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Barbed wire baron’s Illinois house open for tours

Isaac Ellwood made his fortune in barbed wire, and in DeKalb, Ill., is an amazing house and museum, which tells the story of the fencing that changed the way livestock are raised.

It was Joseph Farwell Glidden who invented one of the most widely used types of barbed wire in 1873. The Joseph F. Glidden Homestead & Historical Center tells a bit about his accomplishment: “He helped change the history of the American West and had far-reaching impact throughout the world. Glidden invented ‘The Winner’ (patented Nov. 24, 1874) at the DeKalb home he built in the 1860s.”

Ellwood also invented a barbed wire prototype, but saw that Glidden had the best idea that could succeed. It is important, however, to know that Glidden and Ellwood are not the only two involved with the barbed wire story.

In 1873 Glidden, Jacob Haish and Ellwood visited the DeKalb County Fair. Here, they viewed an exhibit for a “wooden strip with metallic points” created by a farmer named Henry Rose. His device was nothing more than a strip of wood armed with nail-like spikes meant to be attached to a plain wire fence.

The three men each individually began to think about how to improve on Rose’s idea; within two years each of the men had obtained his own patent.

It was Glidden who created the first barbed wire. He made the first strand in his kitchen using a coffee mill to twist the barbs into shape, then in his barn he used a grindstone to twist two strands together. After Glidden created 100 feet of the wire, he fenced in his wife’s vegetable garden to keep stray animals out.

It didn’t take long for Ellwood to see the potential in Glidden’s idea and he spent $265 to purchase one-half interest in Glidden’s patent. The two teamed up and established the first barbed wire factory, which they called the Barb Fence Co.

The first year they created 10,000 pounds of barbed wire, mostly by hand. In 1875 they built a factory and moved into mechanization with the use of a steam engine. Production exploded and, in 1875, 600,000 pounds of fencing were manufactured.

In 1876, Glidden sold his remaining patent interest to Washburn & Moen Co. The Ellwood House website states: “By 1879, 50 million pounds of barbed wire were being produced annually and Ellwood was well on his way to becoming one of the wealthiest men in Illinois. This wealth enabled him to build a palatial home for his family on a large property at the edge of DeKalb.”

Ellwood didn’t start out with a silver spoon. Born in New York, as a young man he drove a mule team on the Erie Canal. Seeking his fortune in the California gold fields he headed west in 1851, clerking in a hardware store before coming to DeKalb County in 1855 to visit brothers.

He began working on the Miller farm and married the farmer’s daughter in 1859. The Ellwoods opened their own hardware store in downtown DeKalb. Working at the hardware store with farmers on a daily basis made him aware of the need for better fencing.

Moving fencing onto rangeland and farms didn’t always come easily. First, there was the legal battle over who owned the original patents for barbed wire. The Washburn & Moen and Isaac Ellwood & Co. bought up several rights to patents, and after years of litigation in 1892, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Glidden’s patent based on the fact that the twisting of the two strands of wire is what holds the barbs in place.

Eventually Ellwood would establish the American Steel & Wire Co. It purchased many of the other wire makers and eventually became American Steel & Wire, which became a subsidiary of U.S. Steel Corp. Barbed wire was built in DeKalb until 1938, when production was moved to the more metropolitan areas of Waukegan and Joliet.

Besides the barbed wire history, a tour of the lovely Victorian mansion is a wonderful chance to see a home built during the Gilded Age. Visitors may view crystal chandeliers, antique woodwork and the original furnishings. The center of the home is the three-story spiral staircase.

Located at 509 North First Street in DeKalb, tours are offered Tuesday-Friday at 1 and 3 p.m. and on Saturday-Sunday at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Admission for an adult is $8 and youth 6-17 pay $3; children under the age of 6 are free. The home is open March-December.

Call 815-756-4609 for details, or visit www.ellwoodhouse.org

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.

7/15/2009