Goodyear--Congress refuses to extend his
patent--His true reward.
CHAPTER XV.
ELI WHITNEY.
The home of General Greene in Georgia--The soldier's widow--An arrival
from New England--The young schoolmaster--A mechanical genius--Early
history of Whitney--Mrs. Greene's invitation--Visit of the
planters--State of the cotton culture in 1792--A despondent
planter--Mrs. Greene advises them to try Whitney--Origin of the cotton
gin--Whitney's first efforts--His workshop--The secret labors--How he
provided himself with materials--Finds a partner--Betrayal of his
secret--He is robbed of his model--He recovers it and completes it--The
first cotton gin--Statement of the revolution produced by the invention
in the cotton culture of the South--Opinion of Judge Johnson--The story
of an inventor's wrongs--Whitney is cheated and robbed of his
rights--The worthlessness of a patent--A long and disheartening
struggle--Honorable action of North Carolina--Congress refuses to extend
the patent--Whitney abandons the cotton gin--Engages in the manufacture
of firearms--His improvements in them--Establishes an armory in
Connecticut, and makes a fortune--Death.
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