Notes and Obituary of inventor Jesse Franklin Livingood

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Excerpts from newspaper clipping: Aug. 20, 1985; Graysville. PA. Jesse F. Livingood was a man who made enormous contributions to mankind. Although this Greene County Inventor's name is not a household word, his long list of inventions have later become common in modern day machines. His contributions reached far and wide, but he became a victim of an archaic system for patent application which not only dealt inventors grave injustice, but also discouraged new efforts. One special Model T was stolen in Chicago, never to be found again. All this and a lack of financial backing and industry exposure accounts for the fact that neither he nor his family ever profited from any of his many inventions. To his everlasting credit, he never looked back or was bitter about the way things turned out, but was content to work in his shop. Through the years Mr. Livingoods's fertile mind and skilled hands were responsible for a long list of inventions and patents. These included such mechanical and motoring innovations as the four wheel drive, (first installed on a Model T in February of 1914), differential transmissions (1931) , Pulley and ball thrust bearing 1927), four-wheel brakes, two and four cylinder steam engines, speed govenors operating from the transmissions, and countless other mechanical variations. Mr. Livingood drove a 1918 model T sedan with his four-wheel brake system until 1941, never using anything but smooth tires on icy reads or hills as proof of its effectiveness. His 1929 Chevrolet Steammobile achieved speed of 70 mph. In 1940, in response to interest abroad, Mr. Livingood sent a four cylinder steam engine to England but World War II broke out and its development was dropped. One of Mr. Livingood's last inventions, was an electric baseboard hot water heating system for homes. It might be that Jesse Livingood, like most men of unusual brilliance, lived a generation too soon, but those who knew him can attest, his inventions will long remain as an important contribution to the betterment of man's lot in life.

The late Jesse F. Livingood of Graysville, with the proper backing or perhaps a lucky break or two, could have been a familiar name in industry. He made enormous contributions to mankind. To mention a few , he invented four wheel drive, differential transmissions, four-wheel brakes, two and four cylinder steam engines, and speed governors that operated from the transmission which controlled the speed of the car, not just the motor. His long list of inventions would later become common in modern day machines. His contributions have since reached far and wide, but he experienced the misfortune that was typical of other inventors of his day. he became a victim of theft, World War II, lack of financial backing and industry exposure. He often told his sons about a trip to the Iowa State Fair where he was exhibiting his four-wheel drive Model T. He had gone to lunch and when he returned, two men were on their back under the vehicle making notes. On another occasion while in route to Iowa for a visit, Livingood stopped overnight in Chicago. The following morning he awoke to find someone had stolen his Model T. The car was never seen again, except for the possibility it may have been featured in "Four Wheel Drive" magazine in 1975. The picture was the property of the government. Letters to the publisher have never been acknowledged or answered.

Obituary: Jesse F. Livingood, aged 66 years of Graysville, died at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, February 28, 1961, in the Greene County memorial Hospital, after a brief illness. Mr. Livingood , who was a self-employed machinist, was widely known as the inventor of the Livingood heating system for homes. He had installed the system in a number of homes in the county and throughout the area. He was a son of the late I. S. Livingood and Elizabeth Church Livingood and was born March 7, 1894, in Richhill Township. He resided in the Graysville area for most of his life, with the exception of 25 years spent in Iowa. Mr. Livingood was a member of the Enon Baptist Church. Surviving are his wife, Luella Whipkey Livingood whom he married November 19, 1924; two daughters, Ruth, wife of Rev. William D. Auld, of San Gabriel, Calif.; and Alice, wife of Donald L. Dillie, of Cleveland, Ohio; two sons, Delmar, of Chicago, Ill., and Robert, of Cleveland, Ohio; eight grandchildren; one brother, Willis, of Wheeling , W. Va. , and one sister, Alma, wife of George Ealy of Graysville, R.D.1. One son Kenneth Elmer, is deceased.