Talk:Henry M. Leland

Interchangeability

I fixed the mention of interchangeability. The development of interchangeability did not happen in a vacuum. Interchangeability was a zeitgeist throughout the 19th century, and many industries, including machine tools, locomotives, firearms, sewing machines, and bicycles, had been using interchangeability to various extents for decades by 1900. This paragraph as previously written made it sound like Whitney invented the idea of interchangeability, and then Leland independently invented it later. The first idea is so grossly oversimplified as to be essentially false; the latter idea is completely false. In reality Leland was trained at Brown & Sharpe and Colt's Armory, so he didn't think up interchangeability on his own; he merely helped infuse the fledgling automotive industry with its spirit. Fixed accordingly. Thanks, Student7, for moving this comment to the talk page—good idea. — ¾-10 23:59, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

FR-WP says that Leland invented go/no-go gauges

Recently a wealth of bio info was added at the French Wikipedia's article for Leland. It says that he invented go/no-go gauges. This is really interesting. Can anyone confirm that this is true? If anyone here at EN-WP has read the references given in the FR-WP article, could you expand the EN-WP article? — ¾-10 23:51, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Update: It is somewhat doubtful that Leland *invented* limit gauges, because limit gauges were in use at Brown & Sharpe in the early 1860s per Wickham Roe 1916. Leland was about 20 years old at the time, and presumably had already been at B&S for some years and finished his apprenticeship by then. So it's *possible* that he invented them, but it seems more likely to me that they were already in use at B&S and he was exposed to them. However, I don't know, so I'll just put this two cents here and log off, and get back to my real work! — ¾-10 02:51, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

Not to detract too much from Leland's accomplishments, but he seems like a practical man, someone who often took other's ideas, improved on them and made them marketable. His genius was in application more than "theoretical dreaming" as it were. I can't comment on limit gauges, but I wouldn't be surprised. The basis of some of the bio came from, essentially, obit & genealogy-hype type pubs and can't really be trusted for precise detail. Also, it may be difficult to determine that he did not invent a new limit gauge while perhaps not inventing the class itself. Student7 13:00, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

Very true. He was certainly a smart person who was in the right place at the right time, historically speaking. My curiosity is piqued to try and find some good reading about him and others of the period. — ¾-10 02:12, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

Birth location: Barton vs Danville

The Barton Historical Society claims he was born there BUT, in the VERY earliest publications where his name is mentioned, he is said to be born in Danville. This presents a problem. Danville never had a hospital and Barton had one in 1843 that closed in the 1950s. Henry Leland told the ship staff each time he took a voyage that he was born in Danville, Vermont. It can clearly be seen on the official passport record. I have a copy of that passport record as I am his cousin and have done the entire Leland line back to 1553. So, after all is said and done, because home births were not out of the question in 1843, and I believe Henry would know better than ANYONE else where he was born, I think it is reasonable to write that he was born in Danville, Caledonia County, Vermont. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.189.254.75 (talk) 16:10, 15 March 2013 (UTC)

You're probably right. Not only are you correct that "home births were not out of the question in 1843", but the reality goes a step further than that—home birth was the typical way of being born until the 20th century (as confirmed in Wikipedia's home birth article), and even today there are developing countries where it is not uncommon. The era of most births happening in hospitals did not arise until the 20th century. Perhaps this article should state that he was born in Danville(ref cite A, ref cite B) and grew up in Barton(ref cite C, ref cite D, ref cite E). Then, if anyone in Barton wants to change the first clause, they have to show a reference for why they are changing it. Of course, this only works if there's any ref cites A or B. — ¾-10 00:02, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

External links modified

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External links modified

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External links

This 2004 article is still at Start-class. The "External links" section has 5 entries. At a point, there was interchangeability between "References" and "External links", but that time has past. An article needs no "External links" to be promoted and three seem to be a magic number of links accepted. Per link farm the number should be kept to a minimum (ELpoints #3), so what links can be used in the article needs to be or the excess trimmed. -- Otr500 (talk) 17:55, 10 February 2023 (UTC)