Inventor, born in Charlestown, New Hampshire, USA. He worked on the family farm and as a teacher before moving West in 1844 and gradually acquiring large landholdings in Illinois and Texas. He patented an improved type of barbed wire in 1874, but sold his interest in the Barb Fence Co in 1876. By 1880 the factory was turning out 80 million pounds of wire a year, and his invention ultimately fenced in vast areas of the W range.
Joseph Farwell Glidden (January 18, 1813–1906) was an American farmer who patented barbed wire, a product that forever altered the development of the American West.
Glidden was born in Charlestown, New Hampshire, his family later moving to Clarendon, New York. She and her two sons died after the move, and Glidden married Lucinda Warne in 1851.
He created barbed wire by using a coffee mill to create the barbs. Glidden placed the barbs along a wire and then twisted another wire around it to keep the barbs in place. He received the patent for barbed wire in 1874 and was quickly embroiled in a legal battle over whether he actually invented it. He eventually won and created the Barb Fence Company in DeKalb, Illinois. This included the Glidden House Hotel, the DeKalb Chronicle, 3,000 acres (12 km²) of farm land in Illinois, 335,000 acres (1,360 km²) in Texas, and the Glidden Felt Pad Industry.
From 1852 to 1854 he served as Sheriff of DeKalb County. From 1861 to 1874, he served as a member of the Board of School Directors, and for twenty years paid the largest school tax of any citizen of the county. He was also Vice-President of the DeKalb National Bank, Director of the North Western Railroad, and owner of the DeKalb Rolling Mill. He also owned the Glidden House Hotel, the DeKalb Chronicle, and the Glidden Felt Pad Industry.
In 1881 to demonstrate the effectiveness of the wire, Glidden, and his sales agent for the State of Texas, Henry B. The ranch proved the success of the wire, and changed ranching.
Glidden, a former teacher, gave 63 acres (255,000 m²) of his homestead as a site for the Northern Illinois Normal School.
The town of Glidden, Iowa is named in his honor.
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