"Dear Companion"

Henry Mill of England patented a typewriter in 1714. The firm of Sholes, Glidden & Soule developed a practical machine in the U. S. in 1867, and typewriters began to be marketed by Remington in 1874. First U. S. patent on a writing-machine, however, was issued in 1829 to a remarkable man named William Austin Burt. On this device, in March 1830, Inventor Burt whacked out the first letter typewritten in the U.S. Last week the Smithsonian Institution proudly announced that it had acquired and would shortly display this message.

Inventor Burt's machine, made entirely of wood, was destroyed in the Patent Office fire of 1836. It was a ponderous gadget with the type carried on a circular frame operated by a lever. That Burt could write faster with his machine than by hand is highly improbable. Yet it had a feature that was lacking in some commercial machines for many years: separate sets of capital and lower-case letters, with a shift mechanism for changing from one to the other.

Descended from a family of early Massachusetts settlers, William Austin Burt was a surveyor, mechanic and millwright. He lived on a farm near Detroit when he put together his writing-machine, which he called "The Typographer." Noticing that local magnetism frequently disturbed surveying compasses, he invented a sun-compass, was awarded a medal and $20 in gold by the Franklin Institute. Burt returned from a trip to England in a windjammer to see how well its navigator maintained his course, was thus spurred to invent an equatorial sextant. One of two members of Michigan's early Territorial Legislative Council and later a State Legislator, he was a prime mover in the Sault Sainte Marie Canal project, was generally called "Judge" before he died in 1858.

William Austin Burt's first typewritten letter, whose orthographic vagaries the Smithsonian charitably ascribes to the weaknesses of the machine as well as to the inventor's weakness in spelling, was written from New York City to his wife in Michigan:

"Dear Companion:

"I have but jest got my second machine into opperation and this is the first specimen I send you except a few lines I printed to regulate the machine, I am in good health but am in fear these lines will not find you so and the children from the malencholley account your letter gave me of sickness and deaths in our neighbourhood, I had rested contented to what I should if it had been summer season adout the health of my family, as it is jenerlly healthy during the winter months; but their has been an unusual quantity of sickness heare this winter, and it has been verry cold in Urope as well as in America, a strong indication of the change of seasonth that I have so ofton mentioned. --Mr. Sheldon arrived here four days ago he went immediately on to Washington and took my moddle for the Pattent Office, he will returne here next week at which time I shall put my machine on sale and shall sell out the pattent as soon as I can and return home, at aney rate I seall re-turne home as soone as the Lake navigation is open if life and health is spared me. I have got along but slow since I have been here for the want of cash to hire such help as I wanted; I have been as prudent as I could, have taken my board with a family from Cyuga who keep a bording house they are verry good Christian people and are kind to me. I pay three Dollars a week for my board.--You must excuse mistakes, the above is printed among a croud of people asking me maney ques-tions about the machine. Tell the boys that I have some presents for them. If I had aney news to communicate I would print more but as I have none I must close hopeing these lines will find you well I wish you to write as soon as you receive this, do not make aney excuses I shall like see it in aney shape

"William A. Burt."

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