By Sylvia Hasenkopf James Bogardus...Willard, Catskill’s main jeweler, watch and clock maker,...
Transcript of By Sylvia Hasenkopf James Bogardus...Willard, Catskill’s main jeweler, watch and clock maker,...
December 28, 2020 www.porcupinesoup.com
Tracing Your Roots in Greene County By Sylvia Hasenkopf
James Bogardus, inventor, watchmaker, and father of the skyscraper.
Who would have thought that James was from Catskill, New York? He
most certainly was.
James was born March 14, 1800 in Catskill, one of six children of John
Bogardus and his wife Sara Stockens. As John was a prosperous farmer
and could afford to send his children to school, James was educated in the
village school in Catskill, likely starting his education around the age of
seven.
James would have been only seven years old when the Clermont, the
first commercial steamboat of the paddlewheel design, churned past
Catskill on its inaugural run on August 17, 1807. The innovation and
creativity in design likely left an indelible impression on him.
Catskill, at the time, was a river port and sloops plied up and down the
Hudson, bringing travelers, goods and the mail. The sloops were met by
many interested villagers, as this was the prime means of learning the
news from afar. It must have been an exciting time for a young boy, with
all the activity along the wharves.
At the age of fourteen, James took up an apprenticeship under Horace
Willard, Catskill’s main jeweler, watch and clock maker, located on Main
St. in the village. During his apprenticeship, James soon became skilled in
watch work and working in gold and silver. He also learned how to make
dyes, engraving in wood, steel and other metals. This skill would serve
him well in years to come.
When Willard decided to sell his business, James bought out the
remaining time of his apprenticeship and set himself up in business in
Catskill. James was still a young man, however, and blessed with an
adventuring spirit and bounding curiosity, James decided to close up his
shop and move to Savannah, GA in 1820. He stayed only a few years, and
by the summer of 1823, he had reestablished his watchmaker’s shop in
Catskill.
But James loved to tinker. He was forever designing new inventions. In
1828 he invented a three wheeled mantle clock, which he patented. He
also exhibited the clock at the newly-founded American Institute in New
York City, where he won the “highest premium”, the highest recognition
possible.
The American Institute, founded in 1828, served as a meeting place for men with ideas – men who wanted to use technology to
improve everyday life. It served as a means in which inventors could market their ideas to entrepreneurs and businessmen alike. In
1830, the American Institute hired James to create the steel dye of a newly designed medal for the organization. James had the
opportunity to use his newly invented dye machine. By all accounts, the medal was exquisite. Over the next forty years James
maintained his connection with the American Institute, winning many medals for his inventions.
James’ close association with the American Institute allowed him to mingle with other inventors and he was energized and inspired
to create even more inventions. However, he felt Catskill was just too far away from New York City, the center of new artistic and
industrial innovations, so he closed his business in Catskill once again, and moved to New York City some time in 1829. He never
James Bogardus Catskill native and father of the skyscraper
James Bogardus
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looked back.
On February 12, 1831, James married Margaret Maclay, daughter of
Scottish born Archibald Maclay, a prominent Baptist pastor of New York
City. Margaret was an acclaimed painter in oils as well as miniature portraits
and her income was a welcome addition to the family finances during those
early years of struggle for James and his inventions.
The couple did not have any children that survived infancy and they
eventually adopted Margaret’s niece, Harriet Hogg, and reared her as their
own daughter.
The 1830’s were marred by financial troubles for James, however he
continued to produce an astounding number of inventions: devices for watch
making (cutting wheels, cutting watch dials), engraving devices, a spinning
machine and a mammoth clock, grinding mills, devices for pressing glass,
devices for cutting or working with rubber, devices for making postage
stamps, an eccentric mill, a mechanical pencil, a gas metering device…. the
list goes on and on. Between 1830 and 1850 James was awarded thirteen
United States Patents and one British Patent. Not all of James’ inventions
were patented, however.
In 1836 James sailed for England, in an effort to establish a British Patent
for his gas metering device. He was unsuccessful. Expecting to stay only a
very short while, James ended up staying in Europe for four years. And these
were very formative years for the inventor, which would have a profound
impact on American architecture in years to come.
England, at the time, was experiencing an industrial boom and many
structures were being built using iron. Bridges, aqueducts, railway facilities,
shipping docks and columns were being constructed in cast iron. James found
this quite fascinating.
Before returning to America, James and Margaret decided to undertake a
Continental tour. It was during their stay in Italy, that James was struck by the 63 Nassau Street,1857-59, by James Bogardus, Financial
District, New York, image by Beyond My Ken via Wikimedia
Commons.
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historic Classical and Renaissance architecture with its “regularity and repetition”. In later
years, James would say that it was then that he conceived the idea of using cast iron in the
facades of buildings.
Unlike Britain, iron was not commonly used in America for structural purposes in the
first half of the nineteenth century. Iron was not in plentiful supply locally and had to be
imported from abroad. It wasn’t until the 1840’s that domestic sources of iron were
discovered.
Devastating fires in many cities in the 1820’s and 30’s drove many builders and their
clients to seek fireproof or fire-resistant building materials. And that is where James’
unique abilities and vision came into being. He wanted to emulate the architectural
designs of antiquity in cast iron in New York City.
In an effort to convince the public, investors and builders of his vision he published an
article in a New York newspaper in May 1849, stating, “these buildings will sustain a
greater weight and are put up with less inconvenience than brick buildings, being cast and
fit so that each piece may be put up as fast as it is brought on the ground…. They admit
more light, for the iron columns will sustain the weight that would require a wide brick
wall in ordinary buildings. They combine beauty with strength, for the panels can be filled
with figures to an extent.”
Critics fueled the public’s prejudice, predicting that, “iron facades would attract
lightening, expand and contract dangerously in sunlight and with temperature changes,
melt in fire, or even collapse of their own weight.” But James believed in his idea and he
persisted.
James’ first commission was the Milhau Pharmacy building. Dr. John Milhau, a
respected pharmacist in New York City, wanted to update and enlarge his small building
at 183 Broadway. He ordered an entire cast iron façade in 1848. This was James’
opportunity to prove that his invention of cast iron facades was safe and viable.
Kitchen, Montross & Wilcox Store, 1861, by
James Borgardus, Tribeca, New York, image by
Beyond My Ken via Wikimedia Commons.
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The Milhau Pharmacy building grew in height from three
to five stories and where each floor previously had 3
windows, James’ new construction allowed four. This was
made possible by the strength of the slender supporting iron
columns that were in place between the windows. Upon
completion, the Milhau Pharmacy looked like no other
building ever built before.
James went on to build the Laing Stores facades and then
his own cast iron factory on Duane St. The speed with
which the buildings were constructed amazed many.
James realized that he needed to patent his invention and
on February 9, 1850 he submitted an application to the
United States Patent Office. The application claimed that his
invention of a building system was novel in five ways: the
frame, the floor, the roof, the modular construction of the
exterior walls and the use of open beams.
Patent No. 7,337, entitled, “Construction of the Frame,
Roof and Floor of Iron Buildings” was awarded to James
Bogardus. It recognized three of the five novel ways
claimed by James. In very short order, other cast iron
manufacturers began to develop new methods and systems
for building cast iron facades that circumvented James’
patent. By 1855 there were seven new patents by other
inventors relating to iron front construction. Competitive
exploitation had begun.
James flung himself into the business of building iron clad
buildings. He placed a plaque on his buildings that stated:
James Bogardus, originator and constructor of Iron
Buildings, New York. James built more than thirty iron clad
structures in the 1850’s. Not only did he construct buildings
and factories, he also constructed seven story fire towers for
the City of New York and other towers for various
industries. In 1862 he built his last iron clad building.
By this time James was sixty-two and he spent the last
decade of his life doing what he loved the most – inventing
things!
James Bogardus died at his home on 14th St. in New York
City on April 13, 1874 and was buried in the idyllic Green-
wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. His obituary in the Scientific
American acclaims him as “an inventor celebrated both for
the multiplicity and variety as well as the value of his
productions…the record of his life is one of continuous
labors repeatedly crowned with substantial success, of a
versatile genius which devoted himself to the origination of Hopkins Store, 75 Murray Street, 1857-58 by James Bogardus, Tribeca, New York,
image by Beyond My Ken via Wikimedia Commons.
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Want to connect with Sylvia about local history? Contact her at [email protected]
Want to read previous articles from Sylvia? Click here.
of devices in widely differing arts and industries, and finally
of unremitting toil in the search for the new and useful.”
Few of James’ iron clad buildings have withstood the test
of time. Fire and changing architectural tastes and needs have
resulted in the loss of most of the buildings. However, a few
have survived. The Iron Clad building in Cooperstown, listed
on the National Historic Register still stands, as does the old
Hopkins building on 75 Murray St. and the building at 63
Nassau St. in New York City.
The height of buildings before the invention of the cast iron
facades was limited. The weight of the construction material,
whether brick, stone or wood became too great at a certain
point to remain stable, so the height of buildings was limited
to a few stories.
Without a doubt, James proved that buildings could be
made lighter and quicker using iron structures. His seven
story fire towers soared over all surrounding buildings of the
day and proved that building “up” was possible.
By 1884, the world’s first true skyscraper had been built in
Chicago. The ten story Home Insurance Building had a steel
frame that supported the entire weight of the walls, instead of
load bearing walls carrying the weight of the building.
James’ vision of iron clad buildings was the forerunner of
this building style. That’s why he is called the father of the
skyscraper.
254-60 Canal Street, 1856-57, by James Bogardus, Chinatown, New York, image
by Beyond My Ken via Wikimedia Commons.