interfering with his daily tasks. From 1888 to 1894 he was able to attend Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind. , for a total of about three years, being employed the remainder of the time. He received the degree of B. S. there in 1893, and that of A. B. in 1894.

At Cornell University he received the degree of B. S. in 1899 and that of Ph. D. in 1903.

Career

He became professor of chemistry and mathematics in the Nebraska Normal College, Fremont, Neb. , in which capacity he served for four years. From 1898 to 1903 he was instructor in organic and physiological chemistry at Cornell University.

In 1904 he went to New York City to become a consulting chemist and chemical engineer, and until 1908 was in charge of The Industrial Laboratories, a consulting and research organization owned by a corporation. He left in 1908 to establish his own office.

During his twenty-two years of experience his practice covered a wide range. In an address made when he received the Perkin medal he defined the habitual consultant as one who "for a long time maintains his own office, pays his own rent, sells his services to others but never exclusively, and has no visible means of support except consulting". Much of his work was that of designing, organizing, and directing chemical plants. One of his notable achievements was his direction of the research and development which resulted in the remarkable industry at Searles Lake, California, where potash is prepared in purest form from complex dry salts. The deposits there were owned by the California Trona Company, which in 1914 was succeeded by the American Trona Corporation, and this, later, by the American Potash and Chemical Corporation. Teeple became connected with the enterprise in 1919, after millions of dollars had been spent in an unsuccessful effort to produce potash, along with borax and some alkalis. Two years of research and tests of recorded data under his direction converted a plant which was practically a wreck into a prosperous concern.

He recorded his experiences in a monograph entitled The Industrial Development of Searles Lake Brines (1929), which reveals the complexity of the problems involved and the ingenuity exercised in their solution. He is credited with building up the American potash industry almost single-handed after the First World War, when German supplies were again flooding the market.

Much of his effort was spent in enterprises of a confidential nature of which no record exists.

He died in the Presbyterian Hospital, New York, after a long illness caused originally by gall-stones.

Achievements

• The Perkin medal was awarded him in 1927 for "significant scientific, technical, and administrative achievements, and particularly the economic development of an American potassium industry. " He is also well known for his work in the utilization of waste wood and for his accomplishments in the perfection and manufacture of decolorized carbon.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Industrial Development of Searles Lake Brines: With Equilibrium Data (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Industrial Development of Searles Lake B...)

  • Timelines of World History

    (An illustrated record covering all the major events and a...)

  • On Bilirubin, The Red Coloring-Matter Of The Bile (1903)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • The Oneida family: Genealogy of a 19th century perfectionist commune, containing original community photographs and drawings

Views

Quotations: Among the sayings for which he was famous is that successful industrial research requires "time, patience, and money, particularly patient money. "

Membership

He took a great interest in his profession and served the American Chemical Society as its treasurer for twelve years, contributing greatly to the formation of sound financial policies and the strengthening of the organization. He also found time to devote to the service of the Chemists' Club, New York City, of which he was president for two years.

Interests

• One of his hobbies was archeology, and in August 1930 the Carnegie Institution of Washington published a volume by him entitled Maya Astronomy. He was greatly interested in "problems, " and this work was an attempt to solve some of those involved in Maya chronology. For recreation of a less serious kind he turned to mystery novels and crossword and jigsaw puzzles.

Connections

On August 17, 1897, in Fremont, Neb. , he married Lina Pease, by whom he had three children.

Father:

William Harvey

Mother:

Abby (Hinckley) Teeple

Spouse:

Lina Pease

child:

Granger Odell

child:

Charlotte Marion

child:

John Hazen