Carlotta, the Lady Aeronaut
| Mary Myers | |
|---|---|
circa 1903
|
|
| Born |
August 1, 1849 Boston |
| Died | August 1, 1932 (aged 83) Atlanta, Georgia |
| Other names | Carlotta Myers, Carlotta, the Lady Aeronaut |
| Occupation | balloonist |
Mary Myers (also, Mary Breed Hawley Myers and Mary Bred Hawley Myers; 1849–1932) was a professional balloonist, better known as "Carlotta, the Lady Aeronaut." She was the first of American women aviation pioneers to solo fly a lighter-than-air passenger balloon and set many records for balloon flights.
Myers ran a business of manufacturing and selling passenger airship balloons and high altitude weather balloons with her husband. She and her husband obtained several patents on aerial navigation devices and promoted these through exhibition demonstrations at county fairs and town shows. Their balloons and related equipment they made at their "balloon farm" in Frankfort, New York.
Myers was born Mary Breed Hawley in August 1849 in Breed's Hill in Boston. She descended from the family lines with the surnames of Breed (from the state of Massachusetts) and Hawley (from the state of Connecticut). She had blonde hair.
Myers married Carl Edgar Myers on November 8, 1871, in Hornellsville, New York. Her husband, Carl, was a scientist and an aeronautical engineer. He was born in 1842 at Fort Herkimer, New York. He was at one time or another a banker, carpenter, chemist, electrician, mechanic, photographer, plumber, printer, and writer. At about the age of 40 her husband devoted his full attention to aeronautical engineering and designing passenger balloon airships.
Myers' husband, Carl, had schooling from a scientist and developed an interest in what was known at the time as "aerial navigation", the flying in the sky air currents by a person in a large balloon with a gondola basket hanging under. Myers and her husband invented new or improved systems for producing lighter-than-air gases and constructed hydrogen balloons that were controllable "airships". Their airships included an aërial velocipede sky-cycle that Myers flew often and gas weather balloons for the U.S. government.
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