James Hartness
Encyclopedia
James Hartness was an American inventor; a mechanical engineer; an entrepreneur who mentored other inventors to develop their machine tool
products and create a thriving industrial center in southeastern Vermont; an amateur astronomer who fostered the construction of telescopes by amateurs in his town; an early aviator who built one of Vermont’s first airports; and the 58th Governor of Vermont
from 1921 to 1923.
, one of three sons. His family moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1863 where his father was a foreman in local machine shops and Hartness attended public school. Hartness worked up through the ranks in machine shops in Connecticut before moving to Springfield, Vermont
, where he had a brilliant career as an innovator of machine tools. He became one of the nation’s first aviators and became a one-term governor of the state of Vermont. He had two daughters, Anna and Helen. His daughter, Helen (Helen Hartness Flanders
), was a noted folk song
collector who married Ralph Flanders
, a U.S. Senator from Vermont
Hartness died in Springfield in 1934. He is buried in the Summer Hill Cemetery in Springfield, not far from his mansion. The Hartness mansion has been the "Hartness House Inn", a landmark inn and fine dining restaurant, since 1954.
. He moved in 1886 to Torrington, Connecticut
to work as a tool-maker
and foreman at the Union Hardware Company. His lifetime achievement of more than 100 patents began here with patents of locks, roller skates, and bicycle pedal mechanisms.
Hartness had an unpleasant experience at Union Hardware: he had been understandably naive about arranging for royalties on his patents, and the business owners chose not to help rectify the oversight. He did not get to share in the profits derived from the patents. In September 1888, after he had lost several weeks' work to illness, Union Hardware told him not to return.
During the winter of 1888–1889, he worked briefly for several companies: Pratt & Whitney
in Hartford, Connecticut
; Eaton, Cole and Burnham Co. in Bridgeport, Connecticut
, and a plant in Scottdale, Pennsylvania
. Roe (1937) surmised that sometime during 1888 or a little before, the idea of the flat-turret lathe had developed in his mind; and that his peregrinations in the winter of 1888–1889 were in search of a suitable company at which to build it.
In April 1889 he moved to Springfield, Vermont
to become the superintendent at the struggling Jones and Lamson (J&L) Machine Company. He used his creative energy to revitalize the company. Here he found his chance to manufacture the flat-turret lathe, which increased efficiency and productivity and was especially well adapted to the burgeoning automobile industry. The flat turret lathe improved upon earlier turret lathes via greater rigidity, allowing higher precision, higher speeds and feeds, and longer cuts. Hartness also developed an array of highly advanced tooling to complement the lathe, including improved roller bar feed and die head
designs. All of these advantages allowed better parts to be made faster, and thus less expensively, which made the lathe highly desirable to manufacturers. This time, Hartness was prepared to defend his interest in his patent. He arranged with J&L to receive a $100 royalty on each machine.
Hartness changed J&L’s business model from making a wide variety of machines to order to specializing in the manufacturing and improving of this one product. With rapid acceptance of this machine tool, orders reached 10 units per day from the manufacturing sector. As a result, Hartness reportedly received up to $1,000 per day in royalties. He also introduced appealing and informative catalogues to market the new Jones and Lamson products. Hartness acquired a large interest in J&L. He became manager in 1896 and president in 1901 until his retirement in 1933.
In 1915 Hartness reluctantly decided to engage in “war business,” heeding his brother John’s pleas from the London office of J&L. During World War I Hartness, as a representative of American Society of Mechanical Engineers
(ASME), became Chairman of the National Screw-Thread Commission, the mission of which was to create international standards for the measurement and sizing of screw thread
s.
Hartness discouraged modernizing of the Hartness Flat Turret Lathe. Nevertheless, it remained a very successful product until after Hartness's retirement, when a new J&L turret lathe model by John Lovely finally replaced it.
Hartness’s interest in the measurement and standardization led to his invention of an optical device that allowed the profile of small parts to be illuminated and compared with their desired outline. Traditionally, mechanics used a mechanical gauge to assess whether screws were to specifications. Hartness employed his knowledge of optics and magnification to devise a much more practical optical method for measurement. The Hartness Screw-Thread Comparator was his crowning achievement in the profitability of J&L. Today optical comparator
s are a common form of equipment in many machine shops.
The 1921 edition of the ASME mechanical catalog and directory showed that J&L offered several models of Hartness flat turret lathe, an automatic chucking lathe, an automatic die, a screw-thread comparator, and the Fay automatic lathe
. J&L had offices in Springfield, Vermont, San Francisco, California, and London, England, plus agents in five other countries.
Hartness encouraged talented inventors in his employ at J&L to strike out on their own as entrepreneurs. These included three Springfield companies and one Windsor, Vermont company:
The companies started by these men helped make Springfield and Windsor a prosperous manufacturing region, thanks not to its access to raw materials or markets, but due to a pool of talented engineers and machinists. Joseph Roe ranked Hartness in the class of Henry Maudslay
and Elisha K. Root
for his mentorship of a younger generation of machine tool builders.
In a sense Hartness was responding to the era's enthusiastic fervor for scientific management
, which Hartness and many others felt did not adequately address the psychology of how to manage employees as human beings and maintain their respect.
Hartness was an active member of the following engineering, scientific, and arts societies:
His life achievements were recognized with honorary degrees from the University of Vermont (ME in 1910 and LLD in 1920) and Yale University (MA in 1914). The Franklin Institute
awarded Hartness the Edward Longstreth Medal in 1921, recognizing his contributions to mechanical engineering. In the same year the American Philosophical Society
and the City Trusts of Philadelphia awarded the John Scott Medal to Hartness for the flat turret lathe, citing its usefulness in making artillery.
, designed by Ferdinand von Zeppelin
. In 1914, Hartness learned to fly a 35 hp Wright Flyer
near Garden City, New York
. He obtained his pilot's license from the Aero Club of America
. He encouraged, and served as president of, the Vermont Aero Club. He donated the land for the Springfield Aerodrome to the state, establishing the first airfield in Vermont, now known as "Hartness State Airport".
After his trans-Atlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh toured the United States in the Spirit of St. Louis to promote aviation. He landed in Springfield on July 26, 1927 in his visit to Vermont and spoke at a large gathering at the airport. Hartness hosted Lindbergh at his home.
and astronomy
led to his development of a telescope mount
with the revolving dome on an equatorial plane
. An additional feature of this telescope, which still stands at the former Hartness Mansion, was that the optics of the telescope passed through a lens in the wall of the dome. This allowed the observer to stay warm in winter. (Conventional telescopes were often contained within domes that opened an aperture for the telescope to gain exposure both to the sky and the ambient air.) The success of this patent led to more telescope activities and commissions. With Hartness's encouragement and financial support, Russell W. Porter
initiated the Springfield Telescope Makers Club. The club still celebrates their annual Stellafane
gathering in Springfield.
Machine tool
A machine tool is a machine, typically powered other than by human muscle , used to make manufactured parts in various ways that include cutting or certain other kinds of deformation...
products and create a thriving industrial center in southeastern Vermont; an amateur astronomer who fostered the construction of telescopes by amateurs in his town; an early aviator who built one of Vermont’s first airports; and the 58th Governor of Vermont
Governor of Vermont
The Governor of Vermont is the governor of the U.S. state of Vermont. The governor is elected in even numbered years by direct voting for a term of two years; Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold gubernatorial elections every two years, instead of every four...
from 1921 to 1923.
Biographical
Hartness was born in Schenectady, New YorkSchenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
, one of three sons. His family moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1863 where his father was a foreman in local machine shops and Hartness attended public school. Hartness worked up through the ranks in machine shops in Connecticut before moving to Springfield, Vermont
Springfield, Vermont
Springfield is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 9,373 at the 2010 census.-History:One of the New Hampshire grants, the township was chartered on August 20, 1761 by Governor Benning Wentworth and awarded to Gideon Lyman and 61 others...
, where he had a brilliant career as an innovator of machine tools. He became one of the nation’s first aviators and became a one-term governor of the state of Vermont. He had two daughters, Anna and Helen. His daughter, Helen (Helen Hartness Flanders
Helen Hartness Flanders
Helen Hartness Flanders , a native of the U.S. state of Vermont, was an internationally recognized ballad collector and an authority on the folk music found in New England and the British Isles...
), was a noted folk song
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
collector who married Ralph Flanders
Ralph Flanders
Ralph Edward Flanders was an American mechanical engineer, industrialist and Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Vermont. He grew up on subsistence farms in Vermont and Rhode Island, became an apprentice first as a machinist, then as a draftsman, before training as a mechanical engineer...
, a U.S. Senator from Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
Hartness died in Springfield in 1934. He is buried in the Summer Hill Cemetery in Springfield, not far from his mansion. The Hartness mansion has been the "Hartness House Inn", a landmark inn and fine dining restaurant, since 1954.
Engineering innovation and entrepreneurship
At age 16, Hartness began his career in machine shops. At age 21 he became a foreman at the Winsted-Norway Bolt Company in Winsted, ConnecticutWinsted, Connecticut
Winsted is a census-designated place and an incorporated city in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the town of Winchester, Connecticut. The population was 7,321 at the 2000 census.-History:...
. He moved in 1886 to Torrington, Connecticut
Torrington, Connecticut
Torrington is the largest city in Litchfield County, Connecticut and the northwestern Connecticut region. It is also the core city of the largest micropolitan area in the United States. The city population was 36,383 according to the 2010 census....
to work as a tool-maker
Tool and die maker
Tool and die makers are workers in the manufacturing industry who make jigs, fixtures, dies, molds, machine tools, cutting tools , gauges, and other tools used in manufacturing processes...
and foreman at the Union Hardware Company. His lifetime achievement of more than 100 patents began here with patents of locks, roller skates, and bicycle pedal mechanisms.
Hartness had an unpleasant experience at Union Hardware: he had been understandably naive about arranging for royalties on his patents, and the business owners chose not to help rectify the oversight. He did not get to share in the profits derived from the patents. In September 1888, after he had lost several weeks' work to illness, Union Hardware told him not to return.
During the winter of 1888–1889, he worked briefly for several companies: Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney is a U.S.-based aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation . Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut, USA...
in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
; Eaton, Cole and Burnham Co. in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
, and a plant in Scottdale, Pennsylvania
Scottdale, Pennsylvania
Scottdale is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh. Scottdale is the home of the Southmoreland Scotties. Early in the 20th century, Scottdale was the center of the Frick coke interests...
. Roe (1937) surmised that sometime during 1888 or a little before, the idea of the flat-turret lathe had developed in his mind; and that his peregrinations in the winter of 1888–1889 were in search of a suitable company at which to build it.
Springfield, Vermont
Springfield is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 9,373 at the 2010 census.-History:One of the New Hampshire grants, the township was chartered on August 20, 1761 by Governor Benning Wentworth and awarded to Gideon Lyman and 61 others...
to become the superintendent at the struggling Jones and Lamson (J&L) Machine Company. He used his creative energy to revitalize the company. Here he found his chance to manufacture the flat-turret lathe, which increased efficiency and productivity and was especially well adapted to the burgeoning automobile industry. The flat turret lathe improved upon earlier turret lathes via greater rigidity, allowing higher precision, higher speeds and feeds, and longer cuts. Hartness also developed an array of highly advanced tooling to complement the lathe, including improved roller bar feed and die head
Die head
A die head is a threading die that is used in the high volume production of threaded components.Die heads are commonly used on lathes, turret lathes, screw machines and CNC lathes. They may be used for either cutting a thread or rolling a thread...
designs. All of these advantages allowed better parts to be made faster, and thus less expensively, which made the lathe highly desirable to manufacturers. This time, Hartness was prepared to defend his interest in his patent. He arranged with J&L to receive a $100 royalty on each machine.
Hartness changed J&L’s business model from making a wide variety of machines to order to specializing in the manufacturing and improving of this one product. With rapid acceptance of this machine tool, orders reached 10 units per day from the manufacturing sector. As a result, Hartness reportedly received up to $1,000 per day in royalties. He also introduced appealing and informative catalogues to market the new Jones and Lamson products. Hartness acquired a large interest in J&L. He became manager in 1896 and president in 1901 until his retirement in 1933.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
(ASME), became Chairman of the National Screw-Thread Commission, the mission of which was to create international standards for the measurement and sizing of screw thread
Screw thread
A screw thread, often shortened to thread, is a helical structure used to convert between rotational and linear movement or force. A screw thread is a ridge wrapped around a cylinder or cone in the form of a helix, with the former being called a straight thread and the latter called a tapered thread...
s.
Hartness discouraged modernizing of the Hartness Flat Turret Lathe. Nevertheless, it remained a very successful product until after Hartness's retirement, when a new J&L turret lathe model by John Lovely finally replaced it.
Hartness’s interest in the measurement and standardization led to his invention of an optical device that allowed the profile of small parts to be illuminated and compared with their desired outline. Traditionally, mechanics used a mechanical gauge to assess whether screws were to specifications. Hartness employed his knowledge of optics and magnification to devise a much more practical optical method for measurement. The Hartness Screw-Thread Comparator was his crowning achievement in the profitability of J&L. Today optical comparator
Optical comparator
An optical comparator is a device that applies the principles of optics to the inspection of manufactured parts...
s are a common form of equipment in many machine shops.
The 1921 edition of the ASME mechanical catalog and directory showed that J&L offered several models of Hartness flat turret lathe, an automatic chucking lathe, an automatic die, a screw-thread comparator, and the Fay automatic lathe
Fay automatic lathe
The Fay automatic lathe was an automatic lathe tailored to cutting workpieces that were mounted on centers . It could also do chucking work...
. J&L had offices in Springfield, Vermont, San Francisco, California, and London, England, plus agents in five other countries.
Mentor of machine tool entrepreneurs
- Edwin R. FellowsEdwin R. FellowsEdwin R. Fellows was an American inventor and entrepreneur from Torrington, Connecticut who designed and built a new type of gear shaper in 1896 and, with the mentoring of James Hartness, left the Jones & Lamson Machine Company to co-found the Fellows Gear Shaper Company in Springfield, Vermont,...
, founder of the Fellows Gear Shaper Company - William L. Bryant, founder of the Bryant Chucking Grinder CompanyBryant Chucking Grinder CompanyBryant Chucking Grinder Company is a manufacturer of computer numerical control grinding machines.In 2002, the company, along with Jones and Lamson Machine Tool, was shut down due to owners Goldman Group filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Since then, the company has been acquired by Vermont Machine...
- Fred P. Lovejoy, founder of the Lovejoy Tool Company
- George O. Gridley, founder of the National Acme Company
The companies started by these men helped make Springfield and Windsor a prosperous manufacturing region, thanks not to its access to raw materials or markets, but due to a pool of talented engineers and machinists. Joseph Roe ranked Hartness in the class of Henry Maudslay
Henry Maudslay
Henry Maudslay was a British machine tool innovator, tool and die maker, and inventor. He is considered a founding father of machine tool technology.-Early life:...
and Elisha K. Root
Elisha K. Root
Elisha K. Root was a Connecticut machinist and inventor.Root was born on a Massachusetts farm and worked as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill before switching, at the age of 15, to working in a machine shop in Ware, Massachusetts. At age 24 he was hired by Connecticut industrialist Samuel W...
for his mentorship of a younger generation of machine tool builders.
Encouragement of smarter management with better relationship to workers
His son-in-law, Ralph Flanders, reported that Hartness examined “some of the elements which go into making workmen both contented and productive” in his book The Human Factor in Works Management. His Hartness Turret Lathe Manual starts with the statement:In a sense Hartness was responding to the era's enthusiastic fervor for scientific management
Scientific management
Scientific management, also called Taylorism, was a theory of management that analyzed and synthesized workflows. Its main objective was improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. It was one of the earliest attempts to apply science to the engineering of processes and to management...
, which Hartness and many others felt did not adequately address the psychology of how to manage employees as human beings and maintain their respect.
Affiliations, degrees, and medals
- American Society of Mechanical EngineersAmerican Society of Mechanical EngineersThe American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
, which elected him president in Fall 1913 to serve the 1914–1915 term - American Engineering Council (formerly the Federated American Engineering Societies), which elected him president in 1924 to serve the following two-year term
- Society of Automotive Engineers
- British Institution of Mechanical EngineersInstitution of Mechanical EngineersThe Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the British engineering society based in central London, representing mechanical engineering. It is licensed by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers...
- American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
(Fellow) - British Royal Aeronautical SocietyRoyal Aeronautical SocietyThe Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a multidisciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community.-Function:...
(Fellow) - American Astronomical SocietyAmerican Astronomical SocietyThe American Astronomical Society is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC...
(Member) - British Royal Astronomical SocietyRoyal Astronomical SocietyThe Royal Astronomical Society is a learned society that began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research . It became the Royal Astronomical Society in 1831 on receiving its Royal Charter from William IV...
(Member) - British Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts (Member)
- Aero Club of AmericaAero Club of AmericaThe Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Glidden and others to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New England. It thrived until 1923, when it transformed into the National Aeronautic...
- Aero Club of Vermont
His life achievements were recognized with honorary degrees from the University of Vermont (ME in 1910 and LLD in 1920) and Yale University (MA in 1914). The Franklin Institute
Franklin Institute
The Franklin Institute is a museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the oldest centers of science education and development in the United States, dating to 1824. The Institute also houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.-History:On February 5, 1824, Samuel Vaughn Merrick and...
awarded Hartness the Edward Longstreth Medal in 1921, recognizing his contributions to mechanical engineering. In the same year the American Philosophical Society
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
and the City Trusts of Philadelphia awarded the John Scott Medal to Hartness for the flat turret lathe, citing its usefulness in making artillery.
Aviation
Hartness first flew in Germany in 1913 in a hydrogen-filled airshipAirship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
, designed by Ferdinand von Zeppelin
Ferdinand von Zeppelin
Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin was a German general and later aircraft manufacturer. He founded the Zeppelin Airship company...
. In 1914, Hartness learned to fly a 35 hp Wright Flyer
Wright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
near Garden City, New York
Garden City, New York
Garden City is a village in the town of Hempstead in central Nassau County, New York, in the United States. It was founded by multi-millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart in 1869, and is located on Long Island, to the east of New York City, from mid-town Manhattan, and just south of the town of...
. He obtained his pilot's license from the Aero Club of America
Aero Club of America
The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Glidden and others to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New England. It thrived until 1923, when it transformed into the National Aeronautic...
. He encouraged, and served as president of, the Vermont Aero Club. He donated the land for the Springfield Aerodrome to the state, establishing the first airfield in Vermont, now known as "Hartness State Airport".
After his trans-Atlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh toured the United States in the Spirit of St. Louis to promote aviation. He landed in Springfield on July 26, 1927 in his visit to Vermont and spoke at a large gathering at the airport. Hartness hosted Lindbergh at his home.
Astronomy
Hartness’s interest in opticsOptics
Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...
and astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
led to his development of a telescope mount
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
with the revolving dome on an equatorial plane
Equatorial mount
An equatorial mount is a mount for instruments that follows the rotation of the sky by having one rotational axis parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation. This type of mount is used for astronomical telescopes and cameras...
. An additional feature of this telescope, which still stands at the former Hartness Mansion, was that the optics of the telescope passed through a lens in the wall of the dome. This allowed the observer to stay warm in winter. (Conventional telescopes were often contained within domes that opened an aperture for the telescope to gain exposure both to the sky and the ambient air.) The success of this patent led to more telescope activities and commissions. With Hartness's encouragement and financial support, Russell W. Porter
Russell W. Porter
Russell Williams Porter was an American artist, engineer, amateur astronomer and explorer. He was a pioneer in the field of “cutaway illustration" and is sometimes referred to as the "founder" or one of the "founders" of amateur telescope making."-Biography:Russell W...
initiated the Springfield Telescope Makers Club. The club still celebrates their annual Stellafane
Stellafane
Stellafane is the name of the clubhouse built by the Springfield Telescope Makers club of Springfield, Vermont in the early 1920s, and has since come to refer to the club's land and buildings on the summit of Breezy Hill...
gathering in Springfield.