October 13, 1884

Charles M. McDermott died of a spinal disease at his home on Bayou Bartholomew in Dermott (Chicot County), the community that bears his name. McDermott was a doctor, minister, plantation owner, Greek scholar, charter member of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, and inventor. His patented inventions include an iron wedge, an iron hoe, a cotton-picking machine, and a “flying machine.” When the Wright brothers made their successful fifty-nine-second flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903, two men in the audience are believed to have said, “Why, that’s Charlie McDermott’s machine!” After the Wright brothers’ flight, an article in the Scientific American described McDermott’s machine and accredited his plans to their success.