Aldus Chapin Higgins (December 7, 1872 – September 10, 1948) was an American lawyer, inventor, and businessman.

Early life

Aldus Higgins was born December 7, 1872, in Worcester, Massachusetts to Milton P. Higgins and Katherine Chapin. Milton was a founder of the

Norton Company Norton Abrasives of Worcester, Massachusetts, USA is the world's largest manufacturer and supplier of abrasives for commercial applications, household, and automotive refinishing usage. Norton Company was founded in 1885 by a group of ceramis ...

and superintendent of the Washburn Shops. As a teenager, Higgins attended Worcester High School. He attended

Worcester Polytechnic Institute The Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is a Private university, private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1865, WPI was one of the United States' first engineering and technology universities and now h ...

and graduated in 1893. For several months afterwards, he worked as a machinist in one of his father's shops, after which he entered the

National University Law School National University School of Law was an American law school founded in Washington, D.C. in 1869. Originally intended as part of a larger design for a national university in the United States, the school was the principal component of National Univ ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

At this time, Higgins was appointed assistant examiner in the U.S. Post Office.

Career

Upon receiving his law degree in 1896, Higgins resigned his job at the post office, returned to Worcester, and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. He opened his own practice, specializing in patent law for several years. While doing this, he was in charge of the patent and legal matters of the Norton Companies, which demanded so much time and attention that he retired from the general practice of law and began working exclusively for the Norton companies. In 1901, while managing an electric-furnace plant in New York, Higgins invented a water-cooled electric-furnace in which alundum was made commercially. For this invention, he received the John Scott Medal and Premium Award from the

City of Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1913.

Family

In 1898, Higgins married his first wife, Edgenie Gertrude Brosius. After she died, Higgins married Mary Sprague Green in 1914.

Later life

Aldus Chapin Higgins House Worcester MA 02

In 1921, Higgins commissioned

Grosvenor Atterbury Grosvenor Atterbury (July 7, 1869 in Detroit, MI – October 18, 1956 in Southampton, NY) was an American architect, urban planner and writer. He studied at Yale University, where he was an editor of campus humor magazine ''The Yale Record'' After ...

to design a house modeled after the

Compton Wynyates Compton Wynyates is a Tudor architecture, Tudor English country house, country house in Warwickshire, England, a Grade I listed building. The Tudor period house is constructed of red brick and built around a central courtyard. It is castellate ...

estate in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is an eclectic structure stories in height, with its exterior finished in stucco, brick, and stone. It consists of two roughly rectangular wings, set at right angles to each other and joined by a central octagonal entry. The octagonal tower is crowned by a crenellated battlement. The upper levels are generally finished in half-timbered stucco, in some places decorated by additional foliate carvings. Many of its leaded casement windows are antiques shipped from Europe, and the house's Great Hall has architectural features removed from an Italian monastery. After the death of Mary Higgins, the house was donated to Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1971, and now houses the Office of Alumni Relations. Aldus Higgins died September 10, 1948, and was buried in

Rural Cemetery A rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of cemetery that became popular in the United States and Europe in the mid-19th century due to the overcrowding and health concerns of urban cemeteries, which tended to be churchyards. Rural cemeter ...

in Worcester.

References

External links

Aldus C. Higgins Patents on Google PatentsPatent for the Electric FurnaceAldus Higgins on FindAGrave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Aldus Chapin 1872 births 1948 deaths People from Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester Polytechnic Institute alumni Businesspeople from Worcester, Massachusetts Burials at Rural Cemetery (Worcester, Massachusetts) National University School of Law alumni