Erastus Brigham Bigelow

Erastus Brigham Bigelow (April 2, 1814 – December 6, 1879) was an American inventor of weaving machines.

He was the son of a cotton weaver, and it was his parents' desire that he should become a physician, but, his father's business not being successful, he was unable to continue his studies, and so turned his attention to inventing.

His work on Stenography, a short manual on shorthand writing, was written and published about this time.

Bigelow was elected a member of the Boston Historical Society in April 1864, and in 1869 presented to that society six large volumes entitled Inventions of Erastus Brigham Bigelow patented in England from 1837 to 1868 in which were gathered the printed specifications of eighteen patents granted to him in England.

[3] In 1862 Bigelow formulated a scheme of uniform taxation for the United States by means of stamps, and he published The Tariff Question, considered in regard to the Policy of England and the Interests of the United States (Boston, 1863).