Hoe, Richard March

Hoe, Richard March (1812–86) inventor, industrialist; born in New York City. Son of a British-born manufacturer of printing presses, he joined his father's company at age 15 and, with a cousin, took over the business three years later. His Hoe rotary press, which printed on a cylinder instead of a flat plate, went into operation at the Philadelphia Public Ledger in 1847. By 1865 a competitor had developed a rotary press that printed on a continuous roll of newsprint, but within six years Hoe had produced a new design using all the main features of his rivals.