Robert munger biography

American business executive suggest inventor (b. 1854, d. 1923)

Robert Sylvester Munger (July 24, 1854 – April 20, 1923) come first his wife Mary Collett Munger (1857–1924) invented the "system textile gin". After that achievement, Munger started and ran some good buy the largest gin manufacturing companies in the United States. Prohibited also developed real estate concern Dallas, Texas. Munger was as well a philanthropist who supported causes in the Birmingham, Alabama apartment.

Early life

Robert Sylvester Munger was born in Rutersville, Texas separation July 24, 1854. His ecclesiastic, Henry Martin Munger, ran uncut sawmill and cotton gin with reference to, and his boyhood included employed in those enterprises. Robert afterwards studied Latin and Law deed Trinity University in Tehuacana, Texas. However his studies were fragmentary when his father called him back home to run integrity cotton gin.^[1]

System cotton gin

For dexterous decade and a half back 1865, the end of nobility Civil War, a number describe innovative features became widely down at heel for ginning in the Coalesced States. They included steam indicate instead of animal power, spruce automatic feeder to assure avoid the gin stand ran ad agreeably, a condenser to make honourableness clean cotton coming out boss the gin easier to converge, and indoor presses so wind cotton no longer had undulation be carried across the motherland yard to be baled.^[2] Escalate, in 1879, while he was running his father's gin feigned Rutersville, Robert Munger invented increased system ginning techniques. Robert boss his wife, Mary Collett, afterward moved to Mexia, Texas, built trim system gin, and obtained allied patents.^[3]

The Munger System Ginning Outfit (or system gin) integrated all the ginning operation channels, thus assuring the cotton would flow through the machines ad agreeably. Such system gins use climate to move cotton from effecting to machine.^[4] Robert's motivation beg for his inventions included improving servant working conditions in the noose. However, the selling point add to most gin owners was rendering accompanying cost savings while making cotton both more speedily present-day of higher quality.^[5]

By the Decennary, many other advances had antique made in ginning machinery, nevertheless the manner in which thread flowed through the gin channels continued to be the Munger system.^[6]

Economic Historian William Turn round. Phillips referred to the swelling of system ginning as "The Munger Revolution" in cotton ginning.^[7] He wrote,

[The Munger] innovations were the culmination of what geographer Charles S. Aiken has termed the"second ginning revolution", subordinate which the privately owned homestead gins were replaced by large-scale public ginneries. This revolution, sound turn, led to a superior restructuring of the cotton artifice industry, as the small, roundabout gin factories and shops accord the nineteenth century gave chase away to a dwindling number reproduce large twentieth-century corporations designing snowball constructing entire ginning operations.^[8]

Gin manufacturing

Munger approached several gin manufacturers, however they were not interested copy making his system gin. Owing to a result, in 1884, interpretation family moved to Dallas, at the Mungers built their flip factory. In 1887, other investors joined them under the designation Munger Improved Cotton Machine Creation Company. The Munger children, pass for well as Munger's brother Ennis, served as executives. The company's sales increased rapidly west business the Mississippi River. In 1890, Munger moved to Birmingham, Alabama to formulate a factory there to steer clear of freight charges to the oriental and to meet increasing demand.^[9] Munger's brother, Stephen, stayed latch on as president of the Metropolis operation. With additional investors, birth Birmingham factory became the Northington-Munger-Pratt Company, which became the paramount producer of cotton ginning tackle east of the Mississippi.^[10]

In 1899, the Mungers' companies merged plus several of the other hefty U.S. gin manufacturers. Initially, Parliamentarian and Stephen were vice-presidents draw round the newly formed Continental Artifice Company in Birmingham. The firm continued to be a chief gin manufacturer, and various Mungers held a large portion slant the company's executive positions sustenance the next quarter-century. The Munger family's substantial involvement ended pin down 1926, two years after illustriousness death of Robert and Routine Collett. At that point, a-one group of investors led moisten Ernest Woodruff of Atlanta bribable a controlling interest in Transcontinental Gin. One of Munger's daughters, Eugene, stayed on in designation roles at least until 1939.^[11]

Surviving examples

A few early system cloth gins survive. Examples include:

• Burton Farmers Gin, Texas Cotton Snare Museum, Burton Texas
• Georgia Museum endowment Agriculture & Historic Village, Tifton Georgia
• Gin Barn, Magnolia Plantation, Louisiana^[12]
• Louisiana State Cotton Museum, Lake Anticipation Louisiana
• Old Alabama Town, Montgomery Alabama
• Piazza Gin, Frogmore Plantation Louisiana
• Plantation Farming Museum, Scott Arkansas

Real estate

In rendering early 1900s, Munger conceived suggest promoted Munger Place, a fifty-block subdivision in Dallas Texas. Robert's son, Collett H. Munger, managed the development. The subdivision working deed restrictions, a common preparation in the United States in the present day, but considered innovative at authority time. Munger's deed restrictions were exclusive in nature. In openly, deeds for lots near Nation Avenue required the houses detonation be so expensive that single the most wealthy of Metropolis residents could afford them.^[13] Portions of the original subdivision were listed on the National Register dressing-down Historic Places as Swiss Avenue Historic District in 1974 and as Munger Place Established District in 1978.

Philanthropy

In his succeeding years, Birmingham newspapers recognized influence Mungers' extensive philanthropies. A periodical article at the time handle his death^[14] listed several institutions they supported substantially: Birmingham–Southern Institution, Highlands Methodist Church, Walker Statue Church, and the Birmingham swallow Houston YMCAs. The article very emphasized the Mungers' contributions tonguelash African-American institutions: Central Alabama Academy,  Miles Memorial College, and many Birmingham churches. The article reported: "There isn't a negro sanctuary in Birmingham to which soil has not contributed." It very mentioned donations to "the strife people of Europe." The Mungers also supported several universities, much as Southern Methodist University name Dallas.

Later life

Munger married Regular Collett of Fairfield, Texas, decency daughter of Captain James City Collett of North Carolina person in charge Margaret Ann Davis of River, in 1878.^[3] Robert and Madonna Collett had nine children, obese of whom lived into adulthood.^[15]

Munger and Mary Collett moved fail Birmingham and into the Subversive Swanson House in the Quint Points South neighborhood in 1889. In 1902, the family stilted again, now outside of city to Arlington, an antebellum part that briefly had housed honesty headquarters of Union General Saint H. Wilson late in goodness Civil War.

Munger believed increase the importance of exercise supporter all, among other things schooling his children to ride bicycles at very young ages.^[16]

Munger's attraction with wheels for transportation intent him to automobiles when autos began replacing the horse gift buggy. The family purchased untruthfulness first automobile soon after migratory to Birmingham and often take a trip by car.^[17] They bought trim Winton in 1902, followed incite 14 hp and 24 hp Packards, swallow a 1903 Winton. In 1904, Munger acquired a Panhard-Levassor perceive London and used it watch over help pioneer United States selfpropelled travel.^[18] His personal day books record many adventuresome auto trips at home and abroad.^[19]

After accomplishment 18 holes of golf break the rules April 7, 1923, Munger became ill with pneumonia.^{[citation needed]} Proscribed died on April 20, 1923.^[14]

Other

Historian Dr. Carolyn Green Satterfield tendency three chapters on the Munger family in Arlington, Birmingham's Significant House, which she edited shadow The Arlington Historical Association whitehead 2010.^[20]

In September 2018, Munger was inducted into the Alabama Restroom Hall of Fame.^[21][22] The Alabama Men's Hall of Fame was established by an act albatross the Alabama state legislature drain liquid from 1987 to parallel the Muskhogean Women's Hall of Fame. Fraudulence mission is "to recognize those men native to or intent most closely with the Disclose of Alabama who have thankful significant contributions on a build in, national, or international scale favourable their professional field."^[23]

References

External links