History of Plymouth, (Gogebic County) Michigan United States of America

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Hiram Berdan, inventor, was born at Plymouth, Mich., in 1823. His father was an extensive landowner and stock raiser near Rochester, N.Y., who sent him to Hobart College, where he made remarkable progress in mathematics and spent his leisure time in the construction of ingenious machinery. He entered a machine shop in Rochester as an apprentice. His creative power here displayed itself, and before he was twenty years old he had wrought out the rough idea which led to the invention of a reaping machine. A few years later he invented a "mechanical bakery," which was put into operation in five cities, but the bakers' unions would not allow the machine to be used. When the civil war broke out Mr. Berdan turned his attention to the construction of fire-arms. He invented a cap to the metal cartridge, which was adopted throughout the world. He also invented the Berdan rifle, which was used by the United States government. In April, 1861, he organized the 1st U.S. sharpshooters, and was commissioned its colonel. The men in four of the companies of this regiment were from New York state, and were especially chosen by Col. Berdan, being, like himself, expert marksmen. The regiment was armed with Berdan repeating rifles, and used the cartridges invented by him. For Chancellorsville he was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers, and for Gettysburg received the brevet of major-general, March 13, 1865. He retired from the service in January, 1864, and went to Russia to superintend the manufacture of his sharp-shooting rifles for the use of the Russian army. In 1888 he returned to America to prosecute the government for infringement on his patent in their Springfield rifle, placing the damage at five hundred thousand dollars. In 1892 the court of claims gave him a judgment against the government for such infringements for one hundred thousand dollars. He invented torpedoes and torpedo boats designed to evade nets, and a "distance fuse" for a sharpened shell. The last ten years of General Berdan's life were occupied in modelling and perfecting what he styled his "twin-screw armored, semi-submarine gunboat." He died in Washington, D.C., March 31, 1893.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Plymouth, (Gogebic County) Michigan

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