1870.] Ojy [Patterson. 



At the age of 17, lie entered the factory of Hodgson & Bro., on the 

 Brandj'wine, Delaware, to learn machine making. From his industry, 

 patience and neatness, he rose superior to his teachers. He became 

 skilful as a turner and founder, and in the use of tools, and a very excel- 

 lent draftsman. He here prepared the working drawings for the machines 

 required for a cottou factory at Germantown, and had them constructed 

 under his supervision, and in great part by his personal skill and labor. 

 When barely 19 he left Delaware to take charge of the cotton factory 

 just mentioned, of which he had the management for several years. He 

 afterwards removed to Philadelphia, and entered into the establishment 

 of John & Coleman Sellers, making machinery for card sticking. 



Mr. Peale now separated himself for a time from the strict line of his 

 profession, and entered upon the management of his father's Museum. 

 For this duty he was well fitted, on account of his administrative abili- 

 ties, his taste, and his talent for arrangement, as well as by a competent 

 knowledge of the subjects to which it was devoted. The Museum was 

 something more than a place of deposit for birds, boasts and fishes, but 

 was a collection of curiosities in art, in mechanism, and in antiquity. 

 Mr. Peale, in the pursuit of his own profession, had not neglected other 

 fields of knowledge. He was ever an ardent student and observer. It 

 ■ was not likely, therefore, that he should have been unlearned in any of 

 the subjects which the Museum was intended to illustrate, and which he 

 had heard discussed from his childhood. While not professing a particular 

 fondness for natural history, he so far mastei-ed the svibject as to deliver 

 lectures upon it, availing himself of the special facilities placed at his 

 disposal. His mechanical genius, also, found room for display, in adding 

 to the curiosities of the establishment. Many of us wnll remember his 

 curious speaking toy, besides other ingenious inventions which cannot now 

 be specified. 



It was while engaged at the Museum that Mr. Peale placed there a 

 miniature locomotive, the first seen in this country, and manufactured by 

 his friend, M. W. Baldwin, on a plan agreed on between Mr. Peale and 

 himself. It was put in operation on a track, making the circuit of 

 the Arcade, in which the Museum then was, drawing two miniature cars, 

 with seats for four passengers. The valuable aid of Mr. Peale was after- 

 wards given to Mr. Baldwin in the construction of the locomotive for the 

 Philadelphia and Germantown R. R., in 1832, the success of which led 

 to the establishment of Mr. Baldwin in the great business of his life. 



Mr. Peale' s position at the Mu^seum was of advantage in bringing his 

 peculiar and varied talents more conspicuously before the public. The 

 establishment was largely visited, often by distinguished men of our own 

 and other cities, and many learned to admire the ingenious young man- 

 ager. His society and friendship were sought after, and he assumed his 

 proper place as one of the select band then most active among us in the 

 pursuit of science and art. 



The Franklin Institute, then young and earnest, as it still is in the ad- 

 vancement of knowledge, secured the services of Mr. Peale for a series of 



