Background

Rudolf Eickemeyer was born in Altenbamberg, Bavaria, Germany, the son of Christian and Katherine (Brehm) Eickemeyer.

Education

He was educated in his village schools, the Realschule at Kaiserlautern, and the Polytechnic Institute at Darmstadt, where he completed his studies at the age of seventeen.

Career

He joined the insurgents in the Revolution of 1848 with his friend and future partner George Osterheld. After its collapse the two left Germany for New York, arriving November 20, 1850. In the United States they found employment, first in the building of the Erie Railroad, later with the Buffalo Steam Engine Works, and finally, in 1854, settled at Yonkers, New York, where they opened a small machine repair shop. Following the Civil War, during which he converted his plant into a revolver factory and also served a thirty-day enlistment, he perfected and patented in 1870 a differential gear for a mowing and reaping machine which was profitably sold to a Canadian manufactory. He continued, too, to improve his hatting machinery and to devise additional equipment, including a shaving machine and one to make blocks and flanges. Being a most intelligent man, he had all along followed the progress of scientific thought, especially in electricity, and in the seventies when this science came to the foreground, he began some experimental work in telephony, taking out a number of patents. This experimentation was followed by work on armatures and armature windings which resulted in the perfecting and patenting of the first symmetrical drum armature and the iron-clad dynamo. So superior were they to existing equipment that the demand for them was immediate—armatures for motor manufacturers and iron-clad motors for elevators—and by 1884 the hat machinery factory had been largely converted into a prosperous electric plant and laboratory. Eickemeyer continued with experimental work and soon electric-lighting and railway generators and motors were produced. He and Stephen D. Field together developed the first direct- connected railway motor, designing it for use on the New York Elevated Railroad. In addition he made many investigations on hysteresis, high potential phenomena, and alternating-current machinery, devising special instruments for the purpose. In 1892 his business was consolidated with the General Electric Company, but he continued his electrical investigations until his death. He was the discoverer and first employer of the illustrious electrical engineer, Charles P. Steinmetz. He was active in civic affairs in Yonkers: a fireman in his youth; a militiaman for fourteen years; a water commissioner for twenty-two years; and vice-president of the school board, of which he was a trustee for twenty-three years.

Achievements

• Rudolf Eickemeyer has been listed as a noteworthy inventor, manufacturer by Marquis Who's Who.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Letters from the Southwest

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • Denkwürdigkeiten des Generals Eickemeyer. (German Edition)

    ( This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923....)

  • Photo Album: Our Trip to California. Feb. 21, 1929. I.
  • Down South

Views

Hatmaking was then the chief industry of Yonkers; and through their repair work the partners became familiar with the art, and Eickemeyer began to give serious attention to the improvement of its crude mechanical appliances.

Membership

vice-president of the school board, of which he was a trustee for twenty-three years

Interests

• civic affairs

• Music & Bands

  This experimentation was followed by work on armatures and armature windings which resulted in the perfecting and patenting of the first symmetrical drum armature and the iron-clad dynamo.

Connections

He married Mary True Tarbell of Dover, Maine, in July 1856, who with six children survived him.

Father:

Christian Eickemeyer

Mother:

Katherine (Brehm) Eickemeyer

Wife:

Mary True Tarbell

colleague:

Stephen D. Field

Friend:

George Osterheld