A Little About Me, Eli Whitney...
My Early Days
I was born on December 8 in the year
1765 in Westborough, Massachusetts to
Eli Whitney Sr. and Elizabeth Fay. I
was the oldest child to my parents, who
were farmers. My mother died when I was
11 years old in the year 1777. During the
Revolutionary War I worked out of my father's
workshop manufacturing nails when I was 14
years old.
I worked as a farm hand and a schoolteacher to
save money for college. I was accepted to Yale class of 1789,
from Leicester Academy, which is called
Becker College these days, after studying with
Reverend Elizur Goodrich of Durham, Conneticut.
I graduated in 1792 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa
honor society.
After graduating, I found myself in Georgia. At
that time, many of my fellow New Englanders came
to Georgia to try and make money for themselves.
Along my travels to Georgia, I met Nathaniel and Mrs.
Green, whose plantation manager later became my
business partner.
In 1793, I came up with my most famous invention, the
cotton gin. "Gin" was short for engine. This machine removed seeds from cotton
plants, which was quite difficult and labor intensive
before this. One gin could create 55lbs of clean
cotton per day. This was extremely helpful in
the South, where cotton was a main export. My
machine helped to stimulate the Southern economy.
However, due to problems with the timing of the patent,
I was not able to produce enough gins for the demand
and other companies began producing similar machines.
I lost much money in legal battles over my patent.
In 1798, I signed a contract to produce muskets, as I
was in serous debt and nearly bankrupt. All of the legal
battling had left me nearly penniless and my cotton gin
factory in New Haven had burned down. The United States
War Department was issuing contracts to make 10,000
muskets. Although I had no experience with making
guns, I managed to get my hands on a contract in January for
making between 10,000 and 15,000 for the year 1800.
However, I used my grant money from the government to make
more money off of my cotton gin, and ended up finishing
the muskets in 1809, eight years later.
My Later Days
I spent much of my later life forming social and political
connections. I became close to many fellow Yale graduates,
such as the Secretary of Treasury, Oliver Wolcott Jr. and
politician James Hillhouse.
In 1817, I got married to Henrietta Edwards, who was the daughter
of the Connecticut head of the Democratic Party: Pierpont Edwards.
She was also the granddaughter of the famous evangelist,
Jonathon Edwards, and the first cousin of the president of
Yale, Timothy Dwight. This marriage solidified my connections
to the state's elite citizenry, which was key in the success
of my business. Together, we had four children.
Near the end of my life, I became sick. Even in my illness
I developed a number of inventions to help with my pain. These
inventiones were never manufactured. On January 8, 1825, I
died of prostate cancer in New Haven, Connecticut. It was only
a month after I turned 59 years old.
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