Charles M. McDermott (September 22, 1808 – October 13, 1884) was an American physician and inventor. He is claimed to have been granted the first known American patent for a non-powered airplane, in 1872.
McDermott, the son of Pulling and Emily (Ozan) McDermott, was born in
West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
West Feliciana Parish (French: ''Paroisse de Feliciana Ouest''; Spanish: ''Parroquia de Feliciana Occidental'') is a civil parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, the population was 15,310. The parish seat is St. F ...
, in 1808 and from
St. Francisville, in that parish, entered Yale College in 1825 and graduated in 1828. He adopted medicine as a profession, and after practicing in his native parish, removed to
Chicot County
Chicot County ( ) is a county located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,208. The county seat is Lake Village. Chicot County is Arkansas's 10th county, formed on October 25, ...
, in southeastern Arkansas, in 1842, where he made a considerable fortune as a cotton-planter, but lost it all by the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, in which also some of his sons were killed. He resented bitterly to the last the abolition of
slavery
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
and the triumph of the North.
He made several inventions (such as a flying machine, a cotton-picker, and a hollow wedge) which were patented. He was an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He died of heart-disease, at his home, Derrnott Station, Chicot County, Arkansas, October 13, 1884, in his 76th year.
He married in St. Francisville, in 1833, Hittie S. Smith, by whom he had sixteen children, seven of whom survived him. His wife died in 1880.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McDermott, Charles M.
1808 births
1884 deaths
American aviation pioneers
People from St. Francisville, Louisiana
Physicians from Louisiana
People from Chicot County, Arkansas
Yale University alumni
19th-century American planters
19th-century American inventors
American cotton plantation owners