Inventor - Samuel Abbot

Born: March 30, 1786 in Wilton, New Hampshire

Died: January 2, 1839, age 52 in Wilton, New Hampshire, burned to death in his factory

Invention: Starch from the Potato - He invented the manufacturing process of extracting flour from the potato using horse or water power. It was used as sizing in clothing factories to prepare clothing for store displays.

Samuel was the 11th of 12 children. Nothing is known about his mother. His father was Abiel Abbot, the son of Captain John Abbot of Andover Massachusetts whose family emigrated from Yorkshire, England. They were the fifth generation of Abbots since 1643.

Samuel's father Abiel was one of the first early settlers of Wilton, New Hampshire who started his farm amid the wilderness of the New World. Abiel served in the militia during the Revolutionary War, represented his city in the New Hampshire Court, and was a trusted citizen with the business of the town.

Of the 12 children, ten survived to adulthood.  Like all of his siblings, Samuel was well educated and very right. He was one of three Abbot children who attended Harvard College. Samuel graduated in 1808 with a law degree and became a member of the bar in 1812.  

In 1813, he lived with and worked for Attorney C H Atherton Sr. in Amherst. He admired Samuel's wide interests in many subjects and enlisted his help to prepare his son C. H. Atherton Jr. for college, who went on to become a US Senator. 

 In 1817, Samuel opened his own law office in Ipswich. Though he was noticed by judges in the Supreme Court, his interests were diverted from law to chemistry and mechanics.  He put all his efforts into learning and experimenting how to use machinery to extract flour from the potato. After trial and error, his efforts paid off after investigating the use of horse or water power.

He bought a factory in Wilton and put it under the supervision of his brother Ezra while he devoted his time and attention to scientific pursuits.  

The starch flour of the potato gainbed the interest of cotton cloth factories who wanted to use it as sizing instead of using wheat flour which was more expensive to buy.  Soon he was making a profit and the farmers in the neighborhood benefitted because it was one of the safest crops to grow and harvest.  

Samuel scholarly activities made him a favorite among townsfolk because he was well-versed on nearly any subject of modern science and could solve problems of application and mechanics.

Samuel was also interested in theology, especially the history of Christianity, and was known for creating libraries for the town, private citizens, churches, and Sunday schools . He was a liberal contributor as well.  

He went on to represent the town in the state legislator for five years and was a superintendent of the Sunday School, taking an interest in the morals of the younger generation.

He was a man who was guided by his interests, leaving behind any ambitions he ever had for law.  Samuel never married and dedicated himself to learning all he could about new things while his brother ran the factory.

On January 2, 1839, he entered the factory to retrieve a trunk that contained his accounts and securities. The interior of the building had caught fire and he fell to the ground in suffocation. The fire spread so quickly there was no way to save him. His remains were found in the ashes of the building. At the time of his death, he was 52 years old.