Samuel T. Wellman

{{Infobox person|

name=Samuel T. Wellman|

image=Samuel T Wellman.jpg|

caption=Industrial entrepreneur|

birth_date={{birth date|1847|2|5|mf=y}}|

birth_place=Wareham, Massachusetts|

death_date={{death date and age|1919|7|11|1847|2|5|mf=y}}|

death_place=Cleveland, Ohio

}}

Samuel Thomas Wellman, (February 5, 1847 – July 11, 1919) was an American steel industry pioneer, industrialist, and prolific inventor. Charles M. Schwab of Bethlehem Steel described Samuel T. Wellman as "the man who did more than any other living person in the development of steel".{{cite book | last = The American Society of Mechanical Engineers | title = Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers | publisher =The American Society of Mechanical Engineers | year =1920 | location =New York | pages = [https://archive.org/details/transactionsame49engigoog/page/n1153 1151]–1154 | url = https://archive.org/details/transactionsame49engigoog | isbn = 0-87263-105-2 }} Wellman was a close friend of electrical pioneer George Westinghouse,{{cite journal | last = Wohleber | first = Curt | title = "St. George" Westinghouse | journal = American Heritage | volume = 12 | issue = 3 | date = Winter 1997 | url = http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/1997/3/1997_3_28.shtml | access-date = 2007-01-25 | archive-date = 2008-11-20 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081120123143/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/1997/3/1997_3_28.shtml | url-status = dead }} and he was also president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers from 1901 to 1902.{{cite web | last = Haywood | first = Wilfred | title = 1903 ASME Council Meeting Photo Riddle | publisher = The American Society of Mechanical Engineers | url = http://www.asme.org/Communities/History/ASMEHistory/1903_Council_Meeting_Photo.cfm | access-date = 2007-01-25}}

Early life

Born in Wareham, Massachusetts in 1847, Wellman was the son of a Nashua Iron Company superintendent.Wellman, Joshua Wyman Descendants of Thomas Wellman (1918) Arthur Holbrook Wellman, Boston pp.69-72&455 Wellman received his formal engineering training from Norwich University in Norwich, Vermont, and served as a corporal with the 1st New Hampshire Heavy Artillery Regiment during the Civil War. Shortly after the war, Wellman married Julia A. Ballard, with whom he had five children.

Career and influence on the steel industry

Wellman began his career working at the Nashua Iron Company. He was encouraged by his father to build a regenerative gas furnace for the company. Wellman did this, impressing Carl Wilhelm Siemens, who immediately hired him to establish the first crucible-steel furnace in America. Wellman went on to improve upon the open-hearth process of steel rail production, which in turn had improved upon the Bessemer process.{{cite book | last = Association of American Railroads | title = Quiz on railroads and railroading : 400 questions, 400 answers | publisher = Association of American Railroads | year =1942 | location =Washington, DC | url = http://www.railwaystation.com/1942/01.html }} In 1869, Wellman built the first commercially successful open-hearth furnace in America at the Bay State Iron Works in South Boston.{{cite book | last =Butler Jr. | first =Joseph G. | title =Fifty Years of Iron and Steel | publisher = The Penton Press | year =1918 | location =Cleveland, OH | pages =70–72 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=1TEKAAAAIAAJ }}

File:Hulett Electric Ore Unloader, Toledo, Ohio - DPLA - 80c790080f86ceda34d1523b59c0597e (page 1).jpg

Furnaces were not Wellman's only contribution to the steel industry. He was also instrumental in the development of the Hulett unloader,{{cite journal | last = Snow | first = Richard F. | title = Lifting Iron | journal = American Heritage | volume = 3 | issue = 2 | date = Fall 1987 | url = http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/1987/2/1987_2_4.shtml | access-date = 2007-01-26 | archive-date = 2010-01-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100113155539/http://americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/1987/2/1987_2_4.shtml | url-status = dead }} which allowed the unloading of taconite from the iron ore boats of the Great Lakes, particularly on Lake Erie. In addition to improvements on the Hulett unloader, other important inventions include an open hearth charging machine and a hydraulic crane. Following an unsuccessful venture with his half-brother, Wellman later founded the {{ill|Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Engineering Company|fr|Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Engineering Company}} in Cleveland, Ohio,{{cite web|author=Lamoreaux, Naomi R. |title=Financing invention during the second industrial revolution: Cleveland, Ohio 1870-1920 |year=2004 |url=http://www.history.upenn.edu/PennEconomicForum/levenstein.pdf |access-date=2007-01-26 |display-authors=etal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050402232837/http://www.history.upenn.edu/PennEconomicForum/levenstein.pdf |archive-date=April 2, 2005 }} which continues under a different name to this day.

Partial list of inventions

[https://patents.google.com/patent/US722066 Automatic bail gripping or locking device for electric cranes]
[https://patents.google.com/patent/US666123 Furnace charging apparatus]
[https://patents.google.com/patent/US682512 Open hearth steel furnace]
[https://patents.google.com/?inventor=Samuel+T+Wellman Complete list of patents on Google]

Selected publications

Wellman, S. T., (1902). [https://books.google.com/books?id=lIG5y4OfuR0C The early history of open-hearth steel manufacture in the united states]. Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 23, 78-98.
Wellman, S. T., (1916). [https://books.google.com/books?id=QGpLIWmDElgC Iron and steel making]. In F. H. Newell & C. E. Drayer, (Eds.), Engineering as a career: A series of papers by eminent engineers, (pp. 81–88). New York: D. Van Nostrand Company.