Eliphalet Nott (1773 to 1866)
Renowned Clergyman Made a Mint on Patents.
Eliphalet Nott was born in Ashford Connecticut. He became an educator and clergyman, one of the greatest pulpit orators of the day. He also amassed a large fortune through patents on his heating inventions (including a stove that burned anthracite coal). As president of Union College, New York, he rehabilitated the institution, raising funds through a lottery, and bequeathed it $500,000 of his fortune.