Wallace, William

Wallace, William (1825–1904) inventor, manufacturer; born in Manchester, England. He emigrated to America with his parents as a boy and eventually they settled in Derby, Conn. There the elder Wallace went into the wire-drawing business. His son became president upon his death and built a large and flourishing copper, brass, and wire enterprise. In 1874 Wallace introduced dynamo-electric machinery into his factory. Eventually his dynamos could copper-plate 100 miles of steel wire at a time. He later designed the first commercial arc light. He sold his business and retired to Washington, D.C., in 1896.