with their families, to a trip to Washington and re- 

 turn. The road was then only opened as far as 

 Bladensburg, from there to Washington in coaches. 

 The trip was made, they dined in Washington, and 

 on the return, when within fourteen miles of Balti- 

 more, the engine left the track, turned on its side, 

 killing Mr. Davis who was sitting on the platform; no 

 one else was hurt. I believe the cause of the engine 



leaving the track was never discovered. By this one 

 accident the world lost a mechanic who had proved 

 himself to have been in advance of the age, and whose 

 name should be remembered among the original men 

 of the time, and a man who, had he lived, would not 

 have been left behind in the race. It is to be hoped 

 that the "Arabian" will be perpetually preserved as 

 an undying monument to his memory. 



26. Seth Boyden's Locomotives 



Seth Boyden (i 788-1870) was one of the most 

 versatile inventors in America. Making signifi- 

 cant contributions in several diverse fields, he had 

 already applied his talents to the production of 

 patent leather and malleable cast iron when, in 

 1837, he turned to the building of locomotives. 



He built only three locomotives, the first two 

 being the Essex and Orange for the Morris and 

 Essex Railroad, which later became the Delaware, 

 Lackawanna and Western. The third locomotive 

 is accounted for in this chapter. Boyden's 



locomotives had an exceptionally long stroke, 

 bearing a ratio to cylinder diameter of 3 to 1 , in 

 order to take advantage of the expansion of steam 

 after an early cut off. 



Bishop 244 relates that after building his three 

 locomotives Boyden turned to the development 

 of a stationary steam engine with variable cut off. 

 While he did not patent a governor-connected 

 cut-off valve gear, he was an early contender in 

 the race that was won eventually by George 

 Corliss of Providence. 



IYLy earliest recollection of Mr. Boyden was 

 about the time he was introducing his patent leather. 245 

 At that time he came to Philadelphia to see a leather- 

 splitting machine that my father had invented, and 

 had in daily use. 246 I do not know when their 

 acquaintance and intimacy commenced, but I do 

 know that it lasted until my father's death, which 

 occurred in 1834. I recollect that my father fre- 

 quently spoke cf Mr. Boyden as a sound mechanic; 

 a man cf original thought, a most prolific inventor. 



244 J. Leander Bishop, History of American Manufactures from 

 1608 to i860, 3 vols., 3d. ed. (Philadelphia, 1868), vol. 2, pp. 

 546-548. Boyden's valve-gear, a modification of the ordinary 

 slide-valve, is illustrated in Gustavus Weissenborn, American 

 Engineering (New York, 1861), pi. 42. 



245 This was about 181 9, when Sellers was 1 1 and Boyden was 

 20 years older. See Dictionary of American Biography. 



The leather-splitting machine that I refer to was for 

 equalizing the thickness of calf or kip skin for machine 

 cards, without torturing and twisting it out of shape 

 as was the case when drawn against the edge of the 

 splitting knife by being wound on a small roller. This 

 my father accomplished by a solid cylinder or roller 

 made of marble, having a circumference greater than 

 the longest leather to be equalized. The wet leather, 

 in strips a little wider than required for the card to 

 allow of trimming, was secured to the cylinder by 

 points in a groove set sufficiendy below its surface to 

 pass under the splitting knife without interfering; as 



246 Boyden's father, also named Seth Boyden, had patented 

 his leather-splitting machine in i8og (figure 79), and the 

 younger Boyden had brought an improved machine to Newark, 

 New Jersey, when he moved there about 18 13 from Foxborough, 

 Massachusetts. 



185 



