Joseph Dixon (inventor)
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Joseph Dixon (1799–1869) was an inventor,
entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...
and the founder of what became the
Dixon Ticonderoga The Dixon Ticonderoga Company () is an office and art supplies maker from the United States, with headquarters in Heathrow, Florida. The company offers a number of brands, with one of the most well-known being ''Ticonderoga'': the yellow No. 2 pe ...
Company, a well-known manufacturer of pencils in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. His fascination with new technologies led to many innovations such as a mirror for a camera that was the forerunner of the
viewfinder In photography, a viewfinder is what the photographer looks through to compose, and, in many cases, to focus the picture. Most viewfinders are separate, and suffer parallax, while the single-lens reflex camera lets the viewfinder use the main ...
, a patented double-crank steam engine, and a method of printing
banknotes A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...
to thwart counterfeiters. Most notably, Dixon manufactured the first wood and graphite pencil in the country. Among his associates were such American inventors as
Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboa ...
,
Samuel Morse Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph ...
, and Alexander Graham Bell, and politician/business partner Orestes Cleveland.


Joseph Dixon Crucible Company

In 1827, Joseph Dixon began his business in
Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...
and, with his son, was involved with the Tantiusques graphite mine in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Dixon discovered the merits of graphite as a stove polish and an additive in lubricants, foundry facings, brake linings, oil-less bearings, and non-corrosive paints. He also refined the use of graphite
crucible A crucible is a ceramic or metal container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures. While crucibles were historically usually made from clay, they can be made from any material that withstands te ...
s,
refractory In materials science, a refractory material or refractory is a material that is resistant to decomposition by heat, pressure, or chemical attack, and retains strength and form at high temperatures. Refractories are polycrystalline, polyphase, ...
vessels used for melting metallic minerals. A heat-resistant graphite crucible he invented was widely used in the production of iron and steel during the
Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
. This invention's success led Dixon to build a new mill in what is now the
Van Vorst Park Van Vorst Park is a neighborhood in the Historic Downtown of Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, centered on a park sharing the same name. The neighborhood is located west of Paulus Hook and Marin Boulevard, north of Grand Street, east of ...
neighborhood of historic
Downtown Jersey City Downtown is an area of Jersey City, New Jersey, which includes the Historic Downtown and the Waterfront. Historic Downtown Historic Downtown was an area of mostly low-rise buildings to the west of the waterfront, but by the 2000s a number of hi ...
, New Jersey in 1847.Depew, Chauncey Mitchell, ed. ''1795–1895. One Hundred Years of American Commerce''. Vol 2. New York: D.O. Haynes, 1895 The Dixon Mills complex has subsequently become residences. During the 1860s, people typically wrote with
quill pen A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen, the metal- nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, eventuall ...
s and ink even though Dixon introduced graphite pencils in 1829. But the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
created a demand for a dry, clean, portable writing instrument and led to the mass production of pencils. At the time of Dixon's death in 1869, the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company was the largest manufacturer of graphite products in the world. By 1870, The Joseph Dixon Crucible Company was the world's largest dealer and consumer of graphite. By 1872 the Dixon company was making 86,000 pencils a day. The Joseph Dixon Crucible Company continued to prosper throughout the 20th century by growing through a series of mergers and acquisitions. In 1982, the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company merged with the Bryn Mawr Corporation, a Pennsylvania transportation and real estate company with operations dating back to 1795. Together, these companies formed the
Dixon Ticonderoga The Dixon Ticonderoga Company () is an office and art supplies maker from the United States, with headquarters in Heathrow, Florida. The company offers a number of brands, with one of the most well-known being ''Ticonderoga'': the yellow No. 2 pe ...
Company, named after Dixon and its oldest brand-name pencil.


References


External links


Dixon Ticonderoga CompanyTantiusques Graphite Mine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Joseph 19th-century American inventors 1799 births 1869 deaths Pencils American steel industry businesspeople American printers American engravers American lithographers People from Salem, Massachusetts 19th-century American businesspeople