Edward S. Renwick
Encyclopedia
Early life
He lost most of his eyesight while working as a patent examiner. He worked for a time in Wilkes-Barre as an ironmasterIronmaster
An ironmaster is the manager – and usually owner – of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain....
, but failed.
Family connections
His father, James RenwickJames Renwick (physicist)
James Renwick , was an English-American scientist and engineer.He was born in Liverpool, England, on May 30, 1790. He graduated from Columbia College in 1807. In 1820 he was appointed professor of natural philosophy in that college, a position he held until 1854. In 1838 he was appointed by the U.S...
(1790–1863), was a Professor of chemistry and physics at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. His mother, Margaret, was a member of the Brevoort family of New York City.
One brother, James Renwick, Jr.
James Renwick, Jr.
James Renwick, Jr. , was a prominent American architect in the 19th-century. The Encyclopedia of American Architecture calls him "one of the most successful American architects of his time".-Life and work:Renwick was born into a wealthy and well-educated family...
, was a leading US architect, designer of St. Patrick's Cathedral
St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York
The Cathedral of St. Patrick is a decorated Neo-Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral church in the United States...
, Grace Church
Grace Church
Grace Church may refer to:United States* Grace Church * Grace Church , listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Habersham County, Georgia...
, Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
, the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
and the Croton Aqueduct
Croton Aqueduct
The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842...
. The other, Henry, was a former steamboat inspector and co-author with his father. His grandmother Jean Jeffrey/Jeannie Jaffray of Lochmaben
Lochmaben
Lochmaben is a small town in Scotland, and site of a once-important castle. It lies four miles west of Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway.-Notable people:*Angus Douglas - Scottish internationalist footballer...
was the Blue-Eyed Lassie mentioned in Robert Burns'
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
poem I gaed a waefu' gate yestreen. Charles Wilkes
Charles Wilkes
Charles Wilkes was an American naval officer and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 and commanded the ship in the Trent Affair during the American Civil War...
was an uncle of his.
Edward Renwick married Elizabeth Anne Brevoort in 1862.
Inventions
He formulated at least 25 inventions over his lifetime, including a combination chicken brooder and incubator, and a self-binding reaping machine. He sued Cyrus McCormickCyrus McCormick
Cyrus Hall McCormick, Sr. was an American inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part of International Harvester Company in 1902.He and many members of the McCormick family became prominent Chicagoans....
over royalties, but was awarded none.
His patent dates stretch from 1850 (age 27) to 1904 (age 81).
Great Eastern
One of his greatest achievements was the designing and supervising, with his brother Henry, of a repairing of a break in the bilge of the Great EasternSS Great Eastern
SS Great Eastern was an iron sailing steam ship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by J. Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall on the River Thames, London. She was by far the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers around the...
steamship with a floating caisson
Caisson (engineering)
In geotechnical engineering, a caisson is a retaining, watertight structure used, for example, to work on the foundations of a bridge pier, for the construction of a concrete dam, or for the repair of ships. These are constructed such that the water can be pumped out, keeping the working...
, clamped to the hull. It was 104 feet (31.7 m) long by 15 feet (4.6 m) wide and 8 feet (2.4 m) deep.
Later life
He later settled in Millburn, New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
in 1867. He built a large Victorian mansion at 140 Old Short Hills Road which stood until 2001. He died there in 1912 at the age of 89.
Sources
- Renwick Family Letters and Manuscripts 1794-1916
- A History of Millburn Township by Marian Meisner, CHAPTER XVIII
- History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications Great Eastern by Bill Glover
- James Dugan, The Great Iron Ship, 1953 ISBN 0-7509-3447-6, pgs 149-155
- Black, George Fraser, Scotland's Mark on America, 1921
Resources
- Renwick, Edward S. (1893). Patentable invention (PDF). Rochester, N.Y. 168 pages.