James Slough Zerbe

James Slough Zerbe (September 18, 1849 – February 8, 1921) was an American inventor, early aircraft builder, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, and author. He designed planes with multiple wings, including the Zerbe Sextuplane and the Zerbe Air Sedan. Zerbe wrote a series of instructional books for boys on subjects like carpentry, automobiles, electricity, and "aeroplanes"; and also wrote an adventure and travel books. He lived in Ohio, New York City, and later California. He was the manager of the American Patent Agency in 1887 in New York City.

Granville Woods, a mechanical and electrical engineer, who was African American, partnered with Zerbe on developing a simple electric railway. Woods accused Zerbe of theft of intellectual property of the designs; and Heim later accused Zerbe of illegal conversion of stocks. By 1893, Zerbe was a prisoner at the Ludlow Street Jail. He attended the 1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet at Dominguez Field, with his so-called "Multi-plane" (also known as the Zerbe Quintaplane).

In 1912, Zerbe and Gorham Tufts Jr., a Californian convicted criminal and cult leader from Fort Worth, Texas, shared a patent registration together for the General Equipment Company.

In 1916, his address was listed as 321 West 55th Street in New York City. He had moved back to New York for radium treatments for prostate cancer. Zerbe died on February 8, 1921, at Booth Memorial Hospital in Queens, New York City.

Publications

Castaways (1912) Exploring the Island (1912) The Mysterious Caverns (1912) The Tribesmen (1912) The Capture and Pursuit (1912) Conquest of Savages (1912) Treasures of Islands (1915) Exploring New Islands (1915)