Whitcomb L. Judson Whitcomb L. Judson Whitcomb L. Judson (March 7, 1846 – December 7, 1909) was an American machine salesman, mechanical engineer and inventor. Judson invented the zipper in the 1890s. Judson was born in Chicago, Illinois. According to the 1860 census, he lived in Illinois, and served in the Union army. He enlisted in 1861 at Oneida, Illinois in the Forty-Second Illinois Cavalry. Judson attended Knox College in his hometown Galesburg, Illinois. He was found in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1886. In 1886 and 1887 the Minneapolis city directory identifies Judson as a "traveling agent" — a traveling salesman working probably for
Phoebe Judson Phoebe Judson Phoebe Goodell Judson (October 25, 1831 – January 16, 1926; sometimes called Phoebe Newton Judson) was a Canadian and American pioneer and author. Along with her husband, Holden Judson, she founded the city of Lynden, Washington. In 1886 she started the Northwest Normal School , which would become Western Washington University. Judson kept a diary of her experiences following March 1, 1853 (the day she and her family left for Washington Territory), which she later abridged and rewrote into "A Pioneer's Search for an Ideal Home: A Personal Memoir", published shortly before her death. Because of the large