Charles Tillinghast James: Difference between revisions

| term=March 4, 1851 – March 43, 1857

| resting_place=[[Swan Point Cemetery]], [[Providence, RIRhode Island]]

Charles T. James was born in [[West Greenwich, Rhode Island]] on September 15, 1805, the son of Silas James and Phebe Tillinghast James. Silas was a local judge, and the Tillinghast name was an old and respected one in New England.<ref>{{sfn|Winpenny |1981, |p. =166</ref>}} He married Lucinda Waite James and they had four children, Abby, Charles Tillinghast, Lucinda Elizabeth, and Walter. Abby married Colonel John Stanton Slocum of the [[2nd Rhode Island Infantry]]; he was killed in action at the [[First Battle of Bull Run]] on July 21, 1861.<ref>[https://books.google.cacom/books?id=rWcTAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=Colonel+John+Stanton+1861+abby+james&sourcepg=bl&ots=5M3BNUSIxm&sig=rBXQU9cIOtqvgAAUsbzE2QVzwYk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwix4ZjfsdXeAhUTBHwKHRn9AxQQ6AEwDXoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Colonel%20John%20Stanton%201861%20abby%20james&f=falsePA25 ''Memorial of Colonel John Stanton Slocum'']</ref>

James was successful in designing and promoting steam mills for small seaport towns; these generally had no experience with mills and needed his expertise in factory design and equipment selection.<ref>{{sfn|Winpenny |1981, |p. =168</ref>}} James researched the best equipment and manufacturers; the equipment he specified included pickers, breaker cards, drawing heads, Providence Machine fly frames, Mason finished cards, and spinning equipment looms. James preferred [[steam engine]]s from Providence's [[India Point Park|India Point]] Works, owned 1843–1846 by [[Corliss steam engine#Company history|Fairbanks, Bancroft and Company]], which later became [[George Henry Corliss|Corliss]], Nightingale and Company.<ref>[http://newsm.org/manufacturers/corliss-steam-engine-co/ Corliss Steam Engine Co. at New England Wireless & Steam Museum]</ref> He promoted steam mills in seaports that had seen a great reduction in business because of the centralization of trade in bigger ports such as Boston. This occurred due to the centralizing technology of canals such as the [[Middlesex Canal]], the rapid growth of railroads, and bigger ships. These "decayed" smaller seaports such as Newburyport and Salem would be able to get coal and cotton supplies directly from the ships and export their steam mill products directly by ship again.

In 1839–1846 Charles T. James owned the southern half of the Brewster-Coffin House (High St.) in [[Newburyport, Massachusetts]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=pmxNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PT62#PPT62,M1 Old Newburyport Houses] by Albert Hale, published 1912, p. 40</ref> During this time he worked on several steam mill projects in the area. Steam mills promoted by Charles T. James in Newburyport included the Barlett Mill, the James Steam Mill (built in 1843 with 17,000 spindles) and the Globe (later Peabody) Steam Mill (built in 1846 with 12,200 spindles). He also promoted mills in [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]] 1845-6, the Naumkeag Steam Cotton Mill in [[Salem, Massachusetts]], the Essex steam mill, and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20060903195757/http://www1.fandm.edu/x7219.xml Conestoga Steam Mill] in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]] in 1844-45. Later he was closely involved with the [[Graniteville, South Carolina|Graniteville]] Mill in South Carolina with [[William Gregg (industrialist)|William Gregg]].

James developed a family of early rifled projectiles{{sfn|Ripley|1984|pp=300–301}} and a [[rifling]] system for [[artillery]] that saw use by the Union Army in the [[American Civil War]]. The weapon most correctly called a [[James rifle]] is a {{cvt|3.8|in|mm|0}} weapon commonly called a [[14-pounder James rifle]], usually made of bronze; this was the only gun designed entirely by James that saw extensive service. Except for the material, it closely resembles the wrought iron [[3-inch Ordnance rifle]] that saw more widespread use. His rifling system was used to convert pre-war [[smoothbore]] [[M1841 6-pounder field gun]]s,<ref>Some were also reamed out to 3.8 inches for the 14-pound James projectile.</ref>{{sfn|Ripley|1984|pp=18–19}}{{sfn|Olmstead|Stark|Tucker|1997|pp=301–305}} 32-pounder, 42-pounder, and other weapons to rifles firing his projectiles; in some Civil War-era documents these are also called "James rifles". Large-caliber guns with his rifling system and projectiles, along with [[Parrott rifle]]s, were used in the breaching of [[Battle of Fort Pulaski|Fort Pulaski]] in April 1862; this was probably James' most significant contribution to the war. After the war, the rapid reduction of Fort Pulaski was used to justify stopping work on masonry forts and led to a brief period of new construction of earthwork forts.<ref name=CWArty1/>{{sfn|Ripley|1984|pp=169–171, 300–301}}<ref>[http://cdsg.org/united-states-seacoast-defense-construction-1781-1948-a-brief-history-the-civil-war-era-1861-1865/ Berhow 2015, p. 8]</ref>

On October 16, 1862, during the demonstration of a projectile at [[Sag Harbor, New York|Sag Harbor]], [[Long Island]], New York, a worker attempted to remove a cap from a [[Shell (projectile)|shell]]. It exploded, killing the man and mortally wounding James, who died the next day.{{sfn|Dickey|George|1980|p=147}} Following his death, few of his weapons were produced.{{sfn|Ripley|1984|pp=169–171, 300–301}} His projectiles were gradually replaced with [[Benjamin B. Hotchkiss|Hotchkiss]] projectiles due to stripping of the lead [[Sabot (firearms)|sabot]].<ref name=CWArty1>[http://www.civilwarartillery.com/inventors/james.htm General Charles Tillinghast James at CivilWarArtillery.com]</ref>{{sfn|Ripley|1984|pp=296–297}}

Over 150 14-pounder [[James rifle]]s survive, many of them at [[Shiloh National Military Park]], Tennessee, including over 50 6-pounder weapons bored out to 3.8 inches and rifled.{{sfn|Olmstead|Stark|Tucker|1997|pp=301–305}} Other heavy guns with James rifling survive as well. A portrait of Charles T. James is in the collection of the [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]], and a bust is in the [[Smithsonian American Art Museum]] collection, both in Washington, D.C.<ref>[http://npg.si.edu/object/npg_1892.8.1 Portrait of Charles T. James at the National Portrait Gallery]</ref><ref>[https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/charles-tillinghast-james-19697 Bust of Charles T. James at the Smithsonian American Art Museum]</ref>

There is an iron rifled 14-pounder artillery piece, used by James in experiments at Napatree Point in [[Watch Hill, Rhode Island]], in the collection of the [[Newport Artillery Company]].{{sfn|Olmstead|Stark|Tucker|1997|pp=301–305}}

* {{cite book | last1 editor-last= Berhow | first1 editor-first= Mark A., Ed. | title = American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide, |edition=Third Edition | location = McLean, Virginia | publisher = CDSG Press | year = 2015 | isbn = 978-0-9748167-3-9}}

* {{ cite book | title = The Big Guns: Civil War Siege, Seacoast, and Naval Cannon | authorsfirst1 = Edwin |last1=Olmstead, |first2=Wayne E. |last2=Stark, and |first3=Spencer C. |last3=Tucker | publisher = Museum Restoration Service | location = Alexandria Bay, NY | year = 1997 | isbn = 0-888-55012-X }}

* [{{cite book |url=https://journals.psu.edu/pmhb/article/viewFile/43718/43439 |first=Thomas R. |last=Winpenny (|year=1981), ''|title=The Engineer as Promoter: Charles Tillinghast James and the gospel of steam mills''] -}} focusesFocuses on his establishment of steam mills in Newburyport, MA and Lancaster, PA

| years=March 4, 1851 &ndash; March 43, 1857

| alongside=[[John Hopkins Clarke|John H. Clarke]] and [[Philip Allen (Rhode Island politician)|Philip Allen]]

[[Category:People from WestKent GreenwichCounty, Rhode Island]]