Isaac Adams (August 16, 1802 – July 19, 1883) was an American inventor and politician. He served in the
Massachusetts Senate
The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the ...
and invented the Adams Power Press, which revolutionized the printing industry. His son,
Isaac Adams Jr., invented the first commercial process for
nickel electroplating
Nickel electroplating is a technique of electroplating a thin layer of nickel onto a metal object. The nickel layer can be decorative, provide corrosion resistance, wear resistance, or used to build up worn or undersized parts for salvage purposes ...
.
Biography
Adams was born in
Rochester, New Hampshire
Rochester is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 32,492 at the 2020 census. In addition to the downtown area, the city contains the villages of East Rochester, New Hampshire, East Rochester, Gonic, New Ha ...
,
the son of Benjamin Adams and Elizabeth (Horne) Adams. His education was limited, and at an early age he was an
operative in a cotton factory. Afterward he learned the trade of
cabinet maker
A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (s ...
, but in 1824 went to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and sought work in a
machine shop
A machine shop or engineering workshop (UK) is a room, building, or company where machining, a form of subtractive manufacturing, is done. In a machine shop, machinists use machine tools and cutting tools to make parts, usually of metal or plast ...
.
In 1828 he invented the Adams printing press, which he improved in 1834,
and it was introduced in 1830 as "Adams Power Press".
The machine "worked a revolution in the art of printing," and beginning in 1836, became the leading machine used in book printing for much of the nineteenth century, and was distributed worldwide. It substantially reduced the cost of book production, and made books more widely available.
With his brother Seth, a noted sugar refiner, Adams engaged in the manufacture of printing presses, sugar mills, steam engines (stationary and marine), steam boilers and other machines, and formed the company I. & S. Adams in 1836.
He was a member of the
Massachusetts Senate
The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the ...
in 1840,
and the
Emigrant Aid Company. His last years were spent in retirement. He died on July 19, 1883.
References
Sources
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Further reading
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* See page 261 and the accompanying footnote 125.
* Description of factory at what was Dorchester Neck, now Ward XII of the City of Boston.
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Isaac
1802 births
1883 deaths
People from Rochester, New Hampshire
19th-century American inventors
Bookbinders
Massachusetts state senators
19th-century American politicians
Inventors from New Hampshire