Warren County Inventors

In this segment the writer will preview some of Warren County's inventors. Those of you who have shocked corn will have some knowledge of the invention of Lewis C. Guttery.
Lewis C. Guttery received a patent in May 1907 on a corn shock compressor. It was the first finished invention of its kind.
It was the first compressor fabricated that did not twist the corn shock but reduced its size uniformly with the shape being perfectly circular. All other shock compressors were said to cause some of the shocks to rotate upon a vertical midpoint that caused unsteadiness.
Mr. Guttery's compressor bypassed this obstacle. It consisted of a stick five feet long, two inches wide and two inches thick. One end was sharply pointed and the other end was intercepted at right angles by a plain bar, which served as a twisting handle. Two ropes were attached near the handle, one on each side. When the corn stalks were thrown together the stick was punched straight through the bunch until the short point protruded at the other side.
It was now buried in the shock clear up to the place where the ropes were firmly attached. Then one rope was stretched around the bunch of stalks on one side and the other rope was drawn in the opposite direction around the other side until they met at the pointed end of the stick.
Near the point were grooves with the end of each rope being knotted so as to be easily caught in the groove. The farmer then had a stick through his corn shock with a rope around each side of the shock, attached to each end of the stick.
The wooden handle, which was fastened at right angles to the blunt end, was forced around like a crank and this turned the stick. The ropes were securely attached to the stick and began to wind around it as the bar turned.
As the ropes were wound they drew the stalks closer together, compressing the shock evenly and left its form perfectly circular. The shocks were then bound with twine and the corn compressor was removed to be applied to another shock.
This was the fourth patent that Mr. Guttery received. His first was an automatic grain weigher; second, Milwaukee binder truck; third, reverse movement on a steam engine. He invented many other useful devices that had not been patented.

Other early Warren County inventors and inventions were:
Joseph Warwick received a patent, issued from the United States Patent Office, and dated January 9, 1868, for an "Improvement in Sulky Plows." George W. Death, patent for an "Improvement on a Horse Hay Fork," dated March 26, 1867. Eli McMillan, patent for an "Improvement on a Ditching Machine," dated October 16, 1866. Stephen R. Roscoe, patent for an "Improvement on a Sofa Bedstead," dated May 14, 1867.
James T. Ardery, patent for an "Improvement in Seed Drills," dated March 19, 1867. Simon L. Gray, patent for a "Harness for Vicious Horses," dated May 19, 1868. S.S. Scoville and W. W. Stanford, patent for an "Improvement in Washing Machines", dated April 28, 1868. William H. Hannah, patent for an "Improvement in Water Elevator," dated September 11, 1866.
James Sharts, patent for a "Self Regulating Water Gate," dated March 26, 1867. W.L. Peck, patent for an "Improvement in Churns," dated October 14, 1867. George Dickerson, patent for an "Improvement in Corn Planters." dated July 14, 1868. David Suffrins, patent for an "Improvement in Straw Cutters," dated February 28, 1865.

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This page created 30 August 2004 and last updated 28 September, 2008
© 2004 Arne H Trelvik  All rights reserved