John Brown Francis Herreshoff

For other Herreshoff family members, see Herreshoff (surname).

John Brown Francis Herreshoff (February 7, 1850 – January 30, 1932) was was an American chemist and the second winner of the Perkin Medal.^[1][2] He was also the president of The General Chemical Company.^[3][4][5]

John Brown Francis Herreshoff
Born	(1850-02-07)February 7, 1850 Bristol, Rhode Island
Died	January 30, 1932(1932-01-30) (aged 81) New York City
Occupation	Chemist

Biography

Herreshoff was born February 7, 1850, Bristol, Rhode Island, to the marriage of Charles Frederick Herreshoff III (1809–1888) and Julia Ann Lewis (maiden; 1811–1901).

Herreshoff was a metallurgical chemist affiliated with the firm of Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, builders of yachts and torpedo boats.^[6] Herreshoff was hired by G. H. Nichols and Company in 1880 or 1882.^[7] He invented and built for them a water-jacketed furnace,^[8][9] and quickly became a partner in the company.^[7][10] Others built according to his smelter plans furnaces up to 100 tons in 1890.^[11] He was greatly interested in obtaining copper from pyrite ore.^[12]

In 1890, Herreshoff developed a form of the contact catalytic process for the company of which he was a partner.^[13] In 1892 the Herreshoff process went into large-scale industrial production, and "Nichols Lake Substitute" copper was henceforth a competitor to the "Lake Superior" copper standard of the US Bureau of Mines.^[13] By 1895 the Nichols Company was producing high-purity blister copper, cast as bars, ingots and wire.^[13]

Herreshoff was made the president of The General Chemical Company, which was founded in 1899 and merged in 1920 with Allied Corporation.^[3] In 1900 Herreshoff was made Vice-President of the Nichols Copper Company.^[10]

Patents

Drawing of "Copper Smelting Furnace" by JBF Herreshoff for USPTO 273840

• U.S. patent 273840A (1883): Copper smelting furnace
• U.S. patent 304103A (1884): PULLEY BLOCK
• U.S. patent 335699A (1886): Sulphuric acid tower
• U.S. patent 342511A (1886): FIRE DOOR FOR FURNACEs
• U.S. patent 357528A (1887): Process of concentrating sulphuric acid
• U.S. patent 369790A (1887): Apparatus for concentrating sulphuric acid
• U.S. patent 374239A (1887): APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING LEAD OR BASE BULLION FROM SLAG, MATTES, AND SPEISS
• U.S. patent 549641A (1895): Chimney
• U.S. patent 556750A (1896): Roasting furnace
• U.S. patent 616926A (1899): Roasting furnace
• U.S. patent 669696A (1900): Apparatus for casting metal
• U.S. patent 719332A (1902): Method of making sulfuric anhydrid
• U.S. patent 719333A (1902): Apparatus for the manufacture of sulfuric anhydrid
• U.S. patent 722981A (1902): Process of making sulfuric acid
• U.S. patent 737625A (1903): Process of making sulfuric acid
• U.S. patent 940595A (1906): Purification of burner-gases
• U.S. patent 940596A (1906): Apparatus for purifying burner-gases
• U.S. patent 976175A (1909): Ore-roasting furnace
• U.S. patent 1047521A (1910): Reverberatory furnace
• U.S. patent 1066110A (1910): Furnace for roasting ores
• U.S. patent 1085419A (1912): Roasting-furnace
• U.S. patent 1609873A (1925): Condenser

Recipient of the Perkin Medal

In 1908 Herreshoff received the Perkin Medal,^[2] an award conferred annually by the American section of the Society of Chemical Industry to a scientist residing in America for an "innovation in applied chemistry resulting in outstanding commercial development." It is considered the highest honor given in the U.S. chemical industry.

Death

Herreshoff died January 30, 1932.

Family

John Brown Francis Herreshoff was married four times.

1. He first married – on February 9, 1876 – Grace Eugenia Dyer (maiden; 1851–1880), with whom he had a daughter, Louise Chamberlain Herreshoff (1876–1967), who went on to become a painter.
2. After Grace's death, he married – on October 25, 1882, in Philadelphia – Emaline Duval ("Mildred") Lee (maiden; 1863–1930). From that marriage, he had two sons and a daughter. One of the sons, Frederick Herreshoff (1888–1920), became a noted American amateur golfer. By way his daughter from that marriage, Sarah Lothrop Herreshoff (1889–1958), a grandson, Guido Borgianni (it)^[14] (1914–2011), became a noted Italian painter.
3. Herreshoff and Mildred divorced June 4, 1919, in Manhattan, and five days later, on June 9, 1919, Herreshoff married Carrie Lucas Ridley (maiden; 1878–1924), her second.
4. On October 5, 1924 (six months after Carrie's death), Herreshoff married Carrie's sister, Irma Grey Ridley (1872–1946).