Fountain County IN Archives Biographies.....Whitehall, Nicholas 1823 - 
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Author: H. W. Beckwith (1881)

   Nicholas Whitehall, farmer and mechanic, Newtown. The great-grandfather of
Nicholas Whitehall, citizen of Fountain county, Indiana, was born and married in
England; came to this country as plenipotentiary under King George III. As to
the exact year in which he was sent we have no definite record, but from the
account the family record gives of the children born in America, know that it
was a few years before the commencement of the revolutionary war. Although born
under English skies, raised in the ranks of England's nobility, and sent to this
country as agent acting for royalty, his innate love of liberty was such that
after mingling with the sturdy spirits that were braving the hardships of
pioneer life in the forest wilds, among savage tribes, his interests soon became
identified with them, and he espoused the cause of the colonists at the cost of
personal and social ostracism, and confiscation of his English property and
estates. Following this outline of his introduction to America, we will relate
an incident which still further illustrates the firmness and indomitable
perseverance of his character, and although it is not recorded in the annals of
the early history of our country, still lives in the memory of the descendants
of the pioneer settlers of North Carolina, and the place is still pointed out to
visitors to that section as among the points of interest associated with the
revolutionary struggle. In the early part of the war he was stationed at what
was then Currituck Inlet, in Currituck county, North Carolina. News came to him
that the British commander had ordered a regiment of soldiers to march down from
Norfolk, Virginia, to the Inlet, and take charge of that point. Gathering
together a small squad of men, numbering sixty-three intrepid souls, full of
zeal, armed with such weapons as they could muster, they marched to a place
called Great Bridge, protected by a small mound at the south end of the bridge.
He stationed his men behind this, throwing up some earthworks as further
fortification. Here he waited until the British soldiers crowded upon the bridge
near the end where his men were placed, then ordered them to fire in platoons,
and kept it up so incessantly, and with such telling effect, that the red-coats
were compelled to retreat, with a loss of about 200 men. The Americans were so
placed and protected that they lost but three killed and a few wounded. Thomas
Whitehall, the grandfather, was born in North Carolina, January 1, 1777. He was
twice sheriff of Currituck county, and was justice of the peace when he died.
The father, Alexander Le Grand, was born January 27, 1799, and was married June
25, 1821, to Elizabeth Newbern, a descendant of a Scotch family who settled and
named the town of Newbern, North Carolina. He moved to this county in 1832, in
company with Thomas Poyner, Adley Woodhouse, William Voliva, Jefferson Voliva
and Nathan Voliva, all of whom were heads of families. Reddick Hunnings and
Thomas Whitehall, who were young men, were also in the party. The journey was
made in vehicles, consisting of three wagons of rude and primitive make, and
four carts, and the trip over the mountains occupied several weeks, and was
attended with no little danger and many privations. Alexander Le Grand Whitehall
had nine children, of whom Nicholas, Alexander L., Thomas and Sarah were born in
Carolina. The remainder, James, Mary, Martha, John and Fruzie were born in
Fountain county. Nicholas Whitehall was born December 4, 1823, and was married
to Amelia Stevens September 26, 1844; was married a second time, January 21,
1864, to Melissa J. Cook, both of Fountain county. By the first wife he had
seven children, as follows: Alexander Le Grand, Eliza, Curtis and Columbus
(twins), William, Elizabeth, and John; two by the second wife, Amelia and Osie.
He served an apprenticeship of one year as wagon-maker, and worked about six
months at his trade before his first marriage. He has worked in wood and iron
more or less ever since. He was one of the first men in assisting to make and
introduce into use in Fountain county the first scouring-plows. Being by nature
a close student and observer, he saw the great need of an improvement in a
certain class of agricultural implements, which were of crude and imperfect
device, and early turned his attention to the invention and construction of such
improvements as he deemed would be of advantage. As a first result of these
early years of arduous application and experiments, his inventive genius has
given to the agricultural and mechanical world such practical improvements as
entitle him to a high rank among the true benefactors of his fellow men. The
following is a brief outline of his inventions in the order in which they were
developed, and a short history of his efforts to have his inventions recognized
as their practical worth merited. He commenced studying, and frequently talked
with his brother, Dr. Whitehall, upon the practicability of cultivating corn and
other vegetables on both sides of the row at the same time. His brother having
been raised on a farm, and having clear ideas as to the practicability of the
above form of cultivator, gave him all the encouragement he could. These
consultations were held and the ideas advanced as early as 1850. He began
practically experimenting in 1854 with a double plow for the cultivation of corn
on both sides of the row at the same time, known as the straddle-row plow. In
1855 his brother, Alexander L., went to Washington and obtained letters patent,
which were granted on July 5, 1855. Nicholas Whitehall also had the undivided
one half of said patent assigned to this brother. This patent is the first that
was granted in the United States that gives lateral and up-and-down motion to
the plow or cultivator so as to enable the plowman to give with precision and
ease all the necessary movement that is required to enable him to cultivate both
sides of the corn at the same time. In 1857 he obtained another patent upon the
same device, which showed great improvement over the first. At this time he
insisted upon his brother, Alexander, setting forth the claim, and through his
skill a claim was formulated and set forth so as to give the inventor the full
advantage of his invention, and which we deem not out of place to set forth at
this point, namely, "I claim providing a double cultivator, the middle of which
is elevated to pass over the corn, with a compound evener suspended upon three
points for the purposes set forth"; and we can safely and positively say here
that there has not been a practical cultivator made since that is not an
infringement on the '57 patent, and of which Nicholas Whitehall is not virtually
and in fact the original inventor. He made an effort to get an extension on said
patent, but owing to the combined efforts of the infringers, and fraud, it was
refused by the commissioner of patents. Since this refusal his brother has been.
knocking at the door of congress for several winters, and has twice succeeded in
getting a favorable report, but through the causes above named has failed to get
a vote on either of the reports. In the meantime he has not allowed his
inventive mind to rest; he has since obtained four other patents: one May 17,
1859, called Improvement in Seeding Cultivators; one August 31, 1869, called
Planter and Cultivator; one August 29,1871, called Sulky Cultivator; and one
February 6,1879, called Convertible Seeding Cultivator. He has attached to those
improvements a planter and drill, and also a wheat drill, all of which work with
as much accuracy and precision as any in use, resulting in great saving to the
farmer. He was nominated in 1880 for auditor of Fountain county by the national
greenback party, with which party he is at present identified.

Additional Comments:
Richland Township

Extracted from:

HISTORY OF FOUNTAIN COUNTY,

TOGETHER WITH
HISTORIC NOTES ON THE WABASH VALLEY,

GLEANED FROM EARLY AUTHORS, OLD MAPS AND MANUSCRIPTS
PRIVATE AND OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE, AND OTHER AUTHENTIC, THOUGH, FOR THE MOST
PART, OUT-OF-THE-WAY SOURCES.

BY H. W. BECKWITH,
OF THE DANVILLE BAR; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF
WISCONSIN AND CHICAGO.

WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

CHICAGO: H. H. HILL AND N. IDDINGS, PUBLISHERS.
1881.

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