COTTON GIN— LEWTON 5g3 



In spite of the statements in Whitney's correspondence that his experi- 

 ments were carried on at the Greene plantation, near Savannah, Ga., 

 and at New Haven, Conn., two localities in particular, Washington, 

 Ga., in Wilkes County, and Augusta, Ga., in Richmond County, have 

 been cited as the spot where Whitney made his experiments with his 

 cotton gin. 



A study of Whitney's correspondence and other authentic docu- 

 ments conclusively proves that, with the exception of a few months in 

 the early part of 1793, when he was without funds and dependent upon 

 the hospitality of his hostess, the widow of Gen. Nathaniel Greene, 

 Whitney could not possibly have carried on experiments in ginning cot- 

 ton and gin building at points distant from Mulberry Grove. Phineas 

 Miller's letters, written to Whitney at New Haven, appealing for more 

 gins to take care of the enormous increase in the production of the 

 green seed cotton, are proof that Whitney did not have the time to 

 carry on experimental work in upper Georgia. 



GENERAL WORKS CITED 



1. Olmsted, Denison 



1832. Memoir of the life of Eli Whitney, Esq. Amer. Journ. Sci. and 

 Arts, vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 201-254, January. 



2. Scarborough, William 



1832. Sketch of the life of the late Eli Whitney with some remarks on the 

 invention of the saw gin. Southern Agriculturist, vol. 5, No. 8, 

 pp. 393-403, August. 



3. Hammond, Matthew Brown 



1897. Correspondence of Eli Whitney relative to the invention of the 

 cotton gin. Amer. Hist. Rev., vol. 3, pp. 90-127, October. 



4. Bates, Edward Craig 



1890. Story of the cotton gin. New England Mag., n. s. vol. 2, 

 pp. 287-293, May. 



