Otis, Elisha Graves (1811-1861), was an American inventor who built the first elevator with an automatic safety device. The device prevented the elevator from falling if the rope that held the elevator broke. Otis demonstrated his elevator in 1854 in New York City by having the rope cut after he had ascended in the elevator. But his invention did not come into wide use until the rise of the skyscraper in the late 1800’s.
Otis was born in Halifax, Vermont, on Aug. 3, 1811. From 1830 until 1851, he held a variety of jobs that developed his mechanical ability. By 1851, he was master mechanic at a firm that made bedsteads. The firm sent Otis to Yonkers, New York, in 1852 to supervise the installation of machinery in a new factory. That year, Otis invented the safety elevator while building an elevator for the factory. He died on April 8, 1861.
