John Thorp

1784 (age 64)

Rehoboth, Massachusetts, United States

Practically nothing is known of Thorp's life until he was twenty-eight years old, when he obtained his first patent (March 28, 1812; renewed, January 28, 1843) for a hand- and water-loom. Presumably he had learned the machinist's trade and had worked in the textile mills in Rhode Island; certainly he had developed a marked inventive ability. His loom had an ingenious shedding motion, an automatic take-up, a novel picking motion, and a clever protective device. To acquire the funds to engage in further invention Thorp worked at his trade in various establishments in New England, and while in Taunton, Massachussets, acquired his second patent (October 14, 1816) for a power loom. This was issued jointly to him and Silas Shepard, a textile manufacturer, who probably retained Thorp during the period of development of the invention. For the next twelve years nothing is known of him. He probably was prosperous, for his two inventions yielded him, if not financial independence, at least a reputation as a skilled machinist, and therefore the highest pay of all artisans of his day, namely $1. 50 to $1. 75 a day. On November 25 and December 31, 1828, Thorp, then living in Providence, R. I, and engaged in his own machinist business, received three patents for improvements in spinning and twisting cotton, now called "ring spinning. " These are the basic patents of the continuous method of spinning now (1935) employed for more than one hundred million of the one hundred and sixty million cotton spindles in the world, and increasingly employed for the spinning of other textile raw materials. The inventions involved fundamentally the use of a ring and traveler, or hook, and were wholly novel in the art of both hand and machine spinning with respect to the control of the wind and twist of the thread. It is believed, too, that they are the only spinning inventions, with one exception, of the era of transition from hand to machine cotton manufacture that were not adaptations of earlier hand methods or derived directly therefrom. Thorp may have had an agreement with the Fletcher brothers of North Providence, R. I, to help meet the cost of developing these inventions, for they immediately adopted them in their braid manufacturing business and early in 1829 issued jointly with Thorp a warning against the purchase or use of the inventions without their consent. Thorp was also granted a patent for a netting machine (November 20, 1828), the principle of which is still in use. During 1829 Thorp and the Fletchers made and sold his ring-spinning equipment to other manufacturers, and Thorp obtained four more patents, including one for a narrow fabric loom (patented December 22, 1829) which was probably the first gang loom operated by power. His arrangement with the Fletchers continued only about a year, after which he worked independently. Sometime in the thirties he established himself as a machine builder in Providence, and later in North Wrentham, Massachussets He apparently continued in this until his death. On September 27, 1844, he secured a patent for improvements on his original ring-spinning invention. He died without issue, outliving his wife. His place of burial is unknown.

John Thorp

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inventor machinist

Background

John Thorp was the son of Reuben and Hannah (Bucklin) Thorp, and was born presumably in Rehoboth, Massachussets, where his father was engaged at his trade of coach-builder.

Career

Practically nothing is known of Thorp's life until he was twenty-eight years old, when he obtained his first patent (March 28, 1812; renewed, January 28, 1843) for a hand- and water-loom. Presumably he had learned the machinist's trade and had worked in the textile mills in Rhode Island; certainly he had developed a marked inventive ability.

His loom had an ingenious shedding motion, an automatic take-up, a novel picking motion, and a clever protective device. To acquire the funds to engage in further invention Thorp worked at his trade in various establishments in New England, and while in Taunton, Massachussets, acquired his second patent (October 14, 1816) for a power loom. This was issued jointly to him and Silas Shepard, a textile manufacturer, who probably retained Thorp during the period of development of the invention. For the next twelve years nothing is known of him.

He probably was prosperous, for his two inventions yielded him, if not financial independence, at least a reputation as a skilled machinist, and therefore the highest pay of all artisans of his day, namely $1. 50 to $1. 75 a day.

On November 25 and December 31, 1828, Thorp, then living in Providence, R. I, and engaged in his own machinist business, received three patents for improvements in spinning and twisting cotton, now called "ring spinning. " These are the basic patents of the continuous method of spinning now (1935) employed for more than one hundred million of the one hundred and sixty million cotton spindles in the world, and increasingly employed for the spinning of other textile raw materials. The inventions involved fundamentally the use of a ring and traveler, or hook, and were wholly novel in the art of both hand and machine spinning with respect to the control of the wind and twist of the thread. It is believed, too, that they are the only spinning inventions, with one exception, of the era of transition from hand to machine cotton manufacture that were not adaptations of earlier hand methods or derived directly therefrom. Thorp may have had an agreement with the Fletcher brothers of North Providence, R. I, to help meet the cost of developing these inventions, for they immediately adopted them in their braid manufacturing business and early in 1829 issued jointly with Thorp a warning against the purchase or use of the inventions without their consent.

Thorp was also granted a patent for a netting machine (November 20, 1828), the principle of which is still in use. During 1829 Thorp and the Fletchers made and sold his ring-spinning equipment to other manufacturers, and Thorp obtained four more patents, including one for a narrow fabric loom (patented December 22, 1829) which was probably the first gang loom operated by power. His arrangement with the Fletchers continued only about a year, after which he worked independently.

Sometime in the thirties he established himself as a machine builder in Providence, and later in North Wrentham, Massachussets He apparently continued in this until his death.

On September 27, 1844, he secured a patent for improvements on his original ring-spinning invention.

He died without issue, outliving his wife. His place of burial is unknown.

Achievements

John Thorp, was an American inventor of the ring spinning machine (1828), which by the 1860s had largely replaced Samuel Crompton’s spinning mule in the world’s textile mills because of its greater productivity and simplicity. His use of a ring and traveler was entirely novel in controlling the thread twist in spinning. Thorp received little recognition during his life for his inventions and was first honoured by the National Association of Cotton Manufacturers in 1928. A memorial tablet was placed in the old Slater Cotton Mill at Pawtucket, R. I, by the National Association of Cotton Manufacturers.

Connections

He married Eliza A. Williams of Providence on August 18, 1817.

Father:: Reuben Thorp
Mother:: Hannah (Bucklin) Thorp
Spouse:: Eliza A. Williams

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John Thorp

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