Eickemeyer, Rudolf

Eickemeyer, Rudolf

(1831–95) inventor; born in Altenbamberg, Bavaria. The son of a forestry official, he fought with German revolutionary forces in 1849 and emigrated to America the following year. In 1854 he founded a machine shop in Yonkers, N.Y., and perfected the first in a series of labor-saving devices, among them a leather hatband folder, that revolutionized the hat-making industry. He later designed an efficient electric motor. Active in civic affairs, he served for many years on various boards in Yonkers.