TIMBY, Theodore Ruggles, Inventor, author; b. Dover, Dutchesa Co., N. Y.. Apr. B, 1819; s. George W. and Sarah Johnson T., of Pittsfield, Mass.; ed. pub. schs. (hon. degrees: A. M., Madison Univ., 1867; S. D., Univ. of Troy, O., 1882; LL. D., Iowa Wesleyan Univ., 1891); m. 1844 Charlotte M. Ware. Invented floating dry-dock, 1836; invented, 1841, the revolving turret used on the Monitor (and now used on battleships); invented practical method of raising sunken vessels, 1841, the American turbine waterwheel or motor, 1844, and in 1857, the first commercially portable 33-inch mercurial barometer. From 1861 to 1891, invented and patented, at home and abroad, a system of coast defenses known as follows: The sighting and firing of heavy guns by electricity; the tower and shield; the cordon across the channel; the planetary and subterranean systems, with 15 other modifications of the turret system; invented and patented improvements in pneumatic and hydraulic power; also a new prin. in Turbine water-wheels or motors. In 1890 the N. Y. legislature, by unanimous concurrent resolution, and the Judges of N. Y. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, by petition, asked Congress to give him national recognition. Author: Beyond; Stellar Worlds; Lighted Lore for Gentle Polk. Address: 101 Lafayette Av., Brooklyn, N. Y.”

Source:  Who’s Who in America, Vol. 4, by John William Leonard and Albert Nelson Marquis, A.N. Marquis and Co., Chicago, 1908-1909, page 1893