Dorr Felt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dorr Eugene Felt (1862–1930) was an American machinist who was known for having invented the Comptometer, an early computing device, and Comptograph, the first printing adding machine. He was born in Rock County, Wisconsin and grew up on the family farm there.

Felt began as a foreman for the Pullman Company and later went on to have several other failed businesses prior to creating the first comptometer from a macaroni box and several other implements. Felt brought his idea to Chicago businessman Robert Tarrant. In 1887, the two formed Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company. Felt later went on to invent more devices and acquired 46 domestic patents and 25 foreign ones.

He died in 1930 of a stroke. He made his homes in Chicago and in Laketown Township, Michigan, where the Felt Mansion is a well-known historic site. He was married to Anges McNulty in 1891 and the couple had four daughters together.

Felt Biographies:

• W.W. Johnson, "Scars on My Hands: The Life of Dorr Eugene Felt, Inventor and Industrialist," (unpublished), Schmidt Collection, Mathematics, NMAH.
• Comptometer website
• World of Computer Science
• Wisconsin Biographies

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