Isaac Adams (inventor)

For the other people with the same name, see Isaac Adams.

Isaac Adams
Adams in 1857
Member of the Massachusetts Senate
In office 1840
Personal details
Born	(1802-08-16)August 16, 1802 Rochester, New Hampshire, U.S.
Died	July 19, 1883(1883-07-19) (aged 80) Sandwich, New Hampshire, U.S.
Children	Isaac Jr., Julius and Elizabeth
Occupation	Inventor, Politician
Known for	Adams Power Press

Isaac Adams (August 16, 1802 – July 19, 1883) was an American inventor and politician. He served in the Massachusetts Senate and invented the Adams Power Press, which revolutionized the printing industry. His son, Isaac Adams Jr., invented the first commercial process for nickel electroplating.

Biography

Adams was born in Rochester, New Hampshire, the son of Benjamin Adams and Elizabeth (Horne) Adams. His education was limited, and at an early age he was an operative in a cotton factory. Afterward he learned the trade of cabinet maker, but in 1824 went to Boston and sought work in a machine shop.

Line drawing of the Adams power bed and platen press

In 1828 he and Everett James Ellis invented the Adams printing press, which he improved in 1834, and it was introduced in 1830 as "Adams Power Press". The machine "worked a revolution in the art of printing," and beginning in 1836, became the leading machine used in book printing for much of the nineteenth century, and was distributed worldwide. It substantially reduced the cost of book production, and made books more widely available.

With his brother Seth, a noted sugar refiner, Adams engaged in the manufacture of printing presses, sugar mills, steam engines (stationary and marine), steam boilers and other machines, and formed the company I. & S. Adams in 1836.

He was a member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1840, and the Emigrant Aid Company. His last years were spent in retirement. He died on July 19, 1883.

Sources

• Bowdoin College (1902). General Catalogue of Bowdoin College and the Medical School of Maine. Brunswick, Maine: University of Chicago. p. 214. OCLC 49442457. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
• Dubpernell, George (1959). "The story of nickel plating" [reprinted in Plating & Surface Finishing, April 2006, pp. 34-43] (PDF). Plating. 46 (6): 599–616.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Printing" . New International Encyclopedia. Vol. 16 (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Johnson, Rossiter, ed. (1906). "Adams, Isaac". The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1. Boston: American Biographical Society. p. 41.
• Nebiolo, William P. (August 2022). "The History of Electroplating And A Historical Review of the Evolution of NASF" (PDF). NASF Surface Technology White Papers. 86 (11). NASF: 1–14.

Further reading

• "Adams, Isaac" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.
• "The Contest of Isaac Adams's Will" (PDF). The New York Times (From the Springfield Republican): 3. January 21, 1884.
• "Isaac Adams Power Printing Press". adamsestate.com. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
• Russel K. Hickman (August 1935). "Speculative Activities of the American Emigrant Aid Company". The Kansas Historical Quarterly. 4 (3): 235–267. Archived from the original on 2003-06-27. See page 261 and the accompanying footnote 125.
• Simonds, Thomas C. (1857). "Adams Printing Press and Machine Shop". History of South Boston. D. Clapp. p. 206. Description of factory at what was Dorchester Neck, now Ward XII of the City of Boston.
• "Adams, Isaac" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
• Patricia L., Heard (August 22, 1993). "Isaac Adams: Inventive Genius (1802-1883)". Seventy-fourth annual excursion. Sandwich Historical Society. pp. 11–21.

External links

• "Isaac Adams Printing Press Pat. Drawing #1". adamsestate.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
• "Relief Printing". infoplease.com. Retrieved 27 June 2011.