Elisha Graves Otis  Elisha Graves Otis  Elisha Graves Otis
(August 3 1811April 8 1861), son of Stephen Otis Jr. and wife
Pheobe Glynn, invented a safety device that prevented elevators
from falling if the hoisting cable broke. He worked on this
safety device while living in Yonkers, New York in 1852, and
then finally had a finished product in 1854.   Otis was born
near Halifax, Vermont. He moved away from home at the age of 19,
eventually settling in Troy, New York, where he lived for 5
years having a steady job as a wagon driver. In 1834, he married
Susan A. Houghton, and gave birth to their first child. Later
that year, Otis suffered a terrible case of pneumonia], a
disease which nearly killed him, but he earned enough money to
move his wife and three year old son to the Vermont Hills on the
Green River. He designed and built his own gristmill, but did
not earn enough money, so he converted it into a sawmill, but
still did not attract customers. Now having a second son, he
started building wagons and carria