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374 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Andrews is strictly authentic. It is the only account in existence which
purports to give the inside facts of "Whitney's great invention. Judge
Andrews and Mr. Phineas M. Nightingale, a grandson of Gen. Nathanael
Greene, lived for years on adjoining plantations and it was from the
latter that Miss Andrews received the account at first hand.
Eli Whitney, it will be remembered, at the time of inventing the
cotton gin, was a guest in the widow Greene's household. The story
as recalled from memory by Miss Andrews was reduced to writing years
later. It was also verified by a letter dated January 20, 1892, from Mrs.
P. M. Nightingale, then an old lady in her eighty-second year but with
her mental faculties unimpaired. The maiden name of Mrs. Nightingale
was Mary King. She was a member of the noted family of New York
state and a charming old gentlewoman. Miss Andrews, the author of
the following account, is a lady of rare gifts, widely known in the
realm of letters. Her father, Judge Garnett Andrews, was one
of Georgia's most distinguished jurists. The author wrote her
first account of the invention for the Scientific American, sometime in
the early '70s, after which she published in the Augusta Chronicle, on
September 20, 1905, an article on the part played by Mrs. Miller in
Whitney's great invention. It is no exaggeration to say that the cotton
gin deservedly ranks among the foremost achievements of modern times.
It riveted the institution of slavery upon the South and became the ulti
mate cause of the war between the states. Today more than half of
the world's poptilation depends upon fabrics, the manufacture of which
has been stimulated and developed by the cotton gin. Says Miss
Andrews:
"Eli Whitney, at the time of inventing the cotton gin, was a guest
at Mulberry Grove, near Savannah, Georgia, the home of Gen. Na
thanael Greene, of Revolutionary fame. After the death of the general,
his widow married Phineas Miller, tutor to Gen. Greene's children, and
a friend and college mate of WTiitney's. The ingenuity of the Yankee
visitor, as exhibited in various amateur devices and tinkerings about
the premises, inspired the family with such confidence in his skill that,
on one occasion, when Mrs. Miller's watch was out of order, she gave it
to Mr. AVhitney for repair, 110 professional watchmaker being within
reach. Not long thereafter, a gentleman called at the house to exhibit
a fine sample of cotton wool, and incidentally remarked while displaying
the sample: ' There is a fortune in store for some one who will invent
a machine for separating the lint from the seed.' Mrs. Miller, who was
present, turned to Whitney and said: ' You are the very man, Mr.
Whitney, for since you succeeded so well with my watch I am sure you
have ingenuity enough to make such a machine.'
"After this conversation, Mr. Whitney confined himself closely to
his room for several weeks. At the end of this time he invited the fam--
ily to inspect his model for a cotton gin. It was constructed with wire
teeth on a revolving cylinder. However, there was no contrivance for
throwing off the lint after it was separated from the seed and it wrapped
around the cylinder, thereby greatly obstructing the operation. Mrs.
Miller, seeing the difficulty, seized a common clothes brush, applied it
to the teeth, and caught the lint. Whitney, with delight, exclaimed: