Charles Tillinghast James
| Charles Tillinghast James | |
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United States Senator from Rhode Island |
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In office March 4, 1851 – March 4, 1857 |
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| Preceded by | Albert C. Greene |
| Succeeded by | James F. Simmons |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 15, 1805 West Greenwich, Rhode Island, US |
| Died | October 17, 1862 (aged 57) Sag Harbor, New York, US |
| Resting place | Swan Point Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Lucinda James |
| Profession | Politician |
Charles Tillinghast James (September 15, 1805 – October 17, 1862) famous consulting mechanical engineer, early proponent of the steam mill, and United States Democratic Senator from the state of Rhode Island from 1851 to 1857.
Charles T. James was born in West Greenwich, Rhode Island. He had a largely self-taught knowledge of mathematics and mechanics. In the early 1830s he was working in small mills in the Quinebaug Valley of Connecticut and later he was supervising the startup of machinery in mills in the Providence area. His reputation had grown such that by 1834 Samuel Slater brought him to Providence to overhaul the first large American steam powered mill at the Steam Cotton Manufacturing Company which was built in 1828. This work made him realize the potential of steam mills and he became the leading advocate of steam mills and a pioneer engineer and promoter of coastal and Southern steam mills.
James, an avid coffee drinker, did a good business designing and promoting steam mills to small seaport towns which did not have any experience with mills and needed his expertise to advise on which equipment to buy and how to design the entire factory. James knew all the best equipment and their manufacturers and selected the pickers, breaker cards, drawing heads, Providence Machine fly frames, Mason finished cards, spinning equipment looms and steam engines from Providence's India Point Works run by Fairbanks, Bancroft and Company and later by Corliss, Nightengale and Company.
James promoted steam mills in seaports that had seen a great reduction in business because of the centralization of trade in bigger ports such as Boston due to the centralizing technology of the Middlesex Canal, the railroads, and bigger ships. These "decayed" smaller seaports such as Newburyport and Salem would be able to get coal and cotton supplies directly from the ships and export their steam mill products directly by ship again.
Between 1839-1846 Charle T. James owned the southern half of the Brewster-Coffin House (High St.) in Newburyport, Massachusetts. During this time he worked on several steam mill projects in the area These included the Bartlett, James, and Globe(later called Peabody) Mills in Newburyport.
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