His father was a millwright and with him worked at the
trade in Orange county, N.Y., until he was 16 years old. He then
commenced learning the watchmakers' business, which he was obliged to
relinquish, after three years, on account of his health. He then went
to Laurel, Md., in 1844, and engaged with Patuxent & Co. as mercantile
clerk and bookkeeper. In 1856 he commenced the manufacture of the
French turbine water wheel. In 1879 he sold out his Laurel interests,
went to New York and commenced manufacturing his own patents. On May
22, 1883, he founded the Drovers' and Mechanics' National Bank of
York, and was elected its first president, which position he held at
the time of his death. In 1881, with others, he built the York opera
house, at a cost of $40,000. He was a Knight Templar, and past master
of the I.O.O.F., and past sachem of Red Men.
[Illustration: N.F. BURNHAM.]
He was the oldest turbine wheel manufacturer living, having been
actually engaged in the manufacture of turbines since 1856. He first
made and sold the French Jonval turbine, which was then the best
turbine made, but being complicated in construction, it soon wore out
and leaked. From the experience he had from this wheel he invented and
patented Feb. 22, 1859, his improved Jonval turbine, which was very
simply constructed and yielded a greater percentage of power than the
French Jonval turbines. Hundreds of these improved wheels, which were
put in operation between the years 1859 and 1868, are still in use.
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