Edwin G. Seibels
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Edwin Grenville Seibels (September 12, 1866 – December 21, 1954) was the
inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
in 1898 of the vertical filing system that has been in extensive use for over a century. Although he applied for a patent for his system, it was denied on the ground that it was only an idea, not a device. He was born in
Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...
, grew up in Mount Willing, the family cotton plantation in
Edgefield County Edgefield County is a county located on the western border of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 25,657. Its county seat and largest municipality is Edgefield. The county was established on March 12, 17 ...
, now Saluda County and went to work in the family's Columbia-based
insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
business, E. W. Seibels and Son (now the Seibels Bruce Group) in 1882 at age 16 while attending South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) from which he graduated in 1885. While a student there he was elected to
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
,
Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is one of the most prestigious honor societies in the United States with chapters at more than 300 college campuses. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington and Lee University in ...
and the
Clariosophic Society The Clariosophic Society, also known as ΜΣΦ (Mu Sigma Phi), is a literary society founded in 1806 at the University of South Carolina, then known as South Carolina College, as a result of the splitting in two of the Philomathic Society, wh ...
. In 1909 he was elected to the
South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seati ...
. His knowledge of cotton family helped him to become successful in exporting and insuring cotton. Seibels family papers, 1780-1960 at University of South Carolina - South Caroliniana Library
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References

1866 births 1954 deaths University of South Carolina alumni Politicians from Columbia, South Carolina American businesspeople in insurance Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives {{US-engineer-stub