Hi List,

A few colleagues of mine are working on a website that puts early
Virginia probate inventory information online. Someone noticed that
in the inventory of Moore Fauntleroy, from Richmond county, VA, that
has a "cotton gin" listed in 1791, a year or two before Eli Whitney
invented the cotton gin (1793) and was granted a patent for the gin
in 1794. Assuming that Fauntleroy's probate inventory was taken
within a year of his death, his cotton gin predates Whitney's gin at
least 2-3 years, perhaps more if Fauntleroy in fact owned the cotton
gin earlier.

So, our questions:

1. Was the cotton gin invented earlier that we think? Do we have
Whitney's invention date wrong?
2. Were there other devices, not necessarily associated with Whitney,
that were called "cotton gins", and if so, did they differ
significantly from Whitney's invention?
3. How often was the term "cotton gin" used before Whitney's
invention? And how far back? Does anyone know of any other references
to a cotton gin that predate Whitney?

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Jeremy

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Jeremy Boggs
Web/Multimedia Associate
Center for History and New Media
George Mason University
4400 University Drive, MSN 3G1
Fairfax, VA 22030

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703.993.3956
http://chnm.gmu.edu
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