Josephine Cochrane

Josephine Garis Cochran (Cochrane) (March 8, 1839 in Ashtabula County, Ohio - August 14, 1913 (Age 74) in Chicago, Illinois) was the inventor of the first commercially successful automatic dishwasher, which she constructed together with mechanic George Butters.

Cochran was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006 for her invention of the dishwasher.

Cochrane was the daughter of John Garis, a civil engineer, and Irene Fitch Garis. She had one sister, Irene Garis Ransom. Her grandfather John Fitch (father of her mother Irene) was an inventor who was awarded a steamboat patent. She was raised in Valparaiso, Indiana, where she went to private school until the school burnt down.

After moving in with her sister in Shelbyville, Illinois, she married William Cochran on October 13, 1858, who returned the year before from a disappointing try at the California Gold Rush, and went on to become a prosperous dry goods merchant and Democratic Party politician.

In 1870 they moved into a mansion, and began throwing dinner parties using heirloom china allegedly dating from the 1600s. After one event, the servants carelessly chipped some of the dishes, causing her to search for a safer alternative. She also wanted to relieve tired housewives from the duty of washing dishes after a meal. She is said to have run through the streets screaming with blood in her eyes,"If nobody else is going to invent a dish washing machine, I'll do it myself!"

Her alcoholic husband died in 1883 when she was 45 years old, leaving her with a pile of debts and only $1,535.59 in cash, which motivated her to go through with developing the dishwasher. She kept William's last name but added the "e" after his death.

Her friends were very impressed with her invention and had her make dishwashing machines for them, calling them "Cochrane Dishwashers", later founding the Garis-Cochran Manufacturing Company.

Josephine died of a stroke or exhaustion in Chicago, Illinois, on August 14, 1913, and was buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Shelbyville, Illinois. In 2006 she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

...
Wikipedia