The Journal of Jonathon Lindey From the main part of the journal - Page 1
My name is Jonathon Lindey. I am writing this summary of strange happenings in the city of Washington D.C. while the events are still fresh in my mind. I was born shortly after the end of the Civil War on a farm near the town of Marion in the state of Ohio. My father was a prosperous farmer and my mother was a better than average educated daughter of a merchant from the town. As the eldest son it was naturally assumed that I would take over the farm in due time, but fate intervened. When I was seven I slipped and fell from the cart on which I was riding. The wheel ran over my legs before the driver could stop the horse. Both legs were broken, and although they eventually healed I was left with a bad limp which precluded me from taking part fully in the running of the farm. Although I did not know it at the time, my parents decided that my mother would tutor me and that I would be encouraged to attend college. It soon became apparent that I had an aptitude both for things mathematical and things mechanical. On several occasions I was able to repair the farm's McCormick reaper, thus saving the loss of several days work gathering the harvest. Normally the farm would have had to wait for a mechanic to repair the machine. Eventually I obtained a scholarship to study mathematics and physics at the state college, and in due course graduated with honours. I had no taste for the academic life since I still had my love for mechanics and so I drifted around for a while until I eventually ended up in Washington D.C. Thanks to the good offices of a friend of my father I was able to get a post in the Bureau of the Census. For me the job was ideal. My job was to use my mathematical knowledge to check the accuracy of the work performed on the machines. I rapidly discovered a natural affinity with the newly installed Hollerith tabulating machines we were using to process the statistics. |
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