Rufus Porter (May 1, 1792 – August 13, 1884) was an American painter, inventor, and founder of ''
Scientific American'' magazine.
Famous family
Rufus Porter descended from an old colonial
New England family. The family's first immigrants to the US were Mary and John Porter (–1676) who emigrated from
Dorset,
England to
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 ...
in the early 17th century. When John died in 1676 he was the largest landowner around, owning property that included the modern cities of Salem,
Danvers,
Wenham,
Beverly,
Topsfield and
Boxford, Massachusetts
Boxford is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town's population was 8,203 in 2020.
The original town center of Boxford, along with East Boxford and other areas in the eastern part of t ...
. Later descendants included Benjamin Porter, who was Rufus' great-grandfather. Benjamin moved to West Boxford in 1716 and became the wealthiest man there. His descendants include ministers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, an army colonel, a ship's captain, a professor of mathematics and several legislative members. He was related by marriage to
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the Honorable
Rufus King (minister to England) and Harriet Porter Beecher, stepmother of
Harriet Beecher Stowe. The family farm descended to Abigail and Tyler Porter, parents of Rufus Porter.
Birth and education
Porter was born in West
Boxford, Massachusetts
Boxford is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town's population was 8,203 in 2020.
The original town center of Boxford, along with East Boxford and other areas in the eastern part of t ...
. He was one of six children. His father was Tyler Porter and his mother was Abigail Johnson. Rufus started school at age 4. The family farm was sold in 1801 and the family moved to
Maine when Rufus was 9 years old. They lived in Pleasant Mountain Gore, now part of
Bridgton. At age 12 Rufus attended the
Fryeburg Academy
Fryeburg Academy, founded in 1792, is one of the oldest private schools in the United States, located in Fryeburg, Maine. Among notable faculty, Daniel Webster was one of the first Heads of School, teaching at the school for a year.
Boarding stu ...
for six months.
In 1807 he was apprenticed to a shoemaker.
Marriage
In 1815 Rufus married Eunice Twombly (–1848) of
Portland, Maine, and they had ten children together, including: Stephen Twombly Porter (1816–1850); Rufus King Porter (1820–1903); Sylvanus Frederick Porter (1823–?); John Randolph Porter (1825–?); Edward Leroy Porter (1827–?); Nancy Adams Porter (1829–1877); Ellen Augusta Porter (1831–?); and Washington Irving Porter (1834–1836).
Travel
By 1816 Porter was living in
New Haven, Connecticut, where he had a dancing school and began painting portraits. In 1818 and 1819 he made a trading voyage to the
Pacific Northwest and
Hawaii, and in 1819 Porter had returned to painting. He traveled by coach and on foot, painting portraits throughout
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* ...
,
New Jersey,
Maryland, and
Virginia. He became a prolific
muralist between 1825 and 1845, decorating some 160 houses and inns in
Connecticut,
Massachusetts,
Maine,
New Hampshire,
Vermont, and as far south as
Virginia. From simple
silhouette
A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...
s to scenes of entire towns or harbors, Porter spread his art throughout
New England. His murals were generally executed in a large scale on dry plaster walls by a combination of freehand painting and stenciling. Some murals were in full color, others in
monochrome
A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, monochro ...
, with the foliage sometimes stamped in with a cork stopper instead of being painted with a brush. Often he would do portraits of the principal household members where he was doing the murals.
Second marriage
In 1849 he married Emma Tallman Edgar (1820–?) of
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury () is a neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts.
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for neighborhood services coordination. The city states that Roxbury ser ...
, and fathered an additional six children. All the children died in infancy except Rufus Frank Porter (1859–?), also known as Frank Rufus Porter.
Inventor
During much of this time, and afterwards, Porter was a prolific inventor. His obituary described his "long career of usefulness as an inventor of turbine water wheels, windmills, flying ships, rotary engines, and sundry contrivances for abolishing as far as possible agricultural labor."
During 1825 and 1826 he published four editions of ''A Select Collection of Valuable and Curious Arts, and Interesting Experiments''. He built a portable
camera obscura
A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side through which an image is projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole.
''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions such as a box or tent in ...
that let him make silhouette portraits in less than 15 minutes. (He charged 20 cents apiece for them.) He experimented with a wind-powered gristmill, a washing machine, a corn sheller, a fire alarm, a rope-making machine, and a camera. He invented clocks, railway signals, churns, a distance measuring appliance, a horsepower mechanism, a churn, a life preserver, a cheese press, and a revolving rifle.
Porter was noted as missing opportunities to turn his inventions into commercial success. He invented the revolving rifle
but sold the rights to
Samuel Colt
Samuel Colt (; July 19, 1814 – January 10, 1862) was an American inventor, industrialist, and businessman who established Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company (now Colt's Manufacturing Company) and made the mass production of r ...
for $100, and the design was permanently shelved.
''Scientific American''
In 1841 he bought an interest in the ''New York Mechanic'', which he published and edited in New York. The first issue of this magazine was published on January 2, 1841, and was subtitled "the advocate of industry and enterprise, and journal of mechanical, and other scientific improvements". After 23 weekly issues Porter moved the magazine to Boston and renamed it ''American Mechanic'', with the same sub-title. In this journal he published his plans for the rotary plow, hot air ventilation system, and advertised his general patent agency run in connection with the paper. The magazine survived through 106 issues, the last known one being on January 21, 1843.
In 1845 he started a new weekly, ''
Scientific American'', but 10 months later sold it to
Orson Desaix Munn
Orson Desaix Munn (June 11, 1824 – February 28, 1907) was the publisher of ''Scientific American''.
Biography
Orson Desaix Munn was born on June 11, 1824, in Monson, Massachusetts. He received his education at the academy in his native town, ...
and
Alfred Ely Beach
Alfred Ely Beach (September 1, 1826 – January 1, 1896) was an American inventor, publisher, and patent lawyer, born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He is most known for his design of New York City's earliest subway predecessor, the Beach Pneu ...
.
Airship
In 1849 Porter planned to build an 800-foot steam-powered
airship
An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air.
In early ...
with accommodations for 50 to 100 passengers, aiming to convey miners to the
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...
. He had already built and flown several scale models in Boston and New York. He advertised New York-to-California service, asking a $50 down payment for a $200 fare, and began building immediately. His first "aeroport" was 240 feet long; it was destroyed by a
tornado. Later that year, he began a 700-foot version with new backers, but during a showing of the almost-complete dirigible on Thanksgiving Day, rowdy visitors tore the hydrogen bag and destroyed it. In 1854 his third attempt ended with technical troubles.
Death and legacy
Porter died on August 13, 1884, at the home of his son, Rufus Frank Porter (1859-?), in
West Haven, Connecticut. He was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery,
West Haven, Connecticut.
Porter's obituary in the ''Scientific American'' described his remarkable life and "abnormally busy career", which had seen 21 American presidents take office.
The magazine pronounced "he has gone to the grave leaving a name 'writ in water,' we still think that in the world of invention his name will be fully blazoned as a material benefactor to his fellow men... We may add in conclusion that although he has not in any sense attained the fame and eminence of Morse, a Howe, or Edison, Rufus Porter will live as one of the best and brightest examples of the versatility of American invention."
Writings
*1825 ''A Select Collection of Valuable and Curious Arts, and Interesting Experiments''
*1849 ''Aerial Navigation: The Practicality of Traveling Pleasantly and Safely from New York to California in Three Days''
Murals by Porter
*
Birchwood Inn,
Temple, New Hampshire
Temple is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,382 at the 2020 census. It is home to Temple Mountain State Reservation, formerly the Temple Mountain Ski Area.
History
The area was first called "Pete ...
*
Daniel Carr House,
North Haverhill, New Hampshire
North Haverhill is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Haverhill in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. It is one of several villages in the town of Haverhill, which is the county seat of Grafton ...
*
Benjamin Cleaves House,
Bridgton, Maine
Bridgton is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,418 at the 2020 census. A resort area in Maine's Lakes Region, Bridgton is home to Bridgton Academy, a private preparatory school, and the Four on the Fourth R ...
(
Rufus Porter Museum)
* Eaton House,
Bradford, New Hampshire
Bradford is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,662 at the 2020 census. The main village of the town, where 372 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Bradford census-designated place (CDP) ...
* Hancock Inn,
Hancock, New Hampshire
Hancock is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,731 at the 2020 census. Hancock is home to the Welch Family Farm Forest.
The main village of the town, where 213 people resided at the 2020 census, is de ...
*
Kent House,
Lyme, New Hampshire
Lyme is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,745 as of the 2020 census. Lyme is home to the Chaffee Natural Conservation Area. The Dartmouth Skiway is in the eastern part of ...
* Prescott Homestead,
Jaffrey, New Hampshire
Jaffrey is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,320 at the 2020 census.
The main village in town, where 3,058 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Jaffrey census-designated place (CDP) a ...
*
Reed Homestead,
Townsend, Massachusetts
Townsend is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 9,127 at the 2020 census.
History
Townsend was first settled by Europeans in 1676 in an area known by indigenous people of the area as Wistequassuck, an ...
* Walter Russell House,
Ashburnham, Massachusetts
Ashburnham () is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 6,315. It is home to Cushing Academy, a private preparatory boarding school.
Ashburnham contains the census-designated place ...
; part of the
Cambridge Grant Historic District
The Cambridge Grant Historic District is a Historic districts in the United States, historic district located on Russell Hill Road and Wilker Road in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, at an elevation of 1240–1300 feet above sea level. It was ...
* Mural House,
Greene
Greene may refer to:
Places United States
* Greene, Indiana, an unincorporated community
* Greene, Iowa, a city
* Greene, Maine, a town
** Greene (CDP), Maine, in the town of Greene
* Greene (town), New York
**Greene (village), New York, in the t ...
,
Maine
* Damon Tavern,
North Reading, Massachusetts
References
Further reading
* Lipman, Jean, ''Rufus Porter Rediscovered''; Clarkson W. Potter, Inc., Publishers; New York, New York; 1980
* Lipman, Jean, "Rufus Porter, Yankee Pioneer"; Clarkson W. Potter, Inc. Publishers; New York, New York; 1969
External links
New York Times: Rufus PorterRufus Porter Museum*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Rufus
1792 births
1884 deaths
19th-century American inventors
19th-century American painters
19th-century American male artists
American landscape painters
American magazine founders
American male painters
Artists from Maine
Artists from Massachusetts
American people of English descent
People from Boxford, Massachusetts
People from Bridgton, Maine
Scientific American people
Fryeburg Academy alumni
19th-century American businesspeople