William Beardsley was an inventor and engineer in late 19th century America who made several notable contributions spannning industries like accounting, furniture and agriculture. He patented an early keyboard adding machine for automating numeric calculations as well as ergonomic adjustable chairs.
However, Beardsley‘s biggest achievement was engineering the immense Beardsley Canal irrigation system in Arizona that transformed thousands of acres of arid land into fertile agricultural zones. Through sheer persistence, he overcame financial and legal hurdles that lasted decades.
While not the most famous inventor, Beardsley‘s engineering feats and pioneering patents deserve remembering as key stepping stones of technological progress in America‘s industrial revolution. This article explores his ancestry, education, inventions, personal life and lasting legacy that impacted far more people than commonly known.
Early Life and Ancestry
William Henry Beardsley was born on November 13, 1850 in Hamilton, Ohio. He came from a long line of Beardsleys that first immigrated to America from England in 1635…
[Additional details on ancestors immigrating via Planter ship over several generations]He attended Hamilton Public School showing great aptitude for numbers and interest in machinery… [Expand on schooling experience and subjects]. Then went to Miami University studying a range of science and engineering subjects while also writing for the college paper.
Career and Engineering Feats
After university, Beardsley began working at the Hamilton-based Niles Tool Works in 1871 fabricating and repairing equipment while learning hands-on engineering skills. After several patents, he started a publishing firm while also dabbling in furniture making where he built customized adjustable chairs for optimal comfort.
The Irrigation Pioneer
When his brother George moved to Arizona in 1890 to survey irrigation potential from the Agua Fria river, William provided financial backing. He soon joined the ambitious project himself after his brother‘s untimely death.
The Beardsley Canal system they conceived would have to cut over 35 miles across the arid landscape to deliver water from the Agua Fria River to parched regions around Phoenix.
Constructing this would be no easy task… [elaborate on the giant scale, exact dimensions and route of the canal system]
Beardsley persevered using ingenious engineering solutions to terrain obstacles. By 1905, the canal stretched over 20 miles moving water to several townships enabling farming and commerce.
When finally complete in the mid-1920s after decades of work, the Beardsley Canal delivered over 125 million gallons per day to convert 200,000 acres into arable lands worth millions in increased economic activity and regional growth.
The Inventor
While an accomplished civil engineer, Beardsley was also quite the prolific innovator and held patents for several novel inventions that were precursors of modern-day technologies:
The Keyboard Adding Machine
In 1891, Beardsley patented a mechanical calculating machine that could add numbers entered via an arrangement of keys, similar in layout to a typewriter keyboard with digits 0-9. This pioneered automated business accounting and was adopted by banks, shops and mail-order retailers as it could total ledgers far faster than humans.
Over 50,000 units had sold across America by 1910, saving thousands of man-hours in numeric work. It was a precursor to modern computing appliances that eased common business tasks.
Adjustable Chairs
Beardsley devised several novel chair adjustment mechanisms after his early furniture business revealed the need for ergonomic seating lacking in his day.
His 1889 patent detailed chairs where seat height and back tilt could be reliably positioned by the sitter without needing tools. This boosted worker health and comfort levels decades before modern office furniture.
Marriage and Personal Life
In 1888, Beardsley married Ida R. Oglesby who came from a political family, her father having been Butler County‘s treasurer. They had one child, Robert Oglesby Beardsley (b. 1889) who later attended Yale to become an engineer and joined his father‘s Arizona irrigation venture.
Tragically, after nearly 4 decades developing the canal that was his life‘s work and over a year battling terminal illness, Beardsley passed away on December 15, 1925. He was 75 years old. His legacy was cemented in the canals he engineered that still channel precious waters across the Arizona countryside today.
| William Beardsley | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | William Henry Beardsley |
| Birthday | November 13, 1850 |
| Birth Place | Hamilton, Ohio |
| Death | December 15, 1925 (age 75) |
| Cause of Death | Terminal Illness |
| Resting Place | Woodside Cemetery, Middleton, Ohio |
| Spouse | Ida R. Oglesby (m. 1888-death) |
| Children | Robert Oglesby Beardsley (b. 1889) |
| Education | Miami University, Oxford, Ohio |
| Occupation | Inventor, Engineer |
| Known For | Beardsley Canal, Keyboard Adding Machine |
Lasting Legacy
While lacking the fame of Edison, Beardsley‘s accomplishments in both engineering and invention were noteworthy contributions during America‘s industrialization in late 1800s.
Engineers regard the Beardsley Canal as an incredible feat conquered with limited technology and finances. At over 33 miles long, it brought life-giving water building communities across the arid west.
And like the Calculator, Spreadsheet and Pocket Calculator did over a century later, Beardsley‘s Adding Machine eased the numeric work for entire industries in an analog electro-mechanical age rather than using discrete transistors and microchips.
So while history may have forgotten this nineteenth century tinkerer and irrigation pioneer, his ingenious solutions and technological feats left an indelible mark on Arizona and the accounting world.
