Frank Stead Manton (1938-1909)

"Be it known that I, FRANK S. MANTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented and produced a new and original Design for a Capstan, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof."

It was 1838, less than a handful of decades after the ratification of the United States Constitution, when Frank Stead Manton was introduced to the world. It was 1860, a few short years before the Civil War, when the world, so far as the marine  was introduced to Frank Manton, patentor of the mechanical anchor windlass. Manton, an agent of Hope Iron Works and subsequently the American Windlass Company of Providence, Rhode Island, applied inventive genius to many practical applications in the mechanics of general seafaring navigation to ease the burden of labor. Several license applications to improve the Manton Patented Windlass are documented within the archives of the US Patent and Trademark Office. By the 1890s, 95% of the windlasses made and sold in the American market were produced by the American Ship Windlass Company. 

Shortly after the registration of the above patent, Manton sold off most of his shares in the company first to with some shares going to the Hyde Windlass Company, a large outfit with representation on both coasts, the south and the Great Lakes and subsequently became the American Engineering Co of Philadelphia. 

Manton passed away while still serving on the board with several marine engineering conglomerates. 

Researched & Compiled by Susan Donnelly