Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 32, number 4, June 1949

              the original typewriter enterprise 1867-1873 by richard n current the typewriter came out of wisconsin in its first prac tical form it was developed in milwaukee between 1867 and 1873 the two men who did most in its development the inventor c latham sholes and the promoter james densmore had been publishers of wisconsin newspapers.1 as pioneer journal ists both sholes and densmore had got to know all phases of the task of converting words into type — they had become familiar with the challenge of the deadline in a region where experienced printers were not always easy to find it was natural for these men with such a background to turn eventually to the problem of making a machine to write with types the story of their success adds a footnote to a familiar thesis throughout the history of technology new labor-saving devices have appeared most often in relatively unsettled frontier areas of the world where there has been a chronic manpower shortage.2 to show the early evolution of both the typewriter business and the typewriter itself the experimental years from 1867 to 1873 may be divided into three periods according to the kind of dr richard n current is may treat morrison professor of american history at mills college oakland california previously a resident of appleton he was a member of the history faculty at lawrence college a biography of philetus sawyer has been completed by dr current and will be published by the state historical society during 1949 1 sholes 1819-90 went from pennsylvania to wisconsin in 1839 and thereafter pub lished or aided in publishing successively the green bay democrat the madison inquirer the kenosha telegraph and the milwaukee sentinel and news for brief accounts of his life see appleton s cyclopaedia of american biography rev ed new york 1915 5:515 and george lies leading american inventors new york 1912 315-37 densmore 1820-89 went from pennsylvania to wisconsin in 1848 and thereafter published or aided in publishing successively the oshkosh true democrat ( later democrat , the kenosha telegraph as a partner of sholes and the elkhorn independent for a sketch of his life emphasizing his journalistic career see richard n current " the first newspaperman in oshkosh wisconsin magazine of history 30:408—22 june 1947 2 see the discussion of this thesis in abbott p usher a history of mechanical inventions new york 1929 3-4 391