Eagle Feathers #188 – The Inventors

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

Throughout history, millions of people have had an inventive spark or idea that was never developed. It takes time, ability and will to bring an invention to fruition, and most people lack one of the three.

Thomas Alva Edison, the father of over one thousand creations, gadgets, and devices was said to have been a genius. His own description of that word was “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” His first two inventions came to life in the electrical shop of Somerville’s Charles Williams. Another discovery born in the Williams shop was the Bell Telephone with its telephone #1 awarded to the Williams home on Arlington Street.

Through the years, many Somerville residents have had their ideas and inventions brought to fruition.

• James Sanborn – He lived on Winter Hill’s Broadway and established the Chase and Sanborn Coffee Company at the beginning of the Civil War in 1862. His was the first company to seal coffee in cans, selling it coast to coast. It still thrives today.
• Daniel Stillson – He was the creator of the famous pipe wrench that bears his name. He was a Naval Civil War veteran, a Somerville Alderman and sat on the Somerville Library Committee.
• Assembly Square – It owes its name to inventor Henry Ford. In 1926 his Model “T” began the parade. In 1958, 400 distinctive Edsels, named after his son, rolled off the production line to end the parade and the plant’s auto history. During its lifetime, 1,338,652 automobiles were produced there.
• U.S. Navy Admiral Alfred Pride – He grew up on Hudson Street. He was the second man to land an airplane and the first to land a helicopter on the deck of an aircraft carrier. He designed airplane catapults and tail hooks to catch them.
• Past Somerville Fire Chief James Hopkins – He invented the first Chemical and Hose Reel with ladders. It was a vanguard of today’s fire truck design, and one of the many inventions he created to help enhance firefighting. The Hopkins Metal Helmet bears his name.
• Statesman Ben Franklin – He was a prolific inventor. The first American flag that flew over Prospect Hill was designed and delivered by him. Somerville’s historic Powder House supports its flag on one of his early inventions, the Lightning Rod.
• William “Willie” Nickerson – He was from Somerville and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained engineer and co-inventor of the Gillette shaving blade. His work produced the blades and the honing machinery to sharpen them. King C. Gillette was the idea man, one percent inspiration, and Nickerson was the metallurgist, ninety-nine percent perspiration. When naming the company, Gillette won. The name Nickerson for a safety blade would obviously not be appropriate.

All these inventors showed genius!