Today in Entrepreneurial History: February 12

375px Peter Cooper 1900

On this day in 1791, Peter Cooper, the American Industrialist, inventor and philanthropist was born. Cooper designed and built the first steam locomotive in the U.S., and founded the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan, New York City.

Cooper began operating an iron rolling mill in New York beginning in 1836, where he was the first to successfully use anthracite coal to puddle iron. Cooper later moved the mill to Trenton, New Jersey on the Delaware River to be closer to the sources of the raw materials the works needed. His son and son-in-law, Edward Cooper and Abram S. Hewitt, later expanded the Trenton facility into a giant complex employing 2,000 people, in which iron was taken from raw material to finished product.

Cooper owned a number of patents for his inventions, including some for the manufacture of gelatin, and he developed standards for its production. The patents were later sold to a cough syrup manufacturer who developed a pre-packaged form which his wife named “Jell-O“.

For more on Peter Cooper, read The Cooper-Hewitt Dynasty of New York.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *