Charles Tillinghast James (September 15, 1805 – October 17, 1862) was a consulting manufacturing engineer, early proponent of steam mills (especially cotton mills), and United States Democratic Senator from the state of Rhode Island from 1851 to 1857.
Charles Tillinghast James | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator from Rhode Island | |
| In office March 4, 1851 – March 4, 1857 | |
| Preceded by | Albert C. Greene |
| Succeeded by | James F. Simmons |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 15, 1805 West Greenwich, Rhode Island, US |
| Died | October 17, 1862 (aged 57) Sag Harbor, New York, US |
| Resting place | Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, RI |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Lucinda James |
| Profession | Manufacturing engineer |
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Education and early experience
Charles T. James was born in West Greenwich, Rhode Island. He had a largely self-taught knowledge of mathematics and mechanics, and received an honorary Master of Arts degree from Brown College in 1838.[1] In the early 1830s he worked in small mills in the Quinebaug Valley of Connecticut, later supervising the startup of mills in the Providence area. His reputation had grown such that by 1834 Samuel Slater brought him to Providence to overhaul the first large American steam powered mill at the Steam Cotton Manufacturing Company, which was built in 1828. This work made him realize the potential of steam mills, and he became a leading engineer and advocate of steam mills, particularly in coastal towns and the South.
Mechanical engineering career
James did a good business designing and promoting steam mills for small seaport towns which did not have any experience with mills and needed his expertise to advise on which equipment to buy and how to design the entire factory. James knew all the best equipment and their manufacturers and selected the pickers, breaker cards, drawing heads, Providence Machine fly frames, Mason finished cards, spinning equipment looms and steam engines from Providence's India Point Works run by Fairbanks, Bancroft and Company and later by Corliss, Nightengale and Company.
James 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.[2] During this time he worked on several steam mill projects in the area. Steam mills promoted by Charles T. James in Newburyport include the Barlett Mill, and later 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, NH 1845-6, the Naumkeag Steam Cotton Mill in Salem, Massachusetts, the Essex steam mill, and the Conestoga Steam Mill in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1844-45. Later he was closely involved with the Graniteville Mill in South Carolina with William Gregg.
United States Senator
James was elected to the US senate as a Democrat in 1850. While there he chaired the Senate Committee on Patents and the Patent Office and the Senate Committee on Public Buildings, and advocated for protective tariffs.[3] He left when his term ended in 1857, reportedly due to financial difficulties.
Civil War and death
James developed a family of early rifled projectiles 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 14-pounder (3.8-inch) weapon, usually made of bronze; this was the only weapon designed entirely by James that saw extensive service. His rifling system was used to convert pre-war smoothbore 24-pounder, 32-pounder, and 42-pounder weapons to rifles; in some Civil War-era documents these are also called "James rifles". Large-caliber guns with his rifling system were used in the breaching of Fort Pulaski in April 1862.[4]
During the demonstration of a projectile at Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York, a worker attempted to remove a cap from a shell. It exploded, killing the man and mortally wounding James, who died the next day.[5] Following his death, few of his weapons were produced.[4] His projectiles were gradually replaced with Hotchkiss projectiles due to stripping of the lead sabot.[6]
Legacy
Over 150 14-pounder James rifles survive, many of them at Shiloh National Military Park, Tennessee.[7] Other James-rifled heavy guns survive as well. A portrait of Charles T. James is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, and a bust is in the Smithsonian American Art Museum collection, both in Washington, D.C.[8][9]
There is an iron rifled 6-pounder artillery piece which was used by James in experiments at Napatree Point in Watch Hill, Rhode Island in the collection of the Newport Artillery Company.[7]
References
- ^ Johnson 1904, entry for James, Charles Tillinghast
- ^ Old Newburyport Houses By Albert Hale, published 1912, page 40.
- ^ Biographical Directory of the US Congress for Charles T. James
- ^ a b Ripley, pp. 169–171, 300–301.
- ^ Dickey, p. 147.
- ^ General Charles Tillinghast James at CivilWarArtillery.com
- ^ a b Olmstead 1997, pp. 301–305.
- ^ Portrait of Charles T. James at the National Portrait Gallery
- ^ Bust of Charles T. James at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Bibliography
- Taunton and Mason: Cotton Machinery and Locomotive Manufacture in Taunton, Massachusetts, 1811–1861, by John William Lozier, Ph.d Dissertation Thesis at Ohio State University 1978. Charles T. James section pages 375-386. Copies also at Old Colony Historical Society in Taunton and at The Baker Business School Library at Harvard University.
- Dickey, Thomas S.; George, Peter C. (1980). Field Artillery Projectiles of the American Civil War. Atlanta: Arsenal Press. ASIN B0006XOVAQ.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Letters on the Culture and Manufacture of Cotton by Charles Tillinghast James, published 1850. Originally published in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review By Thomas Prentice Kettell, volume 22, January–June 1850, pages 290-311. Article IV by Charles T. James entitled Culture and Manufacture of Cotton, which rebuts an article by Amos Adams Lawrence.
- Johnson, Rossiter, Ed. in Chief; Brown, John Howard, Mng. Ed. (1904). The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, vol. VI. Boston: The Biographical Society.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - The Big Guns: Civil War Siege, Seacoast, and Naval Cannon. Alexandria Bay, NY: Museum Restoration Service. 1997. ISBN 0-888-55012-X.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help); Unknown parameter|authors=ignored (help) - Ripley, Warren (1984), Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War, 4th rev. ed., Charleston, S.C.: The Battery Press, OCLC 12668104
{{citation}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - United States Congress. "Charles Tillinghast James (id: J000046)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
External links
- Charles Tillinghast James at Find a Grave
- Abby James Slocum at Find a Grave
- General Charles Tillinghast James at CivilWarArtillery.com
- Light James projectiles at CivilWarArtillery.com
- Heavy James projectiles at CivilWarArtillery.com
- Thomas R. Winpenny (1981), The Engineer as Promoter: Charles Tillinghast James and the gospel of steam mills - focuses on his establishment of steam mills in Newburyport, MA and Lancaster, PA