Joseph Gay Eaton Larned

Background

Joseph Gay Eaton Larned was born at Thompson, Connecticut, the son of George and Anna Spalding (Gay) Larned, and a descendant of William and Goodith Learned who were in Charlestown, Massachussets, in 1632.

Education

His early education was received in the local public and preparatory schools, and he graduated from Yale College with the class of 1839, receiving the degree of B. A. Later he studied law.

Career

Upon the graduation, Larned taught the classics at Chatham Academy, Savannah, Georgia, for a year, and in the fall of 1840 became a private teacher in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1842 he took charge of an academy at Waterloo, New York, and in November 1842 was called to a tutorship in Yale College. He continued in this capacity for some five years.

In 1846 he initiated a project for raising money by subscription to purchase for the Yale law school the library of Judge Hitchcock of New Haven, then recently deceased; and during his vacations he devoted himself to this undertaking. Becoming interested in public affairs he assisted in the organization of the Free-Soil party of New Haven and published several articles in the New Englander (July, October 1845, April 1846) upon "Massachusetts and South Carolina. "

Late in 1847 he was admitted to the bar in New Haven and began the practice of law. His professional interest was gradually directed toward patent law, and thence to the financial support and development of certain inventions which came to his attention. In consequence, he withdrew from the practice of his profession about 1852, and in 1854 removed to New York City.

There he soon became acquainted with Wellington Lee, who was engaged in the perfection of a steam fire engine, and in 1855 they formed a partnership to manufacture steam fire engines at the Novelty Iron Works, New York. Fire engines were then looked upon as novelties merely, and to introduce them into New York City for practical use was a difficult task. Beginning in April 1856, when one of their first engines was demonstrated in City Hall Park, Lee and Larned exhibited one after another of their successively improved engines and through their perseverance were at last rewarded by having their products put into service, not only in New York but also in several other cities in the United States and Europe.

In November 1858 they first demonstrated their self-propelled steam fire engine, which weighed 5 1/2 tons, raised steam to a working pressure of 150 pounds in from six to ten minutes, and was capable of discharging over 700 gallons of water per minute through a 1 5/8-inch nozzle to a horizontal distance of 267 feet and a vertical height of nearly 200 feet. The machine incorporated the rotary pump invented by J. C. Cary, driven by a reciprocating steam engine, and Lee's and Larned's patented annular boiler. For an improvement in the boiler, Larned received patent No. 23, 093, on March 1, 1859. The boiler then consisted of rows of upright water tubes set side by side and connected to a steam dome above the fire and to a water bottom below in such a way as to form a water-jacketed fire-box. By 1860 Lee and Larned were manufacturing and selling steam fire engines of several different sizes, the smallest being designed for hand drawing and for use in small villages and towns. One of these, however, was on duty at the Valley Forge Hose Company stationed in Thirty-seventh Street, New York. It weighed about 3, 700 pounds, and was a four-wheeled affair, about ten feet long. with the vertical boiler between the rear wheels.

In 1863 Lee and Larned went out of business because their enterprise ceased to be profitable. Larned thereupon became assistant inspector of ironclads for the Navy Department and had charge of work in progress at Green Point, Brooklyn, New York. At the close of the Civil War he returned to the practice of law in New York City. He died in New York City.

Achievements

• Larned was known as a manufacturer of steam fire engines, the leading features being of his own invention, in the partnership with Wellington Gray Lee. He was active in securing the library of Judge Hitchcock for the Yale College, and in raising funds for the Alumni Hall. He also collected and compiled genealogical records of his ancestors, and in 1865 he published A Quarter-Century Record of the Class of 1839, Yale College (1865).

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Learned Family, Learned, Larned, Learnard, Larnard And Lerned: Being Descendants Of William Learned Who Was Of Charlestown, Massachusetts, In 1632 (1898)

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

Connections

Larned was married May 9, 1859, to Helen Lee, a sister of his business partner, Wellington Lee.

Father:

George Larned

Mother:

Anna Spalding (Gay) Larned

Spouse:

Helen Lee

Business partner:

Wellington Lee