James Bogardus Cast-iron Building

To give you an idea of who this man was and what he accomplished I'm sharing his obit with you.

JAMES BOGARDUS's
1874. April 13. James Bogardus, an eminent American inventor, died, aged seventy-four years. He was bora in Catskill, N. Y., March 14, 1800. He began his career at the age of fourteen, in working upon watches. Several inventions marked his efforts in this direction, and obtained favorable notice at exhibitions. The " ring-spinner," in spinning cotton, was his first great invention, mi. Telegraph made in 1S28. A machine from Great usecj in making bank note plates, the first dry gas states. meter, the first rotary fluid meter, a celebrated medallion engraving machine, an engine turning machine, a glass pressing machine, besides other important changes in other machines, were the subject of his inventions. The manufacture of wrought iron beams was suggested by him, and the first complete iron building in the world was erected by him. He was skilled in scientific lines, and some of his Suggestions have been of great value in those directions. His life was full of practical results.

Here's a link with a picture and some history on cast-iron buildings. James built the first one in 1847. Many of the buildings used facades and other used the cast-iron for support beams.

Here is a link to the building built in 1848. Cast-iron Building

In 1856 he wrote a book titled "Cast iron buildings: their construction and advantages." Unfortunately this book is not available for a free download. But much has been written on James Bogardus.

And here is a link to the World Catalogue with the search for the book. Perhaps a location near you has a copy.

Census

In researching family genealogies I've discovered the valuable uses of censuses. But in the 19th century there were very new. The first census in the U.S. was in 1790.

2nd 1800 It counted Men under 10, M10 & Under 16, M 16 & under 26, M 26 & Under 45, M 45 & up as well as the same for Females. It also listed the Names of Heads of families
3rd 1810
4th 1820
5th 1830
6th 1840
7th 1850 This census marked a change they attempted to count every member of the household including women, children & slaves.
8th 1860 This census counted American Indians
9th 1870
10th 1880 This census allowed women to be enumerators.
11th 1890 Announced that the frontier region of the U.S. no longer existed. So, it was no longer needed to track westward migration. This census was also notable for the use of the tabulating machine, reducing the time to tabulate the census from 7 years to 2.5.

Tin Toys

Here are a couple Tin toys I've found that were produced during the 19th Century. I'm certain there were many, many more but these are the only two illustrations I could find.

The first is called "Artist" the six foot figure would draw an elephant, face, dog and court jester on a small piece of paper and small pencil. 1898

Horse & Buggy was actually made before the 19th Century.

Early 19th Century Occupations

Below is a list I comprised of early occupations from town reports. It is not a complete list because it is based on two different towns in Connecticut but it does help the writer to think of other possible occupations for their hero or heroines.

Attorney
Merchant
Physician
Blacksmith
Tavern Keeper
Shoemaker
Joiners (Construction Worker, making doors, windows, cabinets, etc.)
Saddler
Silversmith
Miller
Hatter
Wheelwright (wooden wheel maker)
Grist Miller
Masons
Cooper
Tailor

1898 Fashion commenting on turn of the century from the previous century

That title was a mouthful, sorry. Basically what I found was a publication published in 1898 giving a history of fashions from Paris during the previous century. The first two images are from 1798. The last two are from 1800. The ones in the middle are from 1899. What I find interesting is that the outfits look like the everyday type of outfits worn by folks during the 19th Century. Enjoy!