Elisha Graves Otis was an American industrialist, founder of the Otis Elevator Company, and inventor of a safety device that prevents elevators from falling if the hoisting cable fails.
10 Facts About Elisha Otis
2.
Elisha Otis moved away from home at the age of 19, eventually settling in Troy, New York, where he lived for five years employed as a wagon driver.
3.
Later that year, Elisha Otis suffered a terrible case of pneumonia which nearly killed him, but he earned enough money to move his wife and three-year-old son to the Vermont Hills on the Green River.
4.
Elisha Otis designed and built his own gristmill, but did not earn enough money from it, so he converted it into a sawmill, yet still did not attract customers.
5.
Elisha Otis worked as a doll maker for Otis Tingly.
6.
Elisha Otis was put out of business when the stream he was using for a power supply was diverted by the city of Albany for its fresh water supply.
7.
Elisha Otis had heard of hoisting platforms, but these often broke, and he was unwilling to take the risks.
8.
Elisha Otis initially thought so little of it he neither patented it nor requested a bonus from his superiors for it, nor did he try to sell it.
9.
Elisha Otis developed different types of engines, like a three-way steam valve engine, which could transition the elevator between up and down, and quickly stop it.
10.
Elisha Otis contracted diphtheria and died on April 8,1861, aged 49, He was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Yonkers, NY.