KNOWN, BUT UNKNOWN
When I started my research on Henry Wheaton Hewet I discovered that there were limited pieces of information known about him in several areas. In the hand tool world he is well-known. In the book engraving world his work is very collectible. And in the card collecting world we also knew a little bit about him. But, in all of them, they never knew about the other. You will now learn the whole story about Henry, his inventions and his extremely rare cards.
The Hewet/Huet family left England in the early 1630s and moved to southeastern Massachusetts just inland of the Plymouth Colony near present-day Easton. In the late 1700s descendant Ephraim Hewet moved his family farther west in Massachusetts. And in 1791 Ephraim's son, Cyrus R., was born in Belcher's Town which is now a suburb of Springfield. By age 19 Cyrus was married and raising a family back near the family homestead near Easton. Then by 1817 Cyrus had moved his family to Troy, New York, just across the western border of Massachusetts on the Hudson River. This was probably due to the Erie Canal.
The Erie Canal ran east-west across upstate New York between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing the costs of transporting people and goods across the Appalachians. In effect, the canal accelerated the settlement of the Great Lakes region, the westward expansion of the United States, and the economic ascendancy of New York State. It has been called "The Nation's First Superhighway". The eastern end was just 2 miles north of Troy.
Cyrus had a boat traveling the canal. In 1828 he petitioned the State Assembly for relief due to his boat being damaged in the canal. His boat had struck a large rock damaging it and his cargo. He wanted the state to compensate him. He lost his case.
By 1820 Cyrus now had a son and daughter. He named his son Henry Wheaton. His exact birth date has never been found. From various documents it appears the most likely year is 1818.
The city of Troy at that time offered Henry great learning opportunities after attending primary school. The Lansingburgh Academy was one of the finest private academies in New York. It specialized in the sciences and had laboratories and an extensive library. The other was the new Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which was established for the "application of science to the common purposes of life". It is still in existence and is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world in the Western Hemisphere. Whether Henry took advantage of either school is unknown, but with his inventive nature, they would have been very appealing to him.
The city of Troy at that time offered Henry great learning opportunities after attending primary school. The Lansingburgh Academy was one of the finest private academies in New York. It specialized in the sciences and had laboratories and an extensive library. The other was the new Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which was established for the "application of science to the common purposes of life". It is still in existence and is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world in the Western Hemisphere. Whether Henry took advantage of either school is unknown, but with his inventive nature, they would have been very appealing to him.
In 1837 Henry opened his own penmanship school in Troy on the town square. He advertised it as 12 lessons of 1 hour each with "...marked improvement or your money back". The same year he also got married.
Henry married Maria L. Clapp from the nearby town of Salem. But there is one baffling thing about the marriage announcement. Henry is listed as "Henry W. Hewet, Esquire". To have such a title you needed to have attended law school and passed the bar. Had he? Henry is only referred to by this title one more time in his life. He never infers he ever attended law school. Was the title a mistake?
Two years later it is announced in the local newspaper that Henry has now completed his apprenticeship as an Iron Finisher at the Dudley & Jewett Stove Manufacturers in Buffalo. Again, strange he would have done this apprenticeship if he was a lawyer.
Henry married Maria L. Clapp from the nearby town of Salem. But there is one baffling thing about the marriage announcement. Henry is listed as "Henry W. Hewet, Esquire". To have such a title you needed to have attended law school and passed the bar. Had he? Henry is only referred to by this title one more time in his life. He never infers he ever attended law school. Was the title a mistake?
Two years later it is announced in the local newspaper that Henry has now completed his apprenticeship as an Iron Finisher at the Dudley & Jewett Stove Manufacturers in Buffalo. Again, strange he would have done this apprenticeship if he was a lawyer.
At this point in his life Henry starts his inventing. His first idea is one that has lasted the test of time. He calls it "The Screw Wrench".
Dec 15 1839
Report of the Committee of Arts and Sciences of the Mechanics Institute on a SCREW WRENCH invented by HENRY W HEWET of Troy
The engraving will fully illustrate this very useful improvement. It may not be amiss, however, to name its advantages over the common and other wrenches now in use. The advantages of the parallel bars as substitutes for the single bar to hold the jaws of the wrench are greater strength and precision of motion to the sliding jaw. The adjusting nut being placed at the end of the handle is always at command and is a much better arrangement than the sliding spring catch or the ordinary adjusting screw as with the latter, it often happens that there is not room to enter the hand for their adjustment. With the ordinary adjusting nut the size of the entire handle they soon become loose and in a greater or less degree unfit for use.
JAMES THOMAS
Chairman Mechanics Institute
Henry's father Cyrus accepts an award for the design at the 5th Annual Fair of the Mechanic’s Institute that year.
As great of a design that this is Henry assigns all the rights to Hawley Dewitt Clapp, his brother-in-law. (More about him later)
The next year Henry comes up with what should be another winner. He invents a new metal button. Unfortunately, metal buttons were on the way out at this time and glass buttons were becoming the fashion. He assigned these design rights to Samuel Clapp, his father-in-law.
As great of a design that this is Henry assigns all the rights to Hawley Dewitt Clapp, his brother-in-law. (More about him later)
The next year Henry comes up with what should be another winner. He invents a new metal button. Unfortunately, metal buttons were on the way out at this time and glass buttons were becoming the fashion. He assigned these design rights to Samuel Clapp, his father-in-law.
Henry's design was a failure at the time, but is widely used now. His design looks exactly like today's Chicago Screws. (Shown above on the right) Chicago Screws were supposedly invented in 1872 when the Chicago Screw Company first established its business. They were traditionally used to connect the headstall and bit of a horse harness. Cowboys also used these screws on their rifle slings to easily adjust or re-adjust the rifle strap. Nowadays, Chicago Screws are commonly used on belts to easily switch out buckles. They are also used on purses, handbags, luggage straps, satchels, scrapbooks and even leather armor and costumes.
The next year Henry made a modification to his screw wrench. This time he keeps the rights to himself.
He has also now left Troy and was living in New York City.
Henry then once again changed occupations. He is now in the carpet business with Theodore W. Bailey. But that lasts only about two years when Henry embarked on another career. This one made him well known in a new area. He became a wood engraver and draughtsman (draftsman).
It was a good first attempt, but in September 1842 he had to declare bankruptcy. So he tried again and expanded his business to engraving and publishing.
In 1843 Henry created an edition of the Book of Common Prayer. This time he is just the publisher. His book was a success. He had done it under the supervision of Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright who was about to become the provisional Episcopal bishop in Manhattan, New York City. Wainwright was instrumental in the founding of New York University and considered one of the first pulpit orators of his day. He wielded great social influence, was a ripe scholar, and was a devoted lover of music, contributing toward its improvement in the churches of his denomination.
Feeding off this success, Henry went bigger. Having a great love of Shakespeare he embarked on the publishing of his works and story of his life. It would have hundreds of his woodcuts and engravings. He also got the English engraver Kenny Meadows to join him.
Joseph Kenny Meadows, better known as just as Kenny Meadows, was a British caricaturist and illustrator. Very well known in his day. His friends considered this work of Shakespeare to be his masterpiece, even though some reviewers criticized his interpretations of several characters. In 1864 Her Majesty Queen Victoria would confer upon Meadows a pension (equivalent to about $11,000 today) for the merit displayed in his “Illustrated Shakespeare,” and other well-known works.
This voluminous work on Shakespeare, highly collectible today, almost never saw print. Because on the night of October 20, 1845 disaster struck at 11 Spruce Street where Henry was doing the engraving. Working alone in the shop that night, on the third floor of the five story building, was Henry's assistant Nathaniel Orr. About 6 p.m. a fire started in a wine business in the building's basement and quickly spread up the vents and stairways.
Nathaniel later wrote this to his fiance.......
“Here I am, not dead but alive and kicking . . . I had a pretty narrow escape last night. But thanks to my “guardian angel” I made my exit from the burning building with scarcely a bruise. Just my luck. My loss will be but trifling. When I found my passage completely cut off by the falling of the stairs, I most assuredly thought my time had come. Oh, a thousand thoughts rushed upon my mind in a moment. I thought of you, of my bright hopes, of the horror of perishing in the flames. It was life or death, so I made the leap and here I am your own.”
Every article in our office was entirely destroyed and when I think of my own narrow escape I can but attribute it to a most merciful providence . . . I passed three windows (four stories from the ground) on the outside that I might get in a position for jumping on a small outhouse, two stories from the window. Had I fallen there I should not only have been killed, but burned to ashes in the ruin. . . . The first John (Note; his brother) knew of my adventures was on his way home, some four or five hours after I had astonished the natives, he met an acquaintance who inquired if I had been found! When he called on me, I was asleep, preparing to repeat my leap to the tenor of the spectators."
“Here I am, not dead but alive and kicking . . . I had a pretty narrow escape last night. But thanks to my “guardian angel” I made my exit from the burning building with scarcely a bruise. Just my luck. My loss will be but trifling. When I found my passage completely cut off by the falling of the stairs, I most assuredly thought my time had come. Oh, a thousand thoughts rushed upon my mind in a moment. I thought of you, of my bright hopes, of the horror of perishing in the flames. It was life or death, so I made the leap and here I am your own.”
Every article in our office was entirely destroyed and when I think of my own narrow escape I can but attribute it to a most merciful providence . . . I passed three windows (four stories from the ground) on the outside that I might get in a position for jumping on a small outhouse, two stories from the window. Had I fallen there I should not only have been killed, but burned to ashes in the ruin. . . . The first John (Note; his brother) knew of my adventures was on his way home, some four or five hours after I had astonished the natives, he met an acquaintance who inquired if I had been found! When he called on me, I was asleep, preparing to repeat my leap to the tenor of the spectators."
Nathaniel actually did try and save several plates, but failed, The loss would lead to a delay of well over a year.
Orr would soon marry his fiance and go out on his own to become a very well-known engraver.
The Spruce street building was totally destroyed as were several others. The one bright side was that Henry had some insurance ($125,000 in today's money) to help with the re-engraving. He relocated to 289 Broadway, where his partners, Harper & Brothers, were located.
Harper & Brothers, a successful book printer since 1817, would also soon begin publishing Harper's New Monthly Magazine in 1850. They would also go on to start the well known Harper's Weekly in 1857 and Harper's Bazaar Magazine in 1867.
The three volumes of Shakespeare books would finally start arriving on the market late the next year. Each volume encompassed hundreds of pages and engravings.
Harper & Brothers, a successful book printer since 1817, would also soon begin publishing Harper's New Monthly Magazine in 1850. They would also go on to start the well known Harper's Weekly in 1857 and Harper's Bazaar Magazine in 1867.
The three volumes of Shakespeare books would finally start arriving on the market late the next year. Each volume encompassed hundreds of pages and engravings.
As the Shakespeare books were nearing completion Henry tried his hand at starting a newspaper. He called it "Excelsior and New York Times Illustrated" and it would be published every two weeks at his new location at 15 Dutch Street.
Henry's editor would be Charles Fenno Hoffman. Hoffman was an American author, poet and associated with the Knickerbocker Group in New York. The Knickerbocker Group was a somewhat indistinct group of 19th-century American writers. Its most prominent members included Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper and William Cullen Bryant. Each was a pioneer in general literature, novels, poetry and journalism.
The newspaper venture only lasted 2 months. Henry then stuck with his engraving and Hoffman went back to his writing. Two years years later Hoffman went insane supposedly after a servant used his manuscripts to start a fire in his fireplace.
In 1849 Henry again returned to his inventive ways. This time it is a new kind of crank paddle, or reciprocating propeller. for a boat. It is a strange method for paddling by inserting the numerous vertical paddles up and down in the water in a rotating motion.
In 1849 Henry's father Cyrus appears in New York City records. When last seen in 1840 he had left Troy and moved across the Hudson river back into western Massachusetts. His family appeared to be his wife, his daughter and her husband. Cyrus has now applied and gotten a passport so he can go to Europe. For what purpose is unknown. Was he helping Henry with a business deal?
The next year Henry has taken on a partner in his engraving business. Henry is now known as Hewet, Tillotson & Company and relocated to Beekman Street. Plus, he is making his name known around the state by portraying his favorite writer's characters......
August 30, 1850 Onieda (NY) Morning Herald
" IN HIS HABIT AS HE LIVED."
H. WHEATON HEWET, (in the costume of Shakespeare) begs leave to announce to the inhabitants of Utica and its vicinity, that be will do himself the honor to read Shakspeare's play of HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK, At MECHANICS' HALL, on FRIDAY evening, August 30th.
Tickets 25 cents—to be had at the door.
The New York Tribune
SHAKSPEARE READINGS.—H. W. Hewet, Esq., the celebrated illustrator of Shakespeare and Waverley, read the Merchant of Venice, a few evenings. Since in Brooklyn Mr. Hewet has studied Shakespeare as a scholar and an artist, and his readings are received with profit and pleasure to his audiences"
August 30, 1850 Onieda (NY) Morning Herald
" IN HIS HABIT AS HE LIVED."
H. WHEATON HEWET, (in the costume of Shakespeare) begs leave to announce to the inhabitants of Utica and its vicinity, that be will do himself the honor to read Shakspeare's play of HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK, At MECHANICS' HALL, on FRIDAY evening, August 30th.
Tickets 25 cents—to be had at the door.
The New York Tribune
SHAKSPEARE READINGS.—H. W. Hewet, Esq., the celebrated illustrator of Shakespeare and Waverley, read the Merchant of Venice, a few evenings. Since in Brooklyn Mr. Hewet has studied Shakespeare as a scholar and an artist, and his readings are received with profit and pleasure to his audiences"
In 1852 Cyrus R Hewet appears again. His New York City business is called the Congress Card & Stationary Manufactory.
These Hewet playing cards are listed in the Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards as U15 CONGRESS CARD MANUFACTORY.
One of his first decks came with Henry's father's name on it.
There have been several ideas what this building is. It is actually the U. S. Capital just before it was enlarged in the mid-1850s. That is why there is no large dome on it.
Pre-1856 and after all the changes
The next deck has the address "2 Astor House, New York" on it
and the word "Card" is missing from the banner.
and the word "Card" is missing from the banner.
Two wrappers have been seen. One a Steamboat and one for an "Eagle" brand.
Why do I show so few pictures of these decks? Because the complete deck is so rare you will probably never see it. I know of one collector in New England with a deck and one has been listed in the United States Playing Card Museum Collection.
In a 1992 in a "Clear The Decks" issue, of the 52+Joker Playing Card Club, a member named Mike Shagan was showing his deck off at the convention. It was described as "Gorgeous deck, beautiful AoS, majestic courts, and a Henry Clay tribute on green backs". Since Henry Clay died June 29, 1852 was this the deck that started Congress Card Manufactory?
Unfortunately, Mike passed away in 2007 and I could not find out what happened to his deck. Maybe one of you readers have information. Here is a single from that back design...........
The card business started out at 45 Vesey Street in 1852 and then moved to Pitt Street in 1853.
Notice that no Hewet is mentioned in the Pitt address. Cyrus is never heard of again after 1852.
The space at Pitt Street is offered for rent in April 1853 because they have moved back to Vesey Street. But, by March 1855 they are advertising their Hoe printing machines for sale. They must have ceased operation because they do not appear in the business listings or directories ever again.
The space at Pitt Street is offered for rent in April 1853 because they have moved back to Vesey Street. But, by March 1855 they are advertising their Hoe printing machines for sale. They must have ceased operation because they do not appear in the business listings or directories ever again.
I will jump ahead for a minute here with some thoughts about what happened after they closed.
UPDATE DEC 2023
You may have noticed on the Eagle wrapper shown above that the tax stamp is cancelled by "M N" in April 1863. (I know it kind of looks like 1853 but under magnification it is 1863. Also, that is a 1863 tax stamp) I now believe that "M N" was Mortimer Nelson. He was a card manufacturer in New York City (1856-1872). The 1862 Tax Act that created tax stamps stated that the manufacturer would pay the tax. The 5 cent stamp represents a deck being sold for over 36 cents or $6.75 today. Nelson was the only manufacturer with those initials at the time. How long was he making these decks?
UPDATE DEC 2023
You may have noticed on the Eagle wrapper shown above that the tax stamp is cancelled by "M N" in April 1863. (I know it kind of looks like 1853 but under magnification it is 1863. Also, that is a 1863 tax stamp) I now believe that "M N" was Mortimer Nelson. He was a card manufacturer in New York City (1856-1872). The 1862 Tax Act that created tax stamps stated that the manufacturer would pay the tax. The 5 cent stamp represents a deck being sold for over 36 cents or $6.75 today. Nelson was the only manufacturer with those initials at the time. How long was he making these decks?
In the Hochman the next deck listed was U15a.
U15a CONGRESS CO., c1850. This deck is rather poor quality and has the Hart Faro type courts. While it might have been manufactured by the Congress Card Manufactory, it might just as likely been made by Dougherty or Hart. Quite possibly it is a marked deck as the back is of a type often marked in that era for card sharping. Naturally reputable manufacturers were loath to use their name on marked decks and they are often found with innocuous ones like this.
U15a CONGRESS CO., c1850. This deck is rather poor quality and has the Hart Faro type courts. While it might have been manufactured by the Congress Card Manufactory, it might just as likely been made by Dougherty or Hart. Quite possibly it is a marked deck as the back is of a type often marked in that era for card sharping. Naturally reputable manufacturers were loath to use their name on marked decks and they are often found with innocuous ones like this.
I have spoken to a couple collectors that have, or have seen, this deck. They both say the courts look like Dougherty or Hart and definitely not a Hewet deck. But, that got me thinking. Was there a deck with courts like the Congress Card Manufactory out there by any chance? Looking around I found a match.....
The one on the left is from the Congress Card Manufactory and the other is from Samuel Hart's Mogul deck from 1868. These two King of Hearts is the only two that show the sword tip on the opposite side.
Also notice the symbol on the hilt of the sword.......
Also notice the symbol on the hilt of the sword.......
This court design was a big change from Samuel Hart's other court designs. And he rarely used a symbol on the sword hilt. Remember the cards from above with "2 Astor House" on the card back. Now look at the comparison of that Jack of Spades and Hart's Jack of Spades from his Mogul deck...
Hewet's on the left and Samuel Hart's on the right.
Did he buy up Hewet's plates and use them later under his name?
Back to the story. The Vesey address was a few miles southwest of the Pitt address. 45 Vesey was a business building in a mainly residential area by the Hudson River. And a much cleaner area than Pitt Street. At the time there was a cholera epidemic in the city which would kill over 2,000 residents. Had Cyrus R. Hewet been a victim?
Henry then moved his business down the street to the Astor House, where he operated out of room #2 as shown on one deck.
Henry then moved his business down the street to the Astor House, where he operated out of room #2 as shown on one deck.
The Astor House Hotel was at the corner of Broadway & Vesey and opened in 1836 and soon became the best-known hotel in America. It was built by John Jacob Astor. He had purchased the lots around his former house until he had the full block in the heart of the city's most fashionable residential district.
Astor House contained 309 rooms in five stories. It had gaslights – produced in the hotel's own plant – and bathing and toilet facilities on each floor, with the water pumped up by steam engines. Its tree-shaded central courtyard was covered over in 1852 by an elliptical vaulted cast-iron and glass "rotunda"
It was also the city's most stylish luncheon place for gentlemen. It featured a curving bar, and side dining rooms entered from Vesey Street or Barclay Street. Guests could order from 30 meat and fish dishes offered daily. The Astor House would not admit unaccompanied women to enter, a policy which prevented prostitutes from nearby brothels from plying their trade in the hotel.
Astor House contained 309 rooms in five stories. It had gaslights – produced in the hotel's own plant – and bathing and toilet facilities on each floor, with the water pumped up by steam engines. Its tree-shaded central courtyard was covered over in 1852 by an elliptical vaulted cast-iron and glass "rotunda"
It was also the city's most stylish luncheon place for gentlemen. It featured a curving bar, and side dining rooms entered from Vesey Street or Barclay Street. Guests could order from 30 meat and fish dishes offered daily. The Astor House would not admit unaccompanied women to enter, a policy which prevented prostitutes from nearby brothels from plying their trade in the hotel.
Henry had closed up shop at 45 Vesey Street in the nick of time. Just 4 months after he advertised his equipment for sale the building burned down. Also in 1855 he had left the Astor House and moved across the Hudson River into what would now be the neighborhood of Bensonhurst in Brooklyn.
Henry was now back in the publishing business and back at 15 Dutch Street. It was only about a 7-8 mile commute each day for him.
Hewet started a new line of books for kids that became another instant success. It was called the "Illuminated Household Stories Series". And his engraver was his old partner Nathaniel Orr.
Henry was now back in the publishing business and back at 15 Dutch Street. It was only about a 7-8 mile commute each day for him.
Hewet started a new line of books for kids that became another instant success. It was called the "Illuminated Household Stories Series". And his engraver was his old partner Nathaniel Orr.
The books were a ten volume series. They were;
1. Cinderella
2. Jack the Giant-Killer
3. Puss in Boots
4. Little Red Riding Hood
5. Jack and the Beanstalk
6. Tom Thumb
7. Beauty and the Beast
8. Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
9. Blue Beard
10. Goody Two Shoes
Late in 1855 some ads listed eleven titles in the series. The 11th title was "Babes in the Woods" but it was never published.
These volumes were published in boards (50 cents) as well as card covers (25 cents). The board cover volumes have been seen in red with gilt that matches the pictures and lettering of the covers of the books in wraps.
Interestingly, D. Appleton and Co. published this same set of ten books with H. W. Hewet noted as the engraver and printer with 1855 at the base of the title page. The Hewet publications list no date, but contemporaneous newspaper articles note the first publication of these books. Hewet sold the copyright to this series to Brown, Loomis & Co. in December, 1856.
1. Cinderella
2. Jack the Giant-Killer
3. Puss in Boots
4. Little Red Riding Hood
5. Jack and the Beanstalk
6. Tom Thumb
7. Beauty and the Beast
8. Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
9. Blue Beard
10. Goody Two Shoes
Late in 1855 some ads listed eleven titles in the series. The 11th title was "Babes in the Woods" but it was never published.
These volumes were published in boards (50 cents) as well as card covers (25 cents). The board cover volumes have been seen in red with gilt that matches the pictures and lettering of the covers of the books in wraps.
Interestingly, D. Appleton and Co. published this same set of ten books with H. W. Hewet noted as the engraver and printer with 1855 at the base of the title page. The Hewet publications list no date, but contemporaneous newspaper articles note the first publication of these books. Hewet sold the copyright to this series to Brown, Loomis & Co. in December, 1856.
The next summer Henry rents out a summer hotel just west of Jersey City. He then rents rooms to guests for the season. It appears he only does this for one summer.
In 1858 he is now known as H. W. Hewet & Company at 9 Nassau Street. He publishes another big seller called "Hewet’s Encyclopedia of American Bank Note Currency" that is made to stop counterfeiters.
During the Civil War Henry only appears in the business directory one time as an engraver at 627 Broadway in 1863. He has now returned to live in New York City at 36 Great Jones Street.
But in 1864 he is back to inventive ways with another wrench modification. He patents a "Nut Wrench" which is classified as a spanner wrench with adjustable jaws. It is manufactured by W. L. Miller (a machinist) and the George D. Fowle & Company, both of New York City. It is sold under the name “Hewet’s Union Wrench”.
But in 1864 he is back to inventive ways with another wrench modification. He patents a "Nut Wrench" which is classified as a spanner wrench with adjustable jaws. It is manufactured by W. L. Miller (a machinist) and the George D. Fowle & Company, both of New York City. It is sold under the name “Hewet’s Union Wrench”.
Henry has now left the city and lives in Mamaroneck, Westchester County, New York. His brother-in-law Hawley D. Clapp lives there also. Hawley is now close to being a millionaire. He had made it big in the hotel business, stock, land speculation and local politics. He had just been released from the military prison at Fort Lafayette for getting drunks to sign up for the war and collecting their $400 sign up bounty. He supposedly made $400,000. Incarcerated for four months, without a trial or a lawyer, he was suddenly released in July 1864. In three years he would be exonerated. When he died in 1880 he was worth almost $65 million in today's money.
In 1868 Henry comes up with another idea. This time it is for a lock-up steam safety valve for boilers. We will come back to this invention real soon.
Henry also decides to modify his wrench again with another patent. His idea is mentioned in the "American Artisan" a weekly journal of Arts, Mechanics, Manufactures, Engineering, Chemistry, Inventions and Patents.
March 16, 1869
SCREW WRENCH
H. W. Hewet of Mamaroneck. NY
The peculiarity of this invention is that both male and female screws which control the position of the movable jaw are perfectly protected from injury by dirt its peculiar construction cannot well be described without an engraving.
In 1872 Henry now gets serious about his wrench. He moves to Cincinnati, Ohio, and incorporates the Hewett Improved Wrench Company. His other incorporators were;
Ephraim Henry Carter a wealthy insurance man in Cincinnati.
John H. Carter an officer in the Cincinnati Steam Forge Company and brother of E H Carter.
Thomas S. Michie a clerk in his dad’s Jewelry Store in Cincinnati.
Charles O. Resor a merchant in nearby Springfield, Ohio.
Ephraim Henry Carter a wealthy insurance man in Cincinnati.
John H. Carter an officer in the Cincinnati Steam Forge Company and brother of E H Carter.
Thomas S. Michie a clerk in his dad’s Jewelry Store in Cincinnati.
Charles O. Resor a merchant in nearby Springfield, Ohio.
The next year in Cincinnati Henry patents a Ticket Punch for railroad conductors. He assigned it to Harvey Miller of Cincinnati who is a gold, silver and nickel plater. Miller has just invented an Egg Beater.
Their patents had the same witnesses and same attorney on the same day.
Now done in Cincinnati Henry moves to Chicago. He sets up shop at 17 Canal street just a couple blocks inside the area that was wiped out by the Great Chicago Fire just four years earlier.
The Aftermath Of The Great Chicago Fire of 1871
Henry is now listed in the city directory as manager of the Hewet Wrench Company. His partner is Elson T. Wright. On November 14, 1875 the partnership is dissolved and Henry keeps control.
Partner Elson T. Wright was a well-known Chicago real estate businessman. Wright was also the President of the Western Star Metal Company of Chicago. He had just been sued for mismanagement of it. Elson had given himself a raise and used thousands of dollars of company money for his own personal gain. The company sued him and in 1876 he lost and was to pay over $11,000 (over $200,000 today) Wright filed for bankruptcy saying this put him into debt for over $74,000. ($2 million today).
In April 1876 Henry gets sued by James W. Gaff for a large storage bill at his business property. Gaff bought that property in 1873 when Henry started his business there. J. W. Gaff also happened to be was a rich Cincinnati distiller. Was he trying to get Henry's company? Did he know Henry? It is a really a strange coincidence that a guy from Cincinnati bought that particular piece of property just when Henry left Cincinnati to start his business there. Henry closes his business.
Partner Elson T. Wright was a well-known Chicago real estate businessman. Wright was also the President of the Western Star Metal Company of Chicago. He had just been sued for mismanagement of it. Elson had given himself a raise and used thousands of dollars of company money for his own personal gain. The company sued him and in 1876 he lost and was to pay over $11,000 (over $200,000 today) Wright filed for bankruptcy saying this put him into debt for over $74,000. ($2 million today).
In April 1876 Henry gets sued by James W. Gaff for a large storage bill at his business property. Gaff bought that property in 1873 when Henry started his business there. J. W. Gaff also happened to be was a rich Cincinnati distiller. Was he trying to get Henry's company? Did he know Henry? It is a really a strange coincidence that a guy from Cincinnati bought that particular piece of property just when Henry left Cincinnati to start his business there. Henry closes his business.
James W. Graff's packet steamboat the "James W. Graff"
Graff died in 1879 and was worth $49 million in today's money
Graff died in 1879 and was worth $49 million in today's money
The next year Hewet is listed as a Hardware Manufacturer Agent for railroad punches. He is now selling his own invention he gave away in Cincinnati. After a year he goes back to just working as a draughtsman (draftsman).
We now return to Henry's 1869 lock-up steam safety valve for boilers patent. In 1881 Henry sues the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad at Chicago for an alleged infringement consisting in the use of what is known as the “Ashton Blow Back Valve”.
Henry G. Ashton had invented his valve in 1872 and it was in general use since 1874 on locomotives. His safety valve would close quickly after “popping off” from over-pressure saving a lot of steam. The boiler would then be able to get back up to steam much quicker.
Henry G. Ashton had invented his valve in 1872 and it was in general use since 1874 on locomotives. His safety valve would close quickly after “popping off” from over-pressure saving a lot of steam. The boiler would then be able to get back up to steam much quicker.
Hewet's 1869 safety valve wasn't the first, but it did what Ashton's did. Here is how Hewet describes his valve in his patent:
"The object of my invention is to produce a valve that will yield to the pressure of the steam in the boiler, at, or as near as may be, the point at which it is loaded, as indicated by the steam-gauge, and close again as promptly when the surplus has passed off or has ceased to be generated."
The newspaper reported that in December 1882 that his case never came to trial. Hewet somehow became satisfied from the evidence offered by the defendant that the charge of infringement could not be made. Hewet then sold his patent to Ashton for a trifling amount and the case was dismissed.
Three months later in March 1883 Henry W. Hewet passes away in Chicago. His name in the newspaper, and on the death certificate, are both misspelled as "Hewitt". His occupation, rightly so, is listed as "Inventor".
Henry never had any children. His wife had given birth six times, but they never survived. His wife Maria lived 23 years as a widow. She passed away in 1906 while a long time resident at The Old People's Home.
They are both buried in Rosehill Cemetery on the North Side of Chicago. At 350 acres it is the largest cemetery in Chicago. The area was previously called "Roe's Hill", named for nearby farmer Hiram Roe. He refused to sell his land to the city until it was promised that the cemetery be named in his honor. According to legend, the name change to "Rosehill" resulted from a City Clerk's spelling error.
I would like to give special thanks to fellow collectors Colin Brady and Toby Edwards for their inputs on this story.