Theodore Ruggles Timby

Background

Theodore was born on April 5, 1822 in Dutchess County, N. Y. He was the son of George W. and Sarah (Johnson) Timby, formerly of Pittsfield, Massachussets.

Education

He grew up on his father's farm, attending the local common schools.

Career

During his teens he is said to have invented a form of floating dry dock. As early as 1841 he exhibited at the War Department, Washington, a model and plans for a revolving battery for coast defense, suggested to him by the circular form of Castle William on Governors Island in New York Harbor. He seems also to have conceived of a similar structure for ships of low freeboard.

On January 18, 1843, he filed a caveat covering the invention of the revolving turret for use on land or water. It appears that in the spring of the same year he sent a model to China by Caleb Cushing, the United States minister, and in June exhibited a model to President Tyler and his cabinet.

During the fifties he urged the revolving battery on Emperor Napoleon III, but the idea seems nowhere to have received effective recognition until, in 1861-62, it was utilized by John Ericsson as a distinctive feature of his first Monitor. After the Monitor had proved successful, Timby, then a resident of Worcester, Massachussets, was granted two patents on July 8, 1862 (No. 35, 846 and No. 35, 847), for a revolving battery tower and a revolving tower discharging guns by electricity. In September he received another patent for a revolving battery tower. Ericsson's associates in the business of building Monitors for the government acquired these patents almost at once and thus quieted all claims of infringement.

In later years a controversy followed as to credit for the idea of the revolving turret or battery tower, Ericsson arguing that the idea of a revolving fort long antedated the nineteenth century and thus was one of the concepts of military engineering which belonged as common property to the engineering practice of the time, while supporters of Timby pointed to his early caveat as proof that credit should go to him. It seems clear that the honor of first publicly urging this form of gun housing on governmental authorities belongs to Timby, while the honor of first using the idea in actual construction belongs to Ericsson, who may or may not have known of Timby's design.

In 1857 and 1862 Timby received patents for a barometer; in 1869 he patented a turbine water wheel, and in 1871, a gun carriage; he also devised a process of printing terrestrial globes in colors and a process for quickly ripening coffee. His inventions seem to have brought little financial return, however, and his family was supported in part by the friends who memorialized Congress and the New York legislature in his behalf.

During his later years, as a resident of Brooklyn, N. Y. , he occupied himself with literary avocations, publishing several small volumes of poems and essays, including Bridging the Skies (1883), Beyond (1886), Stellar Worlds and Other Didactic Literature (1896), Lighted Lore for Gentle Folk (1902).

He died in Brooklyn.

Achievements

• Theodore Ruggles Timby is credited as the inventor of the revolving gun turret that was used on the USS Monitor, the ironclad warship that fought in the American Civil War. He patented a wide variety of other inventions, such as a door sash, water wheel, paper cutter, needle case, and a globe clock that was sold in such numbers that some can be seen today on auction sites.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Lighted Lore for Gentle Folk (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Lighted Lore for Gentle Folk The contents o...)

  • Beyond

    (Leopold is delighted to publish this classic book as part...)

  • Bridging the Skies (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Bridging the Skies A broader knowledge of t...)

  • Stellar Worlds and other Didatic Literature

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• The Washington Post stated in 1909 shortly after his death that "John Ericsson has for years monopolized all of the credit for inventing and building the Monitor, but as a matter of fact he was joint inventor with Theodore Timby. "

Connections

In 1844 he married Charlotte M. Ware.

Father:

George W. Timby

Mother:

Sarah (Johnson) Timby

Spouse:

Charlotte M. Ware

References

• Famous American Men and Women; A Complete Portrait Gallery of Celebrated People, Whose Names Are Prominent in the Annals of the Time, Each Portrait AC
• People's Book of Biography: Or, Short Lives of the Most Interesting Persons of All Ages and Countries 1869
• Life of John Ericsson, The
• The Monitor and the Navy Under Steam (Classic Reprint)