Velocipede

Velocipede was a term French inventor Nicéphore Niépce used to describe his version of the Dandy Horse also known as Laufmaschine (German for Running Machine). The year was 1818. The Dandy horse was built in 1817. Today the term is used to describe most of the early forms of bicycles.


These first Dandy Horses and Velocipedes were moved along with the rider walking on the ground. The effort gave the walker further distance with his steps. The first pedaled bikes were invented nearly 40 years later.

Google books also offers a book about the history of Velocipede This book was printed in 1869

And for some additional info and images check out Wikipedia.

Greek Revival

During the 19th century there were other architectural designs besides Victorian, and yet most of us tend to think only of the Victorian. The Greek Revival dominated american architecture during the period 1818-1850.

The Orwell Congregational church in Vermont was Greek Revival built in 1843. Here's a link to pictures of the church. Link

Here's the link to Google images with Greek Revival architecture.
Link

Walk-in-the-Water

Was the first steamboat on Lake Erie. Launched in Aug. 23, 1818, the "Walk-in-the-Water" had a long first trek up the Niagara River from Buffalo to Lake Erie. She was the first steamboat on Lake Erie, Huron and Michigan and the third on the Great Lakes over all. She received her name from the Indians. Her maiden voyage carried 29 passengers. Their fare was $8.00 to Erie.

As I mentioned in an earlier post the waterways were very important in transportation during the first half of the 19th century. Even today the waterways still play an important part.

"Walk-in-the-Water" was 338 tons, length of 135feet and width of 32. The width of the beam was 8 feet and 6 inches. She had a short life. In Oct. 1821 leaving Cleveland she ran into a typical gale. The boat began to leak, she turned back for Buffalo. One of the anchor ropes broke and she began to drag on the anchor. She grounded on the beach south of Buffalo harbor. All were safe.

I mention "Walk-in-the-Water" for another reason. In 1832 the Lancaster Presbyterian Church built their present house of worship with timbers salvaged from "Walk-in-the-Water". Interestingly enough the church was organized in 1818 six months before the launch of "Walk-in-the-Water".

Statehood of States in the United States

When the 19th century began there were 16 states to the union by the end of the century there were 45.

In the columns below you'll see the number in which the state joined the union, the state and then the date.

17 Ohio Mar. 1, 1803
18 Louisiana Apr. 30, 1812
19 Indiana Dec. 11, 1816
20 Mississippi Dec. 10, 1817
21 Illinois Dec. 3, 1818
22 Alabama Dec. 14, 1819
23 Maine Mar. 15, 1820
24 Missouri Aug. 10, 1821
25 Arkansas Jun 15, 1836
26 Michigan Jan. 26, 1837
27 Florida Mar. 3, 1845
28 Texas Dec. 29, 1845
29 Iowa Dec. 28, 1846
30 Wisconsin May 29, 1848
31 California Sep. 9, 1850
32 Minnesota May 11, 1858
33 Oregon Feb. 14, 1859
34 Kansas Jan. 29, 1861
35 West Virginia Jun. 20, 1863
36 Nevada Oct. 31, 1864
37 Nebraska Mar. 1. 1867
38 Colorado Aug. 1, 1876
39 North Dakota Nov. 2, 1889
40 South Dakota Nov. 2, 1889
41 Montana Nov. 8, 1889
42 Washington Nov. 11, 1889
43 Idaho Jul. 3, 1890
44 Wyoming Jul. 10, 1890
45 Utah Jan. 4, 1896

Glassmaking

In the 19th century American glass makers started to change the face of the industry.

In 1808 a factory was set up in PA

In 1818 the New England Glass Company was formed.

A few years later, a glassmaker named Deaming Jarvis (Originally worked for New England Glass), founded the Sandwich Glass Company, developed a new way of making glass. In the mid 1820's he began using a lever-operated press. Jarvis didn't invent the press but he did receive several patents for improvements in pressing techniques and mold designs. One of the first items that he and his company began making was the cup plate. It seems there was a custom in the early 19th century to drink tea from a saucer. The cup plate became the coaster for the tea cup.

Other areas that developed glass factories were in NY, NJ and Vermont. When Jarvis set up the Sandwich Glass Company on Cape Cod, he purchased 20,000 additional acres of woodland. The wood was necessary to turn the sand to molten glass.

Towards the later part of the century, and the development of natural gas the industry was changing. Michael Owns (Owens Bottling) developed solutions that change the hand blowing industry to a manufacturing industry.

Bedroom Furnishings

Below is an image from 1880 of a set of bedroom furnishings. These items were made of walnut, can you image how much they would cost today? Anyway, note the large cabinet with the chest of drawers. Often times rooms were built with no closets and cabinets were needed to store their clothing.

And here's a little tidbit on the art of being a cabinet maker:
The art of the Cabinet-maker differs from most other arts in many particulars. In the first place, the articles made by him, are not only very numerous, but there are not, even from the same shop, two articles of the same description, which do not vary in their form and manufacture; and fashion is continually, changing the forms of almost all Cabinetmakers' articles, so that it must be obvious no rules can be laid down, as to the formation of particular articles of furniture; and, indeed, were it practicable, it would be necessary that cabinet, like female fashions, should be published monthly: in fact, this is, in some degree, done in a publication by Mr. Ackerman. . The Cabinet-maker furnishes chairs, tables, chests of drawers, desks, scrutoires, bureaus, sofas, book-cases, and bedsteads, of all sorts of prices. But, in almost all places, the business of the Cabinet-maker is united to that of the upholsterer; and the furniture collected in one of their warehouses is worth from ten to thirty thousand pounds. Such
warehouses may be seen in St. Paul's ChurchYard, Bond-Street, and other parts of London.
Source: The book of English Trades ©1818