Before Edison and Tesla, there was Davenport

Step aside Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. A Brandon blacksmith pioneered the use of electricity during the 1830s, four decades before inventors Edison and Tesla began experimenting with electricity for commercial and home applications. Vermont-native inventor Thomas Davenport was born in 1802. He operated a blacksmith shop in the Forestdale section of Brandon near the intersection of Routes 73 and 53. There he invented the first D.C. (direct current) electrical motor in 1834. A year later, he built a scale-model of a futuristic electrical railway. It was the first electric train on any scale. The Brandon blacksmith had learned about the use of an electromagnet, built by Joseph Henry and operated by Allen Penfield owner the Crown Point Ironworks, in nearby Ironville, N.Y. Penfield's underground and open pit mines and mill facilities were located up the hill from Crown Point, N.Y., along Putnam Creek, at the edge of Penfield Pond near the west shore of Lake Champlain. "Penfield was the first to employ an electromagnet to 'charge' the iron quills in his iron-ore separating machine," said Joan Hundson, president of the Penfield Museum Board of Directors in Crown Point. "The magnet made it possible to separate some of the nonmagnetic minerals from the ore before the ore was placed in the forge. That's why Ironville is considered the birthplace of the Age of Electricity." Davenport had visited Penfield's 19th century iron operation on horseback on several occasions. Iron for the famous Brooklyn Bridge and Civil War ironclads, including the USS Monitor, was later mined and milled there. The Vermonter was fascinated by Penfield's expanding operation as well as by the motive power of magnets. In 1833, Davenport purchased Penfield's big magnet when it was replaced by a new device. Carrying the magnet via horse-drawn wagon to the Crown Point docks on Lake Champlain, Davenport then ferried the device to Bridport in Vermont. From there, the wagon delivered the electromagnet, overland, to Davenport's Forestdale workshop. According to one account of Davenport's life, "He unwound and dismantled the (Joseph Henry) magnet as his wife, Emily took notes on its method of construction. He then started his own experiments and built two more magnets of his own design. Insulated wire was required, but only bare wire was available. Emily cut up her wedding dress into strips of silk to provide the necessary insulation that allowed for the maximum number of windings." A friend and neighbor, Orange Smalley, also took part in early experiments that led to the running of the first electric motor during the summer of 1834. Davenport also patented a device for "improvements in propelling machinery by magnetism and electromagnetism" in 1837—this patent described the first electric railway based on the model train constructed in Brandon. Davenport's model train ran on a circular track four feet in diameter; its power was supplied by a stationary battery. During the early 1840s, Davenport opened a workshop in New York City. He also published the world's first technical journal devoted to all things electromagnetic. Davenport travelled between New York and Vermont until his death. He died in Salisbury, on July 6, 1851. Despite being revered as a technological genius by the fraternity of mechanical engineers, Davenport has gone largely unnoticed in histories about pioneering American inventors. Those Inventive Davenports You can view a replica of the electromagnet used by Davenport at the Penfield Museum and homestead in Crown Point, N.Y. (the original is in the Smithsonian). The first Davenport-Smalley workshop, and an historical monument, can be seen in the Foresdale district of Brandon. It's located 800 feet south of the intersections of Routes 73 and 53. Inventiveness ran in Davenport's family. A descendant, Earl Davenport, is credited with inventing the "over-unity" magnetic motor and generator. This Davenport inveted the "over-unity" advanced alternator at the age of 12.

Signup for our newsletter

Before Edison and Tesla, there was Davenport

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS