Henry E. Warren

American inventor

Edith B. Smith

(m. 1907)

Awards

Lamme Medal (1934)^[1]
Wetherill Medal (1935)^[2]

Henry Ellis Warren (May 21, 1872 – September 21, 1957) was an American inventor, best known as the inventor of the first synchronous electric clock. He has been called the "father of electric time".^[3]

Biography

Warren was born in Boston in 1872 and attended the Allen School. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1894 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering.^[2] He settled in Ashland, Massachusetts, in 1907.^[4]

Warren is credited, via a patent awarded in 1918, with invention of the first synchronous electric clock, which kept time from the oscillations of the power grid, as well as with 134 other inventions.^[2]^[3] He founded Warren Telechron Company in 1912 and served as president of the company from 1914 to 1943.^[2] Between 1916 and 1926, the company sold 20 million clocks.^[2] In 1940, Warren invented the "singing clock", which instead of a pendulum had a vibrating metal string.^[2] General Electric acquired a half interest in Telechron in 1929, and full interest in 1943.^[2] Telechron's clocks remained popular into the 1950s; the company eventually went out of business in 1992.

Warren's early career started as an engineer for Nathaniel Lombard, designing water-driven machinery for the N. Lombard Improved Governor Company in Roxbury, Boston. Warren worked his way up to plant superintendent, eventually purchasing the company in 1937, at which time it was renamed Lombard Governor Company. Warren was owner and president of the company until his death in 1957.^[2]

Land donated by Warren's widow in Ashland became the Warren Conference Center—located next to Ashland State Park, it is used by companies and colleges for meetings and training.^[5]

Examples of Telechron clocks

Telechron 355 "Cathedral" (1927–32)
Telechron 2H07-Br "Administrator" (1937–40)
Telechron 7F72 "Heralder" (1930s)
Telechron 8B23 "Register" (1946–48)
Telechron 7H141 "Airlux" (1946–57)
Telechron 7H257 "Dimension" (1954–59)

References

^ "IEEE Lamme Medal Recipients". ieee.org. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved June 28, 2024 – via Wayback Machine.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "HENRY E. WARREN, INVENTOR, 85, DIES" (PDF). The New York Times. September 22, 1957. p. 86. Retrieved June 28, 2024 – via TimesMachine.
^ ^a ^b "Hentry Ellis Warren" (PDF). The Encyclopedia of American Biography. New York City: The American Historical Company – via telechron.com.
^ Holcomb III, Harry S.; Webb, Robert (February 1985). "The Warren Telechron Master Clock Type A" (PDF). NAWCC Bulletin. NAWCC. pp. 35–37 – via clockguy.com.
^ "History". warrencenter.com. Retrieved June 28, 2024.