Philip M. Sharples (August 10, 1857 – April 13, 1944) was an American inventor and industrialist whose Sharples Tubular Centrifugal Separator was the first

cream separator A separator is a centrifugal device that separates milk into cream and skimmed milk. Separation was commonly performed on farms in the past. Most farmers milked a few cows, usually by hand, and separated milk. Some of the skimmed milk was consum ...

invented in the United States. He ran the largest industrial enterprise in the history of West Chester,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. His

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1984.

Early life and education

Sharples was born in West Chester, attended West Chester Normal School, apprenticed himself to a machinist for four years, and ran a successful machine shop in town. His Quaker family had been wealthy and influential in the region for generations—one of his ancestors, William Sharples, had been the first burgess of West Chester when the borough was incorporated.

Business career

In 1883, he visited Sweden and obtained a franchise to produce and sell

DeLaval Delaval is the surname of a family of gentry/aristocracy in Northumberland, England, from the 11th century to the 19th century. Their main estate was the manor of Seaton Delaval. The 18th century Delavals are noteworthy for their colourful life ...

's cream separators. He improved the product and began manufacturing and selling his own design. By 1906, his company had opened offices in Illinois and California and sold separators in Europe, Argentina, Australia, and Japan. At its height, Sharples Separator Works on Maple Avenue in West Chester,

, covered five acres, employed one thousand workers, and produced 3,700 separators a year. The firm spun off subsidiaries and invested in a quarry and coal mine near

Phoenixville Phoenixville is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek and the Schuylkill River. It is in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The population is 18,616 ...

. Sharples also fended off 23 intellectual property infringement lawsuits from DeLaval between 1890 and 1919. With his wealth, he built a mansion called Greystone Hall. He was a long-time trustee of

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

and co-founded the Farmers and Mechanics' Trust Company in West Chester. Sharples retired in 1925. The company he founded went bankrupt in 1933 due to the effects of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

Personal life

Sharples was married to Helen E. (Brinton) Sharples and had four children with her: Helen, Emlen, Philip, and Laurence. His wife died in 1911. Sharples died in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, on April 13, 1944, at the age of 86.

References

External links

West Chester University Sharples Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharples, Philip M. 1857 births 1944 deaths People from West Chester, Pennsylvania American industrialists Businesspeople from Pennsylvania West Chester University alumni 19th-century American inventors