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Richard Jordan Gatling (September 12, 1818 – February 26, 1903) was an American inventor best known for his invention of the Gatling gun, the first successful machine gun. ==Life== Gatling was born in Hertford County, North Carolina, in 1818. At the age of 21, Gatling created a screw propeller for steamboats, without realizing that one had been patented just months prior by John Ericsson.〔(Richard Jordan Gatling (1818 - 1903) - Find A Grave Memorial )〕〔Keller. Page 60.〕 While living in North Carolina, he worked in the county clerk’s office, taught school briefly, and became a merchant. At the age of 36, Gatling moved to St. Louis, Missouri where he worked in a dry goods store and invented a rice-sowing machine and a wheat drill (machines to aid in planting rice and wheat, respectively).〔(Richard Jordan Gatling Biography )〕 The introduction of these machines did much to revolutionize the agricultural system in the country.〔(Richard Jordan Gatling )〕 After an attack of smallpox, Gatling became interested in medicine. He graduated from the in 1850 with an MD. Although he had his MD, he never practiced; he was more interested in a career as an inventor.〔〔 At the outbreak of the Civil War, Gatling was living in Indianapolis, Indiana. There he devoted himself to the perfection of firearms. In 1861, the same year the war started, he invented the Gatling gun.〔 A year later, he founded the Gatling Gun Company. By the early 1850s, Gatling was successful enough in business to offer marriage to Jemima Sanders, 19 years younger than Gatling and the daughter of a prominent Indianapolis physician.〔Keller. Page 134.〕 They married on October 25, 1854. Her younger sister Zerelda was married to David Wallace, the governor of Indiana. An active member of his Masonic Lodge, he was member of Center Lodge No. 23.〔(A History of masonry in Indianapolis )〕 〔http://fedora.dlib.indiana.edu/fedora/get/iudl:844741/SCREEN〕 Later in his life, Gatling patented inventions to improve toilets, bicycles, steam-cleaning of raw wool, pneumatic power, and many other fields. He was elected as the first president of the American Association of Inventors and Manufacturers in 1891, serving for six years. Although still quite wealthy at the time of his death, he made and lost several fortunes by his investments. In his final years, Gatling moved back to St. Louis, Missouri, to form a new company for manufacturing his steam plows, or tractors. While in New York City to visit his daughter and to talk with his patent agency, Gatling died at his daughter's home on February 26, 1903.〔Keller. Page 207.〕 He is interred at the Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana.〔Keller. Page 210.〕 His contributions were commemorated by the U.S. Navy during WWII when the Fletcher Class Destroyer DD-671 was christened the USS Gatling. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Richard Jordan Gatling」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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