Memoir of the Life of Eli_ Whitney. 211 



State, and so great was the excitement on the subject, that multitudes 

 of persons came from 'all quarters of the State to see the machine; 

 but it was not deemed safe to gratify their curiosity until the patent 

 right had been secured. But so determined were some of the pop- 

 ulace to possess this treasure, that neither law nor justice could re- 

 strain them ; they broke open the building by night, and carried 

 off the machine. In this way the public became possessed of the 

 invention ; and before Mr. Whitney could complete his model and 

 secure his patent, a number of machines were in successful opera- 

 tion, constructed with some slight deviation from the original, with 

 the hope of evading the penalty for violating the patent right. 



As soon as the copartnership of Miller &. Whitney was formed, Mr. 

 Whitney repaired to Connecticut, where as far as possible, he was 

 to perfect the machine, obtain a patent, and manufacture and ship fpr 

 Georgia, such a number of machines as would supply the demand. 

 . Within three days after the conclusion of the copartnership, Mr.^ 

 Whitney having set out for the north, Mr. Miller commenced his 

 long correspondence relative to the Cotton Gin.* The first letter an- 

 nounces that encroachments upon their rights had already commenced. 

 " It will be necessary (says Mr. Miller) to have a considerable num- 

 ber of gins made, to be in readiness to send out as soon as the patent 

 is obtained, in order to satisfy the absolute demands, and make peo- 

 ple's heads easy on the subject; for I am informed of two other 

 claimants for the honor of the invention of cotton gins, in addition to 

 those we Jcneio before. 



On the 20th of June 1793, Mr. Whitney presented his petition for 

 a patent to Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary of State ; but the preva- 

 lence of the yellow fever in Philadelphia, (which was then the seat 

 of government,) prevented his concluding the business relative to the 

 patent until several months afterwards. To prevent being anticipated, 

 he took however the precaution to make oath to the invention before 

 the Notary Public of the city of New Haven, which he did on the 

 28th of October, of the same year. 



]Mr. Jefierson, who had much curiosity in regard to mechanical in- 

 ventions, took a peculiar interest in this machine, and addressed to 

 the inventor an obliging letter, desiring farther particulars respecting 

 it, and expressing a wish to procure one for his own use. Mr. Whit- 

 ney accordingly sketched the history of the invention, and of the con- 



* This name was not applied by the iriveuloi'j but became &uch by popular ues. 



