Lewis Temple, a black inventor, impacted the whaling industry with his whaling harpoon invention in the 19th century. He was an accomplished blacksmith, and in 1836 he became one of 315,000 African American freedmen in the United States. Temple thrived in business, eventually becoming one of the most successful whale craft shop owners in the New Bedford waterfront.

Fast Facts

Name: Lewis Temple

Nationality: American

Gender: Male

Occupation: Inventor

Early life

Born in Richmond, Virginia, Lewis is one of the early black inventors born during the era of enslavement in America. Around 1829, he left Richmond for New Bedford, but whether or not he was enslaved at the time remains unknown.

Temple married Mary Clark of Baltimore on June 20, 1829 in New Bedford. Lewis worked at Coffin’s Wharf at the foot of Walnut Street as a blacksmith.

Work experience

The American Anti-Slavery Society was a body advocating for the abolition of slavery. It had an auxiliary body known as The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and the New Bedford Union Society which Lewis was a member was one of its auxiliaries. In 1834, Temple became the elected vice president of the body. The New Bedford Union Society was one of the first antislavery societies in his village and it was founded in 1833.

In 1848, Lewis worked in his Walnut Street shop to invent what is currently referred to as the Temple toggle iron. This was a unique piece, better than harpoons or the earlier “irons” since it was impossible for whales to escape from it. The earlier harpoons didn’t work effectively and efficiently because the whales were able to move and escape.

One unique attribute about the Temple iron is that it had a pivoting head that could embed itself on the catch securely. Lewis didn’t patent the device which would later transform the whaling industry. The New Bedford firm Delano and Pierce in 1854 set up a new shop to manufacture and sell his device.

Other harpoon-makers admired and were inspired by his ingenuity and eventually copied his design. Whalers of the time relied on his invention and as a result the catch volumes increased significantly.

Challenges

In 1853, Lewis suffered a major injury after he fell from a plank placed over an open sewer trench by a negligent construction worker. The city gave approval for him to receive payment for his injuries in 1854, almost a year after the incident. Unfortunately, this was a little too later as he died weeks after the decision.

Temple’s Death

Lewis died in May 1854 at the age of 54, a death largely attributed to the injuries he sustained. His inventions earned him high profits. However, his wife and son directed a huge percentage of his assets toward paying off his debts. This left his family languishing in poverty despite Lewis being an iconic inventor.

Temple’s Remembrance

The New Bedford Whaling Museum preserves a collection of Temple’s toggle harpoons in honor of his contributions and memory. A monument constructed from the image of his son Lewis still stands in front of New Bedford Free Public Library on Pleasant Street in New Bedford in his honor.