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William Seward Burroughs, inventor of the first practical adding and listing machine, was born in Rochester, New York on January 28, 1857. He began his career as a bank clerk in the Cayuga County National Bank in Auburn, New York, but his poor health necessitated a move to a warmer climate, and he moved to St. Louis in 1882.
Working in a bank inspired Burroughs with a vision of a mechanical device that would relieve accountants and bookkeepers of the monotony of their tasks and ensure that a smaller percentage of their time was spent correcting errors. He began work on his mechanical accounting device shortly after he moved to St. Louis. A sympathetic shop owner, Joseph Boyer, encouraged his work by giving him bench space at the Boyer Machine Shop, providing him with a young assistant (Alfred Doughty, who later became president of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company).
Boyer also supported him financially from time to time. Boyer later recalled, "There was Burroughs with his great idea, greater than any of us could fully appreciate, and with his meager capital of $300. Long before the first model was actually begun, his money was gone. But as his resources dwindled, his courage rose. I used to leave him at his bench in the evening and find him still there in the morning..."
Burroughs submitted a patent application in 1885 for his "Calculating Machine" and the patent was awarded in 1888. In 1886, Burroughs and several St. Louis businessmen formed the American Arithmometer Company to market the machine. The first machine, however, required a special knack in pulling the handle to correctly execute the calculation. More often than not, novice users would get wildly differing sums depending on the vigor they employed in using the invention.
In 1892, Burroughs submitted a patent application for an improved calculating machine and received the patent in 1893. Burroughs' first machine recorded the final result of the calculation. His second machine recorded both the numbers to be added and the final sum. Most importantly, however, the second machine incorporated an oil-filled "dashpot," an hydraulic governor which enabled the machine to operate properly regardless of the manner with which the handle might be pulled by inexperienced operators.
In 1897, the Franklin Institute awarded Burroughs the John Scott Medal. The award was presented to individuals whose inventions demonstrated economic promise. Burroughs retired from the Company in 1897 due to his poor health and moved to Citronelle, Alabama. By the time Burroughs died on Sept. 14, 1898, more than 1,000 machines had been sold.
The American Arithmometer Company was renamed the Burroughs Adding Machine Company in 1905 and moved its headquarters to Detroit, Michigan. By 1926, Boyer, who had become president of the company, presided over the production of the one millionth machine. Burroughs Corporation entered the emerging computer field in the 1950s and celebrated its centennial in 1985. In 1986, Burroughs Corporation merged with Sperry to form Unisys Corporation.
The above information was supplied by the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc., Room 1D01-Crystal Plaza 3, 2021 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia 22202. Videotapes and printed materials are currently available. For more information, visit the Foundation's web site at http://www.invent.org
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