Louis C. McAdams

Louis Clark McAdams (b. 1862) was a Canadian-born habitual criminal, a Christian revivalist turned Spiritualist, and supposed inventor. McAdams' rap sheet began in 1887 with a conviction for forgery of a promissory note in Victoria, British Columbia, serving a sentence of three years. On his release, McAdams entered the United States, going to Port Townsend, Washington, where, under the alias of Elder Girard, he was involved in opium smuggling, being convicted for his role in 1891 and sentenced to two years. In 1893, recently released at Seattle, Washington, the recently freed McAdams was accused of swindling for trading the ownership of a steam launch boat in exchange for some worthless property. Some years later, McAdams went to Oakland, California, where he claimed to be a Spiritualist who had discovered the secret of perpetual motion, partnering with Jacob Ben Letter and others to form the McAdams Engine Company at San Francisco in August 1896; this, however, came to little, as the engine was reportedly a failure, and Letter died some months later.

Selected Patents

 * GB189622099. Improvements in Self Driving Weight Engines. "This invention relates to improvements in engines, and more particularly to that class of engines wherein the motive power is self-contained or independent of any outside source." https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?CC=GB&NR=189622099A&KC=A&FT=D#

Press Coverage
From 1883, McAdams lived in California, being involved with the Young People's Guild of the Calvary Baptist Church at Sacramento. He returned to Victoria, B.C. after marrying in 1887.

McAdams Engine Co. (1896)


It is unclear what became of McAdams after this particular scheme collapsed.