Credit: State Historical Society of Wisconsin Visual Archives
After participating in the Pennsylvania oil boom of the 1860s–and patenting the first railroad tank car for the shipment of oil– James Densmore (1820 - 1889) bought a quarter share in C.L. Sholes' new type writing machine, secured patents, tested models, briefly manufactured the machines in Milwaukee, and in 1873 negotiated the contract with E. Remington and Sons of Ilion, N.Y., which manufactured the first successful typewriters. For years Densmore poured his money and his energies into the development of the typewriter.
