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Worcester Reed Warner

American engineer (1846–1929) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Worcester Reed Warner
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Worcester Reed Warner (May 16, 1846 – June 25, 1929) was an American mechanical engineer, entrepreneur, manager, astronomer, and philanthropist. With Ambrose Swasey he cofounded the Warner & Swasey Company.

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Biography

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Life and career

Warner was born and grew up on a farm near Cummington, Massachusetts.[1] He met Swasey at the Exeter Machine Works where both were apprentices. In 1870, both entered the employ of Pratt & Whitney in Hartford, Connecticut.[2]

In 1880, Warner and Swasey co-founded a business to manufacture sewing machines and lathes, but quickly turned to manufacturing telescopes, because Warner was always interested in astronomy.[1] The firm, Warner & Swasey, was initially located in Chicago but soon moved to Cleveland.[3] In 1880, Beloit College purchased one of its telescopes, which helped establish the company's name in the telescope-building industry,[4] which experienced rapid growth at the time. Warner & Swasey would design and build the framework and the mounting for the 36-inch refracting telescope installed at Lick Observatory in 1888,[5] which was the world's largest refractor telescope at the time. The company later built telescopes that were used in Canada and Argentina. The company and its founders prospered.

Further activities

Warner was a charter member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers,[2] and from 1897[2] to 1898 he served as the 16th president of ASME. (Ambrose Swasey would later serve as the 23rd ASME president.) In 1900 the firm was incorporated as Warner & Swasey Company.[6] Warner served as president and chairman of the board, but retired in 1911.

Both Warner and Ambrose Swasey also became trustees of the Case School of Applied Science. As both men had an interest in astronomy, they donated an entire observatory to the school. This became the Warner and Swasey Observatory. It was dedicated in 1920.

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Warner Library in Tarrytown, New York

The Warner Building on Case Western Reserve University houses the Worcester Reed Warner Laboratory, named after the former university trustee. The construction of this building was partly funded by Worcester Warner.

The Warner Library in Tarrytown, New York, has served both Tarrytown and North Tarrytown (now Sleepy Hollow, New York) since 1929. It was built and gifted to the two communities by Warner and his wife, Cornelia.[1] Constructed of Vermont limestone, the Neoclassical building was designed by Walter Dabney Blair. The library cost $250,000 (approximately $4,700,000 in today's value as of 2025) to build, and the Warners further endowed it with $50,000 (some $950,000 in today's value as of 2025) for the purchase of books.[7]

The crater Warner on the Moon is named after Worcester Warner.

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The gravesite of Worcester Reed Warner

Later Years and Death

In 1911, Warner and his wife (he married Cornelia Blakemore of Philadelphia in 1890[4]) moved to an estate named Wilholm in the Wilson Park neighborhood of Tarrytown, New York.[1] Warner built a celestial observatory in his house, where he regularly invited guests for stargazing sessions. One of those guests was John D. Rockefeller, a neighbor and close friend.[1] Warner was also a close friend of President Herbert Hoover, a fellow member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.[7]

Warner died on a trip in Eisenach, Saxe-Weimar, Germany,[7] four months after the Warner Library in Tarrytown was dedicated in his name. He is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

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Worcester Reed Warner Medal

The Worcester Reed Warner Medal is awarded by the ASME for "outstanding contribution to the permanent literature of engineering".[8] It was established by bequest in 1930. Some of the recipients are:

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References

Bibliography

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