Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - April 21, 1985
By Mary Addison Baker
Vigo County Historical Society

In sum, early adding machines greased gears with economy

The adding machine is a mechanical device used to add numbers.

Before the invention of this machine, man used stones, sticks, knots in a strip of hide and the abacus to help represent numbers and sums. To be able to use the devices, people had to know how to count.

Knowledge of the devices was used to design early adding machines which added numbers by moving and shifting physical objects -- without requiring the operator to know how to add. The physical objects were gear wheels and worm gears, meshed to form a train of gears. During the 1600s various attempts were made to construct successful adding machines. Progress was not made until 1820 when Charles Xavier Thomas developed his automatic calculator in London.

Today's historical treasure is a brass adding machine, patented on March 10, 1868, by C.H. Webb of New York.

"The Adder" is composed of two gear wheels with a window between. The larger of the two wheels is numbered 0 to 99; the smaller 0 to 50. When the operator turns the wheels in the proper sequence, the sum of the numbers appears in the window.

This adding machine was brought to Terre Haute by Horace B, Jones, who operated Jones & Jones Agricultural Implement Store on the east side of Third Street between Main and Ohio. In 1877 the store went out of business and he entered the law office of Judge John T. Scott. Jones gave the machine to Judge Scott's son, George A. Scott, who presented it to the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley in August 1961.

Located a 1411 S. Sixth St., the museum is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday through Friday.