James Lowth, a relatively unknown nineteenth-century inventor, was born of Irish immigrant parents and grew up in the village of Columbus, Wisconsin. In 1862 he enlisted in the Fourth Cavalry Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers, and served as Sergeant of Company M. He lost his leg in battle and was discharged in July, 1865. Even before enlisting in the Civil War, James Lowth began to feel the urge to invent. At the age of 22 in 1861, inspired by patriotic fervor, he dabbled with the idea of a horse gun--a sort of light cannon to be mounted on a cavalry charger. After the war he returned to his inventing interests.
In 1873 he moved to Chicago, where his prolific imagination turned out ideas for such inventions as an electric sandpapering machine, a controller for trolley cars, a bicycle gear changer, various types of guns, food concentrate powders, a washing machine, several vibrating machines for the treatment of mental and physical illnesses, and many others. He took out a number of patents, including ones for a washing machine, velocipede, cabinet bedstead, rein holder, lounge, and telephone.
At least two of Lowth's inventions received some publicity in his day. One was a telephone receiver based on a principle similar to that used in certain present devices developed to aid mutes and other persons with speech defects in communicating. Instead of being held to the mouth to receive the sound vibrations of the voice, it was pressed against the throat to transmit directly the vibrations of the larynx. Among other things, Lowth felt that this design had the advantage of being more hygienic than the standard receiver. Sometime during the 1880's Lowth formed the Lowth Stethophone Company (later changed to the American Stethophone Company). It is not clear how financially successful this invention may have been, but Lowth's agents carried on negotiations with Bell and others in this country, as well as with persons interested in marketing the instrument in England, Europe, and Latin America. At one point Bell's company was apparently prepared to offer Lowth $1,000,000 in stock and $25,000 in cash; evidently this never materialized.
The second invention to achieve some renown was what Lowth called a “vibratorium.” This consisted of an organ-like instrument, over which was constructed a couch, attached to the instrument in such a way as to take full advantage of the musical vibrations. This invention received some publicity, at least in the Chicago newspapers, as a device for the shock treatment of mentally ill persons, as well as for the cure of tone deafness. Again, it is not clear whether the invention brought much financial gain to its inventor.
There is no information readily available concerning Lowth's later life.
