Perkins, Jacob

(born July 9, 1766, Newburyport, Mass., U.S.—died July 30, 1849, London, Eng.) U.S. inventor. He built a machine to cut and head nails in one operation c. 1790. He developed a method of engraving paper money that made counterfeiting difficult; lack of interest in the U.S. led him to set up a bank-note factory in England (1819). He experimented with high-pressure steam boilers, built a horizontal steam engine (1827), designed an improved paddle wheel (1829), and invented a means for the free circulation of water in boilers (1831) that led to the design of modern water-tube boilers.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica