Oliver Evans was born in Newport, Delaware back in 1755 to Charles and Ann. His father was a shoemaker. The family moved to the Red Clay Creek area when he was an infant. There are no surviving records about his early childhood except that is was reported his literacy was strong. From a young age, he was an avid reader and writer on technical subjects.
He was 19 when the Revolutionary War started, he enlisted in the Delaware militia but saw no active service during the war. After the war, he became a specialist in forming the fine wire used in textile cards (a process that disentangles and cleans wool to produce a continuous web suitable for processing). He died in 1819.
What you may not know about Oliver is that he was also an inventor. He was one of the first Americans building steam engines, a pioneer in the fields of automation, materials handling and steam power. His more notably design was building the first fully automated industrial process, the first high-pressure steam engine and the first amphibious vehicle and American automobile.
One more thing he was the first to write about the development of refrigeration, however in those times the technology was not available for him to complete a unit.
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