He spent a lot of time with this author. He said he quit school after the fourth grade. At the age of fourteen he had a wood lathe that was powered by a steam engine. At about age eighteen he had a saw mill in the general vicinity of Martinsburg, Indiana. It was powered by a large steam tractor which was also used to haul the logs into the mill. A short time after he started the saw mill, a visitor fell into the rotating saw blade and was killed. David turned his back and never went back. Many years later (in the 1950's) he was remembered for ruining the roads with his tractor and logging wagons. Shortly after that he entered the Army during the Spanish American War, and was on his way by ship to Cuba when the war ended, so he never saw combat.
He married Bessie Taylor while he was still in Indiana, and his first daughter, Laverne was born in Pekin, Indiana. About 1912 he headed west to Kansas. There he helped build some very large barns. He then moved farther west about 1915 to Silt, Colorado. He was there only a very short time, moving down river to the Grand Junction, Colorado
area. He went to work for Bureau of Reclamation building ditch riders houses. By 1917 he was helping install pumping plants that are powered by water, to raise water to a higher level. Some of the water is lost down stream while powering the pumps to raise the balance of the water to a higher level. On completion of the installation of the pump at the mouth of the tunnel at Palisade, Colorado, he built the care takers house. He was then promoted to care taker of the pump house. Daughter Dora was born in Palisade, Colorado that fall.
Three or four years later he was prommoted to care taker of the dam in Debeque canyon on the Colorado River above Cameo. He had that job until about 1927, at which time he quit to try farming at Grand Valley, Colorado, which was about forty miles up stream from the dam. While at the dam he was responsible for keeping the water level in the canal at the proper level. He was also responsible for all maintenance of the facility. He said there was a float on the canal rigged to a bell so that if the canal was too low or high the bell would ring. It always seemed to ring about three A. M., and he didn't much appreciate that. So he had an idea how to make one of the three gates that the water passed through to open or close automatically.
At Grand Valley he didn't have much luck at farming. Also while he was there, his wife Bessie became ill and died. By that time he had three children, so he sent them to Indiana to stay with relatives. He went to the state of Washington and checked into the project of Grand Coulee Dam. A few months later he was again married and went to Denver, Colorado. He got a job with Weicker Transfer & Storage building wooden tool boxes for some new trucks they had just bought. A few months after that job was done he again took a job with the Bureau of Reclamation at the Old Customs Building in Denver. This time his job was to make instruments for the Grand Coulee Dam. Also while he was there he did a lot of scale model work. While at the Bureau of Reclamation he started developing his automatic headgate for the control of the flow of water. This devise didn't need any outside source of power, as it's power was gained from a water wheel which was a part of it. A float was set up on the machine so that when the flow of water out of the gate was too low, the gate would automatically open, or vice versa. He received a patent on this head gate in August 1939, and the patent number is 2170200.
About 1941 he quit the Bureau of Reclamation again, this time to start his own business to build the head gate. Shortly after he started, World War II began. Because his head gate had many gears in it, he was prepared to make gears in large quantities. He received a large contract with Boeing Aircraft in Witchita, Kansas to make gears for the controls for large bombers. He only made the small brass gears that could be made in a small shop. In 1944 he sold that business to Clarence Brockman, owner of Screw Machine Products Company, a Colorado air mail pioneer, and went to work for him.
He held various other jobs in the Denver area, such as at Merrill Wheel Alignment Co., Hackethorn Mfg. & Supply Co., Hathaway Instruments, and a company that mfg. drafting machinery (name unknown).
Authored by his grandson, Norman Smith, from memory......
He married Bessie Taylor while he was still in Indiana, and his first daughter, Laverne was born in Pekin, Indiana. About 1912 he headed west to Kansas. There he helped build some very large barns. He then moved farther west about 1915 to Silt, Colorado. He was there only a very short time, moving down river to the Grand Junction, Colorado
area. He went to work for Bureau of Reclamation building ditch riders houses. By 1917 he was helping install pumping plants that are powered by water, to raise water to a higher level. Some of the water is lost down stream while powering the pumps to raise the balance of the water to a higher level. On completion of the installation of the pump at the mouth of the tunnel at Palisade, Colorado, he built the care takers house. He was then promoted to care taker of the pump house. Daughter Dora was born in Palisade, Colorado that fall.
Three or four years later he was prommoted to care taker of the dam in Debeque canyon on the Colorado River above Cameo. He had that job until about 1927, at which time he quit to try farming at Grand Valley, Colorado, which was about forty miles up stream from the dam. While at the dam he was responsible for keeping the water level in the canal at the proper level. He was also responsible for all maintenance of the facility. He said there was a float on the canal rigged to a bell so that if the canal was too low or high the bell would ring. It always seemed to ring about three A. M., and he didn't much appreciate that. So he had an idea how to make one of the three gates that the water passed through to open or close automatically.
At Grand Valley he didn't have much luck at farming. Also while he was there, his wife Bessie became ill and died. By that time he had three children, so he sent them to Indiana to stay with relatives. He went to the state of Washington and checked into the project of Grand Coulee Dam. A few months later he was again married and went to Denver, Colorado. He got a job with Weicker Transfer & Storage building wooden tool boxes for some new trucks they had just bought. A few months after that job was done he again took a job with the Bureau of Reclamation at the Old Customs Building in Denver. This time his job was to make instruments for the Grand Coulee Dam. Also while he was there he did a lot of scale model work. While at the Bureau of Reclamation he started developing his automatic headgate for the control of the flow of water. This devise didn't need any outside source of power, as it's power was gained from a water wheel which was a part of it. A float was set up on the machine so that when the flow of water out of the gate was too low, the gate would automatically open, or vice versa. He received a patent on this head gate in August 1939, and the patent number is 2170200.
About 1941 he quit the Bureau of Reclamation again, this time to start his own business to build the head gate. Shortly after he started, World War II began. Because his head gate had many gears in it, he was prepared to make gears in large quantities. He received a large contract with Boeing Aircraft in Witchita, Kansas to make gears for the controls for large bombers. He only made the small brass gears that could be made in a small shop. In 1944 he sold that business to Clarence Brockman, owner of Screw Machine Products Company, a Colorado air mail pioneer, and went to work for him.
He held various other jobs in the Denver area, such as at Merrill Wheel Alignment Co., Hackethorn Mfg. & Supply Co., Hathaway Instruments, and a company that mfg. drafting machinery (name unknown).
Authored by his grandson, Norman Smith, from memory......
He spent a lot of time with this author. He said he quit school after the fourth grade. At the age of fourteen he had a wood lathe that was powered by a steam engine. At about age eighteen he had a saw mill in the general vicinity of Martinsburg, Indiana. It was powered by a large steam tractor which was also used to haul the logs into the mill. A short time after he started the saw mill, a visitor fell into the rotating saw blade and was killed. David turned his back and never went back. Many years later (in the 1950's) he was remembered for ruining the roads with his tractor and logging wagons. Shortly after that he entered the Army during the Spanish American War, and was on his way by ship to Cuba when the war ended, so he never saw combat.
He married Bessie Taylor while he was still in Indiana, and his first daughter, Laverne was born in Pekin, Indiana. About 1912 he headed west to Kansas. There he helped build some very large barns. He then moved farther west about 1915 to Silt, Colorado. He was there only a very short time, moving down river to the Grand Junction, Colorado
area. He went to work for Bureau of Reclamation building ditch riders houses. By 1917 he was helping install pumping plants that are powered by water, to raise water to a higher level. Some of the water is lost down stream while powering the pumps to raise the balance of the water to a higher level. On completion of the installation of the pump at the mouth of the tunnel at Palisade, Colorado, he built the care takers house. He was then promoted to care taker of the pump house. Daughter Dora was born in Palisade, Colorado that fall.
Three or four years later he was prommoted to care taker of the dam in Debeque canyon on the Colorado River above Cameo. He had that job until about 1927, at which time he quit to try farming at Grand Valley, Colorado, which was about forty miles up stream from the dam. While at the dam he was responsible for keeping the water level in the canal at the proper level. He was also responsible for all maintenance of the facility. He said there was a float on the canal rigged to a bell so that if the canal was too low or high the bell would ring. It always seemed to ring about three A. M., and he didn't much appreciate that. So he had an idea how to make one of the three gates that the water passed through to open or close automatically.
At Grand Valley he didn't have much luck at farming. Also while he was there, his wife Bessie became ill and died. By that time he had three children, so he sent them to Indiana to stay with relatives. He went to the state of Washington and checked into the project of Grand Coulee Dam. A few months later he was again married and went to Denver, Colorado. He got a job with Weicker Transfer & Storage building wooden tool boxes for some new trucks they had just bought. A few months after that job was done he again took a job with the Bureau of Reclamation at the Old Customs Building in Denver. This time his job was to make instruments for the Grand Coulee Dam. Also while he was there he did a lot of scale model work. While at the Bureau of Reclamation he started developing his automatic headgate for the control of the flow of water. This devise didn't need any outside source of power, as it's power was gained from a water wheel which was a part of it. A float was set up on the machine so that when the flow of water out of the gate was too low, the gate would automatically open, or vice versa. He received a patent on this head gate in August 1939, and the patent number is 2170200.
About 1941 he quit the Bureau of Reclamation again, this time to start his own business to build the head gate. Shortly after he started, World War II began. Because his head gate had many gears in it, he was prepared to make gears in large quantities. He received a large contract with Boeing Aircraft in Witchita, Kansas to make gears for the controls for large bombers. He only made the small brass gears that could be made in a small shop. In 1944 he sold that business to Clarence Brockman, owner of Screw Machine Products Company, a Colorado air mail pioneer, and went to work for him.
He held various other jobs in the Denver area, such as at Merrill Wheel Alignment Co., Hackethorn Mfg. & Supply Co., Hathaway Instruments, and a company that mfg. drafting machinery (name unknown).
Authored by his grandson, Norman Smith, from memory......
He married Bessie Taylor while he was still in Indiana, and his first daughter, Laverne was born in Pekin, Indiana. About 1912 he headed west to Kansas. There he helped build some very large barns. He then moved farther west about 1915 to Silt, Colorado. He was there only a very short time, moving down river to the Grand Junction, Colorado
area. He went to work for Bureau of Reclamation building ditch riders houses. By 1917 he was helping install pumping plants that are powered by water, to raise water to a higher level. Some of the water is lost down stream while powering the pumps to raise the balance of the water to a higher level. On completion of the installation of the pump at the mouth of the tunnel at Palisade, Colorado, he built the care takers house. He was then promoted to care taker of the pump house. Daughter Dora was born in Palisade, Colorado that fall.
Three or four years later he was prommoted to care taker of the dam in Debeque canyon on the Colorado River above Cameo. He had that job until about 1927, at which time he quit to try farming at Grand Valley, Colorado, which was about forty miles up stream from the dam. While at the dam he was responsible for keeping the water level in the canal at the proper level. He was also responsible for all maintenance of the facility. He said there was a float on the canal rigged to a bell so that if the canal was too low or high the bell would ring. It always seemed to ring about three A. M., and he didn't much appreciate that. So he had an idea how to make one of the three gates that the water passed through to open or close automatically.
At Grand Valley he didn't have much luck at farming. Also while he was there, his wife Bessie became ill and died. By that time he had three children, so he sent them to Indiana to stay with relatives. He went to the state of Washington and checked into the project of Grand Coulee Dam. A few months later he was again married and went to Denver, Colorado. He got a job with Weicker Transfer & Storage building wooden tool boxes for some new trucks they had just bought. A few months after that job was done he again took a job with the Bureau of Reclamation at the Old Customs Building in Denver. This time his job was to make instruments for the Grand Coulee Dam. Also while he was there he did a lot of scale model work. While at the Bureau of Reclamation he started developing his automatic headgate for the control of the flow of water. This devise didn't need any outside source of power, as it's power was gained from a water wheel which was a part of it. A float was set up on the machine so that when the flow of water out of the gate was too low, the gate would automatically open, or vice versa. He received a patent on this head gate in August 1939, and the patent number is 2170200.
About 1941 he quit the Bureau of Reclamation again, this time to start his own business to build the head gate. Shortly after he started, World War II began. Because his head gate had many gears in it, he was prepared to make gears in large quantities. He received a large contract with Boeing Aircraft in Witchita, Kansas to make gears for the controls for large bombers. He only made the small brass gears that could be made in a small shop. In 1944 he sold that business to Clarence Brockman, owner of Screw Machine Products Company, a Colorado air mail pioneer, and went to work for him.
He held various other jobs in the Denver area, such as at Merrill Wheel Alignment Co., Hackethorn Mfg. & Supply Co., Hathaway Instruments, and a company that mfg. drafting machinery (name unknown).
Authored by his grandson, Norman Smith, from memory......
Bio by: Norman R. Smith
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