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Auction: 313 - Numismatic Collector's Series - Ft. Worth, TX
Lot: 1507

Whitney, Eli American inventor (1765-1825); invented the cotton gin, greatly improving the profitability of cotton - and slavery; championed interchangeable parts, crucial to the American Industrial Revolution. Interesting content Autograph Letter Signed "Eli Whitney," 2 pages, 4to, New Haven, [CT], October 2, 1803. He writes Nathaniel Terry of Hartford about unexplained business in South Carolina, for which he unenthusiastically recommends "Mr. D.S. is not a man of much visible property - he does much business in his own profession & lives up to his income - he is a Federalist, has an air of haughtiness in his manner & is, I suspect, obnoxious to the present ruling party [i.e., the Democratic-Republicans under Thomas Jefferson]...I cannot, however, point out to you a better man in that country, but you must observe that my acquaintance in Charleston is...superficial..." Autograph integral address page. In VG condition. Whitney was associated with Connecticut Federalist James Hillhouse, but was careful to maintain good relations with both major parties, as he relied heavily on government contracts for his arms manufacturing. At the time of this letter, he was still waiting for his 1794 cotton gin patent to be validated; because the device was so easily copied, he would never see great profits from it.

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