Jewett Typewriter Company 1903 - Drake University

Beautifully engraved certificate from the Jewett Typewriter Company issued no later than 1903. This historic document has an ornate border around it with vignettes of typewriters. This item has the printed signatures of the company’s president, George Jewett and its secretary, D.L. Jewett. It also has the hand signature of the Registrar. This historic certificate is over 102 years old.

Jewett Typewriter

In 1890, George Jewett founded the Jewett Typewriter Company, with general offices and factory at 6th and Locust in downtown Des Moines. He was instrumental in developing both the Duplex and Jewett typewriters, and travelled across the world, primarily to Europe, to introduce the machines. It is said that Jewett travelled to Europe 10 times and crossed the English Channel or North Sea 242 times. On one trip to Europe, he sold his last typewriter to Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany.

Certificate Vignette



Jewett's typewriters were tributes to mechanical efficiency in his day; they were widely heralded as amazing labor-saving devices. The Jewett Typewriter received the highest award given at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, and received the gold medallion award at the Paris Exposition. In 1901, it was awarded "Grand Prix" and was deemed "the world's finest typewriter." So impressive was the Jewett that there are specimens on display at both the Iowa State Historical Society in Des Moines and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The Jewett Typewriter Company was eventually sold to Underwood.

George's Early Days

George Anson Jewett was born on September 9, 1847 in Red Rock, Iowa. Even at a very young age, Jewett was an active and well-travelled man, participating in many historical events of the time. In 1849, when he was two, George travelled with his father out to California to participate in the Gold Rush. In the days of the underground railroad, he drove a wagon transporting runaway slaves to their freedom in the north, and helped organized Abraham Lincoln's 1861 presidential campaign for central Iowa. Always one to be supportive of our nation, Jewett also attempted to enlist in the Union army for the Civil War in 1861 at the age of 14, but was rejected because he was too young. Of course, a man who would wind up being inextricably connected to a future university would need a good education himself, and Jewett walked 7 miles one way to Central University in Pella, Iowa, every week in order to procure that education. He received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1864. However, bad times fell upon the Jewetts, and when George was eighteen, he walked from Pella to Des Moines (he couldn't afford the ten cents per mile coach fare) seeking more opportunities. Jewett soon began earning $20 a month as a bookkeeper, beginning his formidable career in early twentieth-century Des Moines business.

George's Business Endeavors

Jewett was probably best known in the Des Moines community as a businessman. In 1879, Jewett formed a partnership with Ed Chandler and David Ewing, forming a new lumber company located in the vicinity of Ninth and Grand in downtown Des Moines. After Ewing's death in 1906, Jewett organized the Jewett Lumber Company on the same plot of land. Along the way, Jewett also became interested in producing the Jewett typewriter, an invention he travelled around the world to promote.

George and the Foundation of Drake University

Jewett was instrumental in the founding of Drake University in Des Moines. He first suggested the movement of Oskaloosa College (in Oskaloosa, Iowa) to Des Moines due to the financial failures of the College on January 25, 1879. Slightly more than two years later, and largely due to Jewett's involvement, the articles of incorporation for Drake were filed on May 7, 1881. All but one of the Oskaloosa faculty members prepared to move to Des Moines for the 1881-82 academic year.

Jewett was the first member of the private sector to become a Drake trustee. On June 14, 1883, following the resignation of D.R. Lucas, Jewett became Secretary of the Board of Trustees, a position he held until his death on July 15, 1934. Part of the Secretary's responsibilities was to sign the diplomas as they came through. It was said that Jewett "signed the birth certificate of every Drake alumnus. Every graduate was his adopted child" because he signed every Drake diploma. Every Drake diploma, that is, except the first one, where the administration wasn't sure who was supposed to sign it and passed Jewett by. Many years later, Jewett travelled to California to affix his signature, completing the record of signing every diploma issued by Drake University beginning with James E. Denton in 1882 and continuing until Jewett's death. Certainly, the 51 years Jewett served Drake was an unparalleled commitment for that time, and shows impressive dedication, even today.

George's Personal Life and Interests

In general, Jewett was a fascinating man with a variety of interests and adventures. In 1866, Jewett joined the First Christian Church of Christ in Des Moines, being the 158th member. His belief in faith in God and Christiantiy was strong, and Jewett was soon made Church Clerk, and would become editor of the monthly The Christian Worker in 1887, continuing to serve in that capacity for more than forty years. In 1867, Jewett was appointed a representative of the Smithsonian Institution. Jewett oversaw the operations of the weather bureau (a precursor to weather forecasting) in Des Moines. In 1868, Jewett served as chairman of the committee that founded the YMCA in Des Moines. Also, Jewett was wedded to Annie Henry on October 28, 1868. The 1870's were largely filled with his business dealings, including the Des Moines Scale Company, which he helped found with others in 1871. In the 1880's and 1890's, Jewett became interested with the Mexican land and people, and travelled there many times. A fascinating 30-page, handwritten letter from Jewett dated February 23, 1884 on file at the Cowles Library at Drake chronicles some of his explorations of Mexico. Jewett spent the 1900's mainly travelling through all of Europe promoting his typewriters. Later in life, Jewett became interested in geneaology, and claimed to be directly descended from Adam, Noah, Edward I, Charlemagne, and William the Conqueror. He authored two books on the subject: 138 Generations from Adam and Hunting an Ancestor. Overall, Jewett loved to travel and loved to learn. He was particularly interested in history, and owned several relics including old idol heads which he dug up in Mexico, a worn shingle from the roof of George Washington's barn, and a piece of the first shell fired at Fort Sumpter, igniting the Civil War. Certainly George Jewett lived up to his title, bestowed to him in 1925, of "The Grand Old Man of Drake University."

Wonderful biography by B.J. Best and Christopher Hagge