James Densmore

James Densmore (February 3, 1820 – September 16, 1889) was an American businessman and inventor. He was a business associate of Christopher Sholes, who along with Carlos Glidden and Samuel W. Soule helped contribute to inventing one of the first practical typewriters at a machine shop located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.^[2]

James Densmore
Born	(1820-02-03)February 3, 1820[1] Moscow, New York, United States
Died	September 16, 1889(1889-09-16) (aged 69)[1] Brooklyn, New York, United States
Nationality	American

It was believed that Densmore had suggested splitting up commonly used letter combinations in order to solve a jamming problem, but this called into question.^[3] This concept was later refined by Sholes later refined this concept, so it became known as the QWERTY key layout.

Densmore was a militant vegetarian. His diet consisted of mostly raw apples.^[4] His brother was physician Emmet Densmore.^[5]

Densmore also supported women's suffrage in Wisconsin.^[6] When he was the editor of the Oshkosh True Democrat the paper publicly supported women's right to vote.^[7]

Densmore is remembered for the enigmatic fraternal organization he envisioned in his will, known as The Densmore Foundation.^[8]