Uriah A. Boyden | |
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 Uriah Boyden,c. 1845 | |
| Born | Uriah Atherton Boyden (1804-02-17)February 17, 1804 Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States |
| Died | October 17, 1879(1879-10-17) (aged 75) Boston,Massachusetts, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Engineer,inventor |
| Relatives | Seth Boyden (elder brother) |
Uriah Atherton Boyden (February 17, 1804 – October 17, 1879) was an American civil and mechanical engineer and inventor fromFoxborough, Massachusetts best known for the development of awater turbine, that later became known as the Boyden Turbine around 1844, while working for the Appleton Company inLowell, Massachusetts. Boyden improved upon a turbine developed by French engineerFourneyron by adding a conical approach passage for the incoming water—submerged diffusers, guide vanes and a diverting exit passage.[1]
Uriah was also the younger brother ofSeth Boyden, also a notable inventor who perfected a process for making patent leather, among other developments.
Uriah Atherton Boyden was born inFoxborough, Massachusetts on February 17, 1804, the son of Seth Boyden and Susannah Atherton. His father was farmer and blacksmith who had invented a machine to split leather.[2]
In 1813, Uriah moved toNewark, New Jersey to work in his elder brother Seth's leather shop.[3] Around 1828, Uriah returned to Massachusetts where he worked on the early surveys for theBoston and Providence Railroad. He also worked underLoammi Baldwin on the dry dock at theBoston Navy Yard, as other mills in Lowell and theBoston and Lowell Railroad.
While at Lowell, Boyden worked with British-born engineerJames B. Francis, who in 1848 developed theFrancis turbine, which superseded Boyden's earlier invention. However, Boyden-type turbines continued to be manufactured, including those installed atHarmony Mills inCohoes, New York in the early 1870s, and those used at the first Niagara Falls hydroelectric plant in 1895.[4]
In 1850, Boyden settled inBoston, and devoted himself to the study of chemistry and physics. He never married. He died in Boston on October 17, 1879.[5]
Upon his death in 1879, Boyden's will left about a quarter of a million dollars to a suitable astronomical institution that would build anobservatory on a mountain for the better atmospheric seeing conditions than those available at lower altitudes.
His heirs challenged the will, but it was found valid. In 1887,Edward Charles Pickering convinced the trustees of Boyden's will to award the Boyden Fund toHarvard College Observatory, of which he was director. Although he initially planned to establish an observatory atMount Wilson, those plans were abandoned (although theMount Wilson Observatory was later built by a different group). Instead, needing an observation station for southern hemisphere skies, Harvard College Observatory established the "Boyden Station" atArequipa, Peru in 1889.
In 1927, Boyden Station was moved to South Africa due to better weather conditions and became known as theBoyden Observatory.
Uriah also contributed to the Boyden Public Library in his hometown ofFoxborough, Massachusetts. TheNational Museum of American History in Washington, DC is home to the Uriah A. Boyden Papers.[6]
His maternal ancestors had resided in Lancaster, Massachusetts, having been pioneer settlers to the area. He is a direct descendant ofJames Atherton,[7] who arrived inDorchester, Massachusetts in the 1630s.[8] The Atherton family ancestry originated fromLancashire, England.
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