James Bogardus

{{Infobox scientist

| name = James Bogardus

| image = James-bogardus.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Newspaper photograph

| birth_date = {{birth date|mf=y|1800|3|14}}

| birth_place = Catskill, New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|mf=y|1874|4|13|1800|3|14}}

| death_place = New York City, New York, U.S.

| residence =

| spouse = Margaret MacClay

| work_institutions =

| alma_mater =

| known_for = Cast-iron

| influences =

| influenced =

| signature =

}}

James Bogardus (March 14, 1800 – April 13, 1874) was an American inventor and architect, the pioneer of American cast-iron architecture, for which he took out a patent in 1850.

Early life

Bogardus was born in the town of Catskill in New York on March 14, 1800. He was a descendant of the Rev. Everardus Bogardus (d. 1647), the second clergyman in New York.

At the age of fourteen, Bogardus quit school to start an apprenticeship at a watchmaker.{{cite web|title=Men of Progress|url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/american-enterprise-exhibition/videos/men-progress|website=americanhistory.si.edu|publisher=National Museum of American History|accessdate=29 August 2017|language=en}}

Career

Bogardus was working in Savannah, Georgia, during 1822 and 1823.{{Cite book |last=Kelley |first=David E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=plNu340epR0C&dq=the+hermitage+savannah+brickworks&pg=PA21 |title=Building Savannah |date=2000 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-0-7385-0573-2 |pages=21 |language=en}}

In 1828, Bogardus invented a cotton-spinning machine called a ring flier.{{cite book|last1=Hanson|first1=John Wesley|title=Progress of the Nineteenth Century: A Panoramic Review of the Inventions and Discoveries of the Past Hundred Years ...|date=1900|publisher=J. L. Nichols|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zUpEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA79|accessdate=29 August 2017|language=en}} In 1831, he invented a mechanized engraving machine that was employed for engraving dies for bank notes. He also invented the eccentric mill in 1832, which is still used in principle for fine finish of ball bearings, and, with variable eccentricity, for lens grinding.{{cite web|title=James Bogardus {{!}} Spandrel Panel from Edgar H. Laing Stores {{!}} American {{!}} The Met|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/7704|website=metmuseum.org|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|accessdate=29 August 2017}}

Bogardus attached plaques to his cast-ironwork that read: "James Bogardus Originator & Patentee of Iron Buildings Pat' May 7, 1850."Streetscapes/75 Murray Street; Bought for Its Site, the Rundown Loft Is a Gem, by CHRISTOPHER GRAY, New York Times, October 30, 1994 [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E6DE113FF933A05753C1A962958260] He demonstrated the use of cast-iron in the construction of building facades, especially in New York City for the next two decades. He was based in New York, but also worked in Washington, DC, where three cast-iron structures erected by Bogardus in 1851 were the first such constructions in the capital. The success of the cast-iron exteriors from 1850 to 1880 led to the adoption of steel-frame construction for entire buildings.{{cite book|last1=Winters|first1=Alfred|last2=Winters|first2=Eleanor|title=Exploring New York's SoHo|date=2012|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9781614237020|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sa9xCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT27|accessdate=29 August 2017|language=en}}

Personal life

File:Chambers St W Bway td (2021-07-07) 05 - Bogardus Garden and Plaza.jpg in 2021.]]

He married Margaret MacClay (1803–1878), the daughter of Rev. Archibald Maclay, in 1831. Margaret worked as an artist and two portrait miniatures by her are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Carrie Rebora Barratt and Lori Zabar, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YHKoX40qL7EC American Portrait Miniatures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art], p.162-3

Bogardus died in New York City aged 74. Bogardus is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.{{cite web|title=JAMES BOGARDUS (1800-1874) {{!}} Green-Wood|url=http://www.green-wood.com/2010/james-bogardus/|website=www.green-wood.com|date=26 November 2010 |accessdate=29 August 2017}}

=Legacy=

A small park in TriBeCa, where Chambers Street, Hudson Street and West Broadway intersect, is named James Bogardus Triangle.{{cite book|last1=Rosenberg|first1=Andrew|last2=Dunford|first2=Martin|title=The Rough Guide to New York|date=2011|publisher=Penguin|isbn=9781848365902|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mZ0z8ZSwQ-sC&pg=PA74|accessdate=29 August 2017|language=en}}