born Aug. 21, 1811, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.
died Feb. 11, 1888, Louisville, Ky.
U.S. ironmaster.
He purchased ironworks in Eddyville, Ky., and began experiments with an air blast to prepare pig for conversion to wrought iron . Because of the similarity of his apparatus to the first form of Bessemer converter (see Bessemer process ), he was awarded a U.S. patent on the pneumatic steel process. There is no evidence that he made steel in any of his trials.