{{Short description|American abolitionist, blacksmith, and inventor (1800–1854)}} {{Further|Abolitionism in New Bedford, Massachusetts}} {{use American English|date=March 2020}} {{use mdy dates|date=March 2020}} thumb|A statue of Lewis Temple in New Bedford, Massachusetts
'''Lewis Temple''' (1800 – 18 May 1854) was an American maker of items used in whaling,<ref name="spence114115">Spence p. 114, 115</ref> blacksmith, abolitionist, and inventor. He was born in slavery in Richmond, Virginia, and moved to the whaling village of New Bedford, Massachusetts during the 1820s, where he worked as a blacksmith. He married Mary Clark in 1829 and they had three children. He is best remembered for the invention of "Temple's Toggle" or "Temple's Iron" which was a harpoon toggle tip based upon Inuit and Native American harpoon tips brought back to New England by Whalers in 1835.<ref name="spence114115"/> After some trials, whalers took to the improved harpoon as it prevented the whale from pulling free. Temple never patented his invention which resulted in others copying his work and selling it as their own. Temple did live well enough to build a larger shop. Unfortunately, due to the negligence of a city construction worker, he fell and was injured. He sued the city and won two thousand dollars {{USDCY|2000|1850}}, which he never received. He died from his injuries in May 1854, aged 53. His profits from the invention went largely to paying off his debts.{{cn|date=November 2025}}
== See also == * List of African-American inventors and scientists
== References == ''' Citations '''
{{reflist}}
''' Bibliography ''' * [http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/13152/ Black History Month Daily Feature: Lewis Temple], Infozine.com website, February 22, 2006. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060315230129/http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/13152/|date=March 15, 2006}} * Gary L. Frost. "Lewis Temple." Article in Henry Louis Gates and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. ''African American Lives'' (Oxford University Press, 2004), 803–804. {{ISBN|978-0-19-516019-2}}. * Kathryn Grover. ''The Fugitive's Gibraltar: Escaping Slaves and Abolitionism in New Bedford, Massachusetts'' (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2001). {{ISBN|978-1-55849-271-4}}. * Spence, Bill. "Harpooned, The Story of Whaling." 1980, Crescent Books. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 79–91692 * Sidney Kaplan. "Lewis Temple and the Hunting of the Whale." ''The New England Quarterly'' 26 (March 1953): 78–88
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060104213722/http://www.whalingmuseum.org/kendall/heros/temple/index.html New Bedford Whaling Museum::Lewis Temple & Harpoons] *{{cite journal |url= https://vc.bridgew.edu/hoba/35/ |title= Massachusetts Hall of Black Achievement: Lewis Temple |journal= Massachusetts Hall of Black Achievement |date= January 1988 |publisher= Bridgewater State University |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150917161724/http://vc.bridgew.edu/hoba/35/ |archive-date= September 17, 2015 |url-status= live}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple, Lewis}} Category:1800 births Category:1854 deaths Category:African-American abolitionists Category:19th-century American inventors Category:American blacksmiths Category:American people in whaling Category:19th-century American slaves Category:Abolitionists from New Bedford, Massachusetts Category:Accidental deaths from falls in the United States Category:Accidental deaths in Massachusetts Category:Activists from Richmond, Virginia Category:Inventors from Virginia Category:Abolitionists from Virginia Category:19th-century African-American people Category:19th-century American artisans {{AfricanAmerican-stub}}