Who really invented barbed wire? Inside Barb City’s ‘complicated’ history

DeKALB – It wasn’t until 1873 that what became acknowledged by many as modern-day barbed wire was patented in DeKalb.

In 1867, however, the first successful attempts at plain wire fence were made by L.B. Smith of Kent, Ohio, and Wm D. Hunt of Scott, New York.

Now, 150 years later, the invention runs deep in DeKalb’s legacy. DeKalb High School cheers for the Barbs. The moniker “Barb City” has found its way into business titles (Barb City Bagels) and building names (Barb City Manor). Historians passionately protect local landmarks, turning homesteads where the inventors lived into museums and education centers.

How did DeKalb become synonymous with such an invention?

The product was introduced in fencing out west about the mid-19th century, DeKalb County History Center records show. In that span, it’s estimated that 150,000 miles of plain wire fence had been put up three wires deep, or 450,000 miles of wire.

Jeffrey Chown, an emeritus professor of the Department of Communications at Northern Illinois University, said the history of the invention of barbed wire’s manufacturing process is “complicated” but rooted in DeKalb.

“They figured out how to mass produce barbed wire, and that’s what brought much attention to Isaac Ellwood, Joseph Glidden and Jacob Haish,” Chown said. “There had been other wires that had been put together before these three guys, but they figured out a way to manufacture the wire out in their barn, and pretty soon it got so popular that they were shipping it out all over the country. They stayed in town pretty much and made big fortunes here, brought in a lot of workers – particularly from Eastern Europe and Scandinavia – to work their plants and really changed the economy here in DeKalb.”

But Glidden wasn’t the only one to secure a patent for inventing barbed wire. So, too, did Isaac Ellwood and Jacob Haish. Isaac Ellwood, J.F. Glidden and Jacob Haish saw an invention for an armed fence at an agricultural fair in September 1873 at the DeKalb fairgrounds, the site around what is now NIU’s Altgeld Hall.

Altgeld Hall is one of the sites that the J.F. Glidden Homestead and Historical Center is inviting people to tour during its Barbed Wire Weekend on Saturday and Sunday. The events are meant to celebrate Glidden and the 150th anniversary of his barbed wire patent.

Rob Glover, an archivist and collection specialist at the DeKalb County History Center, said Glidden filed a patent in October 1873, but Haish filed a patent interference at the patent office in Washington, D.C., that Glidden had to defend against before his patent was awarded.

That means that Haish’s patent, submitted after Glidden’s, was awarded first.

There are several advantages and disadvantages that distinguish J.F. Glidden’s barbed wire patent of 1873 from other inventions, historical records show. That includes how Glidden’s barbed wire is made of steel and two strands; is easily seen; cattle avoid it; it’s cheap; it cannot be burned; it cannot cause snow drifts; and it is unaffected by snow, wind and flood.

The wire typically was meant to keep animals out of people’s gardens.

Chown said it was used out of necessity to protect crops.

But the invention wasn’t always used with this intent in mind, he said.

“Jacob Haish, one of the three barbed wire founders, refused to allow his wire to be sold to any country involved with World War I,” Chown said. “He did not want our wire to be used as a weapon of war. So, I think that’s an interesting aspect of the use of barbed wire. Now, the other objection to barbed wire, of course, is that it impeded Native Americans from moving easily across the American Southwest. They called it the ‘devil’s rope.’ But, you know, your ranchers would say that good fences make good neighbors.”

In 1892, a U.S. Supreme Court judgment led to Glidden being considered “the father of barbed wire,” historical records show.

Manufacturing the product gave DeKalb the jump it needed to get on the map, Chown said.

He emphasized the contributions made by barbed wire to DeKalb’s local economy.

“It brought in a lot of workers to work in the plants,” Chown said. “Eventually, Ellwood partnered with a steel company on the East Coast. ... They shipped a lot of wire into DeKalb via railroad. And then, of course, the barbs were put in the plants that were built here in DeKalb. The plants are the buildings that are still around out on Pleasant [Street] and places like that. So, there’s still a legacy here in the town of barbed wire. Even though they’re not manufacturing it here anymore, they were up until the 1920s with the Haish plant.”