David Wilkinson (1771 - 1852)

Born 5 Jan 1771 in Smithfield, Rhode Island

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 3 Feb 1852 at age 81 in Caledonia Springs, Caledonia, Prescott, Canada West

his remains were brought to Pawtucket and entombed in the Family Vault.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he hereby is authorized and required to cause to be paid to David Wilkinson the sum of $10,000, as a renumeration to him for the benefit acruing sic to the public service for the use of the principle of the guage sic and sliding lathe of which he was the inventor, now in use in the workshops of the government at the different national arsenals and armories."

This bill was passed in the Senate in June, and in the House of Representatives in August, 1848.

In conclusion we would say that David Wilkinson is entitled to the honor and credit of inventing two of the most important and useful machines in America, namely—

I. The Steamboat. (1793) 2. The Guage and Sliding Lathe. (1798)

Each of which has added as much to the national prosperity as any invention which American genius has produced. For these he is entitled to a nation's gratitude.

Memoirs of the Wilkinson Family in America, 1869