John B. Gorrie (October 3, 1803 – June 29, 1855) was a Nevisian-born American physician and scientist, credited as the inventor of mechanical refrigeration.

At various times he served as a council member, postmaster, president of the Bank of Pensacola's Apalachicola Branch, Secretary of his Masonic Lodge, and one of the founding vestrymen of Trinity Episcopal Church.

In 1835, patents for "Apparatus and means for producing ice and in cooling fluids" had been granted in England and Scotland to American-born inventor Jacob Perkins, who became known as "the father of the refrigerator".

Impoverished, Gorrie sought to raise money to manufacture his machine, but the venture failed when his partner died.

Humiliated by criticism, financially ruined, and his health broken, Gorrie died in seclusion on June 29, 1855.

[6][7]: 195 Another version of Gorrie's "cooling system"[citation needed] was used when President James A. Garfield was dying in 1881.