Birdsill Holly

Birdsill Holly Jr. (8 November 1820 – 27 April 1894) was a mechanical engineer and inventor of water hydraulics devices. He is noted for his inventions related to city water system equipment and apparatus for fire protection, like the fire hydrant.

Holly was born 8 November 1820 in Auburn, New York. His father was Birdsill Holly, Sr. and his mother was Comfort Holly. When Holly was born his father moved the family to Auburn to become part of the crew constructing the new prison facility being built in the area. Eventually that work ended and then his father found a job at the Auburn Theological Seminary in construction. Eventually that work ended also. His father then tried farming, without very much success. Holly's father then moved the family to Seneca Falls, New York, where there was a water-powered industry with many jobs. Holly grew up in the Seneca Falls, New York, area since his father was able to find work as a millwright and general mechanic.

Holly was forced then to drop out of school to help support the family at the age of 10 when his father died prematurely. Holly was only in the third grade. He was influenced by his father and took an interest in similar trade skills of mechanical engineering. Holly first became an apprentice in a cabinetry shop and then he apprenticed in a machine shop. In his late teens Holly became a superintendent in a machine shop and later an owner of a machine shop in Uniontown, Pennsylvania.

Holly eventually moved back to Seneca Falls in his early twenties and became one of the partners of a new firm called Silsby, Race and Holly in 1845. The firm manufactured hydraulic machinery and steam-powered fire engines. Holly was the firm's visionary and contributed much to their success. There in 1849 he received his first patent, which was for a rotary water pump.

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