Two Inventive American Presidents: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln

Summary: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are often linked for Presidents Day because of their February birthdays but they also were inventive presidents.

George Washington (left) and Abraham Lincoln (right) as sculpted on Mount Rushmore, near Keystone, southwestern South Dakota: A Gude, CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr

Often linked in the American holiday popularly known as Presidents Day, George Washington (Feb. 22, 1732-Dec. 14, 1799), first President of the United States from April 30, 1789 to March 4, 1797, and Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12, 1809-April 15, 1865), 16th President of the United States from March 4, 1861 to April 15, 1865, were both born in the month of February.

The federal holiday was enacted Jan. 31, 1879, as Washington's Birthday by the U.S. Congress. As Washington's Birthday, the federal holiday was changed from its customary celebration Feb. 22 to its present observance on the third Monday in February under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which took effect on Jan. 1, 1971.

The unofficial name of Presidents Day derives from the practice in state governments of linking the celebration of George Washington's birthday with recognition for presidents in general or as a specific duet, most commonly with Abraham Lincoln.

In addition to sharing birth months and Presidents Day, the first and 16th U.S. Presidents also shared a passion for inventiveness and inventions.

Among George Washington's many innovations in improving Mount Vernon, his family's estate on the banks of the Potomac River in northeastern Virginia, was a 16-sided barn that he designed during his presidency.

Abraham Lincoln's passion for boats impelled him to file a patent for expandable bellows as a buoyancy remedy March 10, 1849. He filed his patent six days after completing his two-year term in the U.S. House of Representatives, from March 4, 1847, to March 4, 1849, as congressman for the 7th Congressional District of Illinois.

Threshing floor of replica of George Washington's 16-sided barn: Galen Parks Smith, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

George Washington presented his design for a decahexagonal (16-sided) brick barn in a letter dated Sunday, Oct. 28, 1792, to Anthony Whiting, Mount Vernon's estate manager. At the time of his letter, George was serving the last handful of months of his first term, and the second U.S. presidential election, which would unanimously re-elect George to a second term, was due to start in five days, on Friday, Nov. 2, 1792.

George designed his 16-sided barn to serve as a grain processing and storage facility for one of Mount Vernon's four working farms, Dogue Run Farm, which was located in the estate's northwestern sector.

George premised the barn's second-story threshing floor on the innovative feature of open spaces between floorboards for free fall of grain into the first floor granary. Through experimentation, 1.5 inches (3.81 centimeters) was determined as the perfect spacing between each floorboard to assure safety by precluding catching of the treading horses' hooves and to promote efficiency in streaming the downward flow of separated grain heads.

George's innovative barn, completed in March 1794, lasted less than a century. Allowed to fall into disrepair, the 16-sided barn disappeared from Mount Vernon's historic landscape in the 1870s.

Fortunately, a meticulously constructed replica, dedicated Friday, Sept. 27, 1996, in celebration of the completion of a five-year project on George Washington as Pioneer Farmer, welcomes visitors to the four-acre Pioneer Farm section of Mount Vernon.

Abraham Lincoln's patent, which was issued Tuesday, May 22, 1849, about two and one-half months after his filing date, aimed to overcome transportation obstacles presented by river obstructions, such as mill dams and shoals. Abraham's design, entitled "Buoying vessels over shoals," utilized inflatable waterproof fabric bladders to provide sufficient clearance over obstacles and shallows by lifting a vessel above the water surface.

The Smithsonian Institution acquired Abraham's original patent model in 1908. Fragility precludes display of the original model, which has only been removed from storage once, for an exhibition at the U.S. Patent Office.

Fortunately, a replica, built in 1978, is on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, located on the National Mall at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue in northwestern Washington D.C.

The two replicas testify to the problem-solving ingenuity of both presidents. Both replicas are easily accessible, as they are sited at a distance of only about 16-plus miles (25-plus kilometers) from one another.

Viewing these two replicas serves as an enjoyably informative activity at any time and also as a fun, pertinent celebration of Presidents Day.

model of Abraham Lincoln's buoyancy invention: David and Jessie (treasuresthouhast), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

George Washington and Abraham Lincoln on Mount Rushmore: A Gude, CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/agude/3958907275/

second floor of replica of George Washington's 16-sided treading barn: Galen Parks Smith, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GW_treading_barn_int1.JPG

patent model of Abraham Lincoln's buoying invention: David and Jessie (treasuresthouhast), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/74568056@N00/182093642/

For further information:

Marriner, Derdriu. "George Washington: The United States President Who Designed a Sixteen Sided Barn." Wizzley > Culture and Society > History > US History. Oct. 8, 2014.
Available @ https://wizzley.com/george-washington-the-united-states-president-who-designed-a-sixteen-sided-barn/