Pencil Part 8

Pencil in America
American colonists imported pencils from Europe until after the
American Revolution.Benjamin Franklinadvertised pencils for sale in his
Pennsylvania Gazettein 1729, andGeorge Washingtonused a three-inch
pencil when he surveyed theOhio Territoryin 1762.[citation needed ]It is said[
by whom?]thatWilliam Munroe, a cabinetmaker inConcord, Massachusetts ,
made the first Americanwoodpencils in 1812. This was not the only pencilmaking occurring in Concord. According toHenry Petroski,[citation needed]
transcendentalistphilosopherHenry David Thoreaudiscovered how to
make a good pencil out of inferior graphite using clay as thebinder; this
invention was prompted by his father's pencil factory in Concord, which
employed graphite found inNew Hampshirein 1821 by Charles Dunbar.