Subject Guides: Chester Greenwood, Maine Inventor: More Info

Not Just Patents!

In addition to his success with earmuff manufacture. Chester Greenwood was a pillar of the community of Farmington. He was active in the local Rotary Club and supported Women’s’ Suffrage. His factory also built machines for plumbing and heating. When Farmington was ravaged by a fire in 1886, he was instrumental in organizing relief for the victims and in helping rebuild the town. He also helped pave Farmington’s streets and invested in the town’s first telephone system. He was most famous for the earmuffs, but he certainly used his fame and fortune for greater things.

Further Research here at Fogler

For further research on Chester Greenwood and his family, you can come to Fogler Library Special Collections and view the Greenwood Family Papers.

Below are two books about him in the Fogler Collection.

Chester--more than earmuffs: a brief story of Chester Greenwood by Nancy Porter
Nancy Porter wrote this brief but authoritative biography of Chester Greenwood, using primary sources and first-hand research. This book is held in Special Collections, and has to stay there. But there are copies in other libraries which can be ordered through interlibrary loan at your local library.
Earmuffs for Everyone! by Meghan McCarthy (Illustrator)
As a young boy, Chester Greenwood went from having cold ears to becoming a great inventor in this nonfiction picture book from the acclaimed author-illustrator of Pop! and Daredevil. When your ears are cold, you can wear earmuffs, but that wasn't true for Chester Greenwood back in 1873. Earmuffs didn't exist yet! But during yet another long and cold Maine winter, Chester decided to do something about his freezing ears, and he designed the first pair of ear protectors (a.k.a. earmuffs) out of wire, beaver fur, and cloth. He received a patent for his design by the time he was nineteen, and within a decade the Chester Greenwood & Company factory was producing and shipping "Champion Ear Protectors" worldwide! But that was just the beginning of Chester's career as a successful businessman and prolific inventor. In this fun and fact-filled picture book you can find out all about his other clever creations. The Smithsonian has declared Chester Greenwood one of America's most outstanding inventors.

Chester's Passing

Chester Greenwood died on July 5th, 1937, at the age of 78. Below are scans of the front page obituary that ran in the Franklin Journal & Farmington Chronicle, the newspaper of record for Chester Greenwood's beloved home town. Click on the pages to read them (You can zoom in with the mouse wheel if needed).

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Obituaries also ran in newspapers all over the country. Some of them are below. Click to see the articles, found on Newspapers.Com.

Kingfisher Free Press, Oklahoma	Santa Rosa Republican, California	Ralls County Record, Missouri
New York Times, New York	Palladium and News, Vermont	Ottawa Journal, Canada
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, Pennsylvania	Oakland Tribune, California	Blade Democrat, Kansas

Isabel and Women's Suffrage

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention Chester and Isabel's dedication to the cause of Women's Suffrage. Isabel was an organizer and activist, working hard to get women the right to vote. Isabel outlived her husband by 21 years, passing away in 1958, which would have been Chester's centennial year. Below are some Suffragette-related documents from the Isabel Greenwood files of the University of Maine Special Collections, and her obituary from the Portland Press Herald. You can click on them to see a larger view of them.