Martha Coston

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Martha J. Coston (1826-1904) was the inventor of the Coston flare, a device for signaling at sea.

1 Background
2 Martha Jane Coston continues flare design and builds business
3 Use of the Coston flare in the United States Life-Saving Service
4 References
5 See also
6 External Links

[edit] Background

Martha Jane Coston, at age 14 or 16, eloped with a Benjamin Franklin Coston, age 21, who had already acquired a reputation as an inventor. As a young man, he became director of the U.S. Navy’s scientific laboratory in Washington, D.C. At the laboratory, he experimented with color-coded night signals to allow communication between ships, which at that time was limited to visual signals such as flags during the day and lanterns at night. He had a lot of other work he was doing at the Navy facility, and in the course of this he inhaled chemicals which ruined his health. Coston resigned his commission with the Navy over disputes about patent rights and compensation and took a private position in Boston. He died shortly thereafter as a result of the chemical exposure. His work on the signal flares, while important, was limited to plans and chemical formulas.

[edit] Martha Jane Coston continues flare design and builds business

When her husband died, Martha Jane Coston was 21 years old, with four children to support. Her husband’s uncompleted work needed substantial additional effort before it could be turned into a practical signaling system. When she found the blue prints to the signal flare she determined that of all his promising inventions, it was the one that could be completed quickest and easiest. She hired chemists and collaborated with pyrotechnicists to perfect the signals and a manufacturer to produce them. She then went out into the business world to sell the product. The U.S. Navy, while initially reluctant, did purchase Coston signals for use on its ships during the Civil War. She was never compensated for the signals she produced at cost for the Union Army, though she put several motions before Congress to receive the payments she was owed. She traveled to Europe to meet with the heads of naval departments and shipping concerns, and eventually was able to break through the prejudice against a woman in business and win acceptance for adoption of the Coston flares on an international level.

[edit] Use of the Coston flare in the United States Life-Saving Service

Eventually every station of the United States Life-Saving Service was equipped with Coston flares, which were used to signal ships, warn of dangerous coastal conditions, and summon surfmen and other rescuers to a wreck scene. Many accounts of wrecks and rescues describe the use of the Costen flare, which was instrumental in saving thousands of lives.